American Commercial Lines Announces Plans to Build New Covered Hopper Barges for Its Fleet

JEFFERSONVILLE, IN--(Marketwire - October 12, 2009) - American Commercial Lines Inc. (NASDAQ: ACLI) ("ACL" or the "Company") today announced that the Company will build fifty covered hopper barges for use by its Transportation Services Division at the Company's Jeffboat manufacturing subsidiary in the first quarter of 2010.

Commenting on the build plan, ACL President and CEO Mike Ryan stated, "We are executing the next phase of our long-term strategic plan. We recently completed the realignment of our field-based Transportation Services management team, establishing new northern and southern region headquarters locations. Now, we are beginning our dry barge replacement program in order to reduce the age of our fleet. This is an ideal time to build barges as we have the best steel prices that we have had in several years. We will continue to scrap our oldest barges and replace them with new high quality Jeffboat barges to improve the quality of our service for our growing customer base. The addition of the new hopper barges will increase the reliability of our service. It will also support our initiative to gain greater efficiency and productivity from our fleet while improving overall long-term profitability."

American Commercial Lines Inc., headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is an integrated marine transportation and service company operating in the United States Jones Act trades, with approximately $1.2 billion in revenues and approximately 3,400 employees as of December 31, 2008. For more information about American Commercial Lines Inc. visit www.aclines.com.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's present expectations and beliefs about future events. As with any projection or forecast, these statements are inherently susceptible to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstance. Important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and should be considered in evaluating the outlook of American Commercial Lines Inc. Risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in American Commercial Lines Inc.'s filings with the SEC, including its most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. American Commercial Lines Inc. is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changes, new information, subsequent events or otherwise.

Contact Information: Contact: David T. Parker Vice President, Investor Relations & Corp. Communications (800) 842-5491