A cable tying the barges together could snap. It could cut a deckhand in two. It's cold and icy in the winter, and in the summer the steel barges get hot enough to burn your feet and hands. A crew is away from home 30 days at a time. It's not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job.
Crews work six hours on and six hours off, seven days a week during their hitch.
And there's the constant drone of the diesel engines and the smell of diesel fuel and exhaust. It's a different life than the one envisioned by most as they watch a tow slowly make its way up the Ohio River with deckhands wearing orange life vests as they walk around the barges. The walk-around is usually to check the wires that tie the tow together or check the hatches on the barges to make sure no water is getting in. If a barge takes on water, there's the job of pumping out the water and sealing the leak until it can be welded at dry dock. Members of the crew like the work, though.