The chances of getting your own bedroom on board seems to get better as your salary increases. The hard working crew consists of around 10, captain, pilot, first mate, engineer, cook, and about 5 deckhands. They work six hours on and six hours off, keeping the boat going 24 hours a day, rain or shine, day or night. No days off are allowed until you get off the boat. The typical crew works 30 days on and 30 days off.
Many crews feel the best part of the job is the adventure and scenery of the river.
The worst part is being away from family and friends, missing birthdays, holidays, and McDonalds Big Mac's. Shipping cargo up and down the river is much cheaper than by rail or semi-truck. Miscellaneous - much of which is scrap metal ranks second to grain in downbound tonnage. Many other products in smaller volume are carried on the water way - iron and steel products, sand, gravel, fertilizers, sulfur, cement, aluminum ingot and plate, sugar, dehydrated molasses, and many others. Coal in great quantity is also shipped upstream, mainly from coal fields of central and southern Illinois and western Kentucky Petroleum Products - gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, lubricating oil upbound from the oil fields of Texas and Louisiana.