Have you ever seen a boat floating on the water? Well, some people make their jobs out of operating those boats on waterways like rivers, lakes, and canals. These people are called American Waterways Operators or AWO.
The AWO is like a group or an organization that includes many people like captains, deckhands, and engineers, who work together to operate boats and ships in the United States. Their main goal is to make sure that all these boats and ships operate safely and efficiently while carrying important things like goods, materials, and people.
The AWO makes rules and guides for people working on these boats to follow. For example, they might say that boats should only carry a certain amount of weight so that it doesn't tip over or that boats should have enough safety equipment onboard in case of an emergency.
The AWO also works with the government to make sure that everyone follows these rules and keeps the waterways safe. They do this by having meetings with government officials to discuss ways to improve safety and by doing regular inspections of boats to make sure that they're following the rules.
So just like how parents make rules to keep their children safe, the American Waterways Operators make rules to keep the people who work on boats and the things they carry safe while traveling on waterways.