Transportation and Logistics


Every major city and most communities throughout the state have worldwide connectivity through the multi-modal transportation/distribution infrastructure with easily accessible interstate and four-lane highways, motor freight terminals, rail systems, port and barge transportation, and international air service.

Highway Network

Five interstate highways converge in Alabama with a sixth interstate connecting Birmingham and Memphis scheduled for completion in 2012. The state has more than 74,000 miles (119,091 km) of paved public roads and is served by more than 2,300 truck and warehousing firms that provide competitive logistics alternatives. Birmingham is a hub for one-day shipping to most of the Deep South. An 11-hour drive from the center of Alabama reaches west to Dallas/Fort Worth, north to Chicago, east to Charleston and south to Fort Lauderdale.

Interstates include:

  • I-10 (Florida to California)
  • I-20 (South Carolina to Texas)
  • I-59 (Tennessee to Louisiana)
  • I-65 (Alabama to Illinois) 
  • I-85 (Alabama to Virginia)
  • Future I-22 (Alabama to Tennessee).

Railroad System

Twenty-five freight railroad companies serve the state with more than 3,700 miles (5,954 km) of track. The state has excellent mainline connections that give shippers excellent access to all major market centers.

Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak with three Alabama stops along the Crescent route running daily between New York City and New Orleans. Freight service needs are accommodated through an extensive rail system served by 25 freight railroad companies over 3,700 miles (5,954 km) of track.

Five Class I railway companies providing service to the state include:

  • BNSF Railway Co.
  • Canadian National Railway Co.
  • CSX Transportation Inc.
  • Kansas City Southern Railway Co. 
  • Norfolk Southern Corp.

Air Transportation

Several airports provide air cargo service. These airports have designated foreign trade zones for the promotion of international commerce through the duty-free, quota-free entry of foreign goods under U.S. Customs supervision. 

Alabama’s air transportation network features 92 general aviation airports. Most of the public-use airports are able to accommodate corporate jets. Alabama is located between two of the nation's largest air cargo centers – Memphis, Tenn., and Atlanta. 

Waterways

Alabama has one of the longest inland waterway systems in the nation, with nearly 1,300 miles (2,092 km) of commercially navigable waterways along six corridors. Along the corridors are a number of state-managed dock facilities, including the Port of Mobile, Alabama’s full-service, deepwater port and its central point of international shipping on the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Mobile is located 32 miles from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Its terminals connect to two interstate systems and nearly 15,000 miles of inland and Intracoastal waterways, providing shippers with low-cost water access to ports along the Gulf of Mexico, the Tennessee River, Ohio River and Mississippi River systems.

Port of Mobile

The Alabama State Port Authority operates Alabama’s full-service, deepwater port on the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Mobile offers terminal services from 100 overseas shipping lines and a dozen towing companies. The port’s container, general cargo and bulk facilities have immediate access to two interstate systems, five Class 1 railroads and nearly 15,000 miles of inland and intracostal waterway connections.

Brookley Airport Complex, adjacent to the port, offers immediate access to freight-forwarding transportation services. The Port of Mobile provides complete service for shippers, including intermodal transfer and handling, warehousing and security.

At 45 feet (13.7 meters), the port’s main channel is one of the deepest permanently navigable channels in the South. With a long history as a bulk handling port and roll-on roll-off, the Port of Mobile has transitioned to a distribution center for general cargos, including forest products, iron and steel, aluminum, copper, frozen poultry, soybeans and chemicals. In 2008, its public facilities handled 28 million tons of cargo.

Port of Mobile specifics includes:
General cargo/intermodal

  • 35 berths; rail ferry terminal, freezer terminal RO/RO ramp
  • 2.4 million square feet warehousing;
  • 2.4 million square feet open yard
  • Major commodities: containers, woodpulp, iron and steel, aluminum, copper, lumber, linerboard, paper, heavy lift and oversized cargo, and frozen poultry.

Port of Huntsville

The Port of Huntsville, an inland port comprised of the Huntsville International Airport, International Intermodal Center and Jetplex Industrial Park, provides quality multimodal transportation services to a diverse regional customer base and stimulates economic development throughout the Tennessee Valley Region.

Norfolk Southern Intermodal

A new truck-to-rail intermodal facility will make Birmingham an anchor of Norfolk-Southern Railway’s 13-state Crescent Corridor freight railroad upgrade project.

A $97 million intermodal railroad hub, under construction and set to open in 2012, will annually process 165,000 containers and trailers via six daily trains. The 316-acre site is strategically located next to the confluence of Interstate 459 and Interstate 59 (New Orleans-Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Interstate 20 (South Carolina-Texas.)

Norfolk Southern’s Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility will be a key component of an ambitious $2.5 billion rework of 2,500 miles of Norfolk Southern tracks linking New Orleans with New York City, serving 30 percent of the nation’s manufacturing output. Some 28 intermodal trains will operate on the Crescent Corridor once fully functional.

The terminal will also provide a strategic link between California and seaports in the Southeast (Mobile, New Orleans, Savannah, Jacksonville).

The facility is less than 5 miles from the Jefferson Metropolitan Park at McCalla. The 739-acre park includes Mercedes-Benz supplier Gestamp, Korean steelmaker Posco, and regional warehouses for Home Depot (600,000 square feet) and OfficeMax (180,000 square feet).

Foreign Trade Zones

Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery have foreign trade zones with direct access to their air transportation systems. Each foreign trade zone has been designated for the promotion of international commerce through the duty-free, quota-free entry of foreign goods under U.S. Customs supervision.