Dry cargo carriers can freight an enormous variety of goods, such as round timber, steel coils, cereal and ore. The number of deadhead miles is drastically reduced by using this type of vessel.
There are about 100 motor cargo vessels navigating the Danube region in cross-border operations. This category of vessels has a deadweight tonnage of 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes. It has more powerful engines than the vessels on the Rhine and it is used almost exclusively in pushed convoys or coupled formations.