KEX

Kirby Corporation

A Houston-based company that runs the largest fleet of tank barges in the United States, hauling petrochemicals, refined fuels, and agricultural chemicals along the Mississippi River system, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and all three U.S. coasts. It also sells and services diesel engines, pumps, and power-generation equipment for industrial, marine, and oilfield customers. The company traces its name to John Henry Kirby, a Texas lumber baron nicknamed "The Prince of the Pines," who founded Kirby Petroleum in 1921; the firm entered the barge business in 1969 when it bought Dixie Carriers.