Transportation and Logistics

Missouri offers companies within the transportation and logistics cluster quality infrastructure complete with well-developed waterways, rail systems, interstate highways and airports. Missouri’s central location within the nation makes it a cost-effective location from which to ship and a natural place through which products are transported.

• Missouri ranks 10th in the U.S. for railroad mileage and inland waterway mileage.
• Missouri has 18 interstate routes, totaling 1,180 miles.
• Major east-west interstates in Missouri include I-44, I-64, and I-70; north-south routes include I-29, I-35, and I-55.
• Missouri offers more than 1,000 miles of water transport on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers accessible via 14 port authorities (Missouri Department of Transportation). Missouri is home to the northernmost port on the Mississippi that remains ice-free year-round. 
• Missouri waterways move an average of $4.1 billion in cargo annually (Missouri Port Authority Association).
• Barges haul 191 million tons of freight per year on the Mississippi River (US Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United States).
• Kansas City and St. Louis, two of the largest rail terminals in the U.S., link over 4,000 miles of tracks throughout the state.
• The airport system in Missouri consists of approximately 130 public airports, with two airports supporting major commercial passenger traffic: Lambert-St. Louis International and Kansas City International (Missouri Department of Transportation). 
• Missouri has three foreign-trade zones located in Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis.

• Missouri's strategic location in the middle of the U.S. provides efficient access to both coasts.
• Missouri is located within 600 miles of 52% of U.S. manufacturing establishments and 600 miles of 50% of all U.S. households.
• Six of the top 10 fastest growing major metropolitan areas in the U.S. are within a day's drive of Missouri.
• The population center of the U.S. is located in Texas County, Missouri.
• Missouri is bordered by 8 states, tied for the most of any state.

• Missouri's gasoline tax is the 6th lowest in the U.S., at 17.3 cents/gallon (Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council).
• Missouri does not have an inventory tax and ranks 6th in the U.S. for property tax rates (Tax Foundation). Property tax abatements are available for qualifying companies.
• Missouri is among the Top Ten Pro-Business States, according to Pollina Corporate Real Estate.

Well-known companies have warehousing or distribution centers in Missouri, including Dollar General, Walmart, Scholastic, Tyson, Musician’s Friend, and Associated Wholesale Grocers. Other Transportation and Logistics companies in Missouri include:

AEP River Operations: (HQ St. Louis) AEP River Operations offers barge transportation of dry bulk commodities including grain, project cargo, coal, steel, ores and other bulk products. The company moves over 65 million tons of dry bulk material annually

Con-way Truckload: (HQ Joplin) From two trailers and one owner-operator, Con-way Truckload has grown into a world class carrier with over 2,600 tractors and more than 8,000 trailers.

Ditzfeld Transfer:  (HQ Sedalia) Ditzfeld Transfer, one of the leading logistics firms in the Midwest, also operates 921,000 square feet of warehouse space.

Exel: (Kansas City and St. Louis) Exel is part of the supply chain division of Deutsche Post DHL, the world's leading logistics group. Deutsche Post DHL is the parent company of DHL, the global leader in international express, overland transport, and air freight.

Freightquote (HQ Kansas City) Freightquote is the nation’s largest online freight-shipping broker, recently announced it would move its headquarters and 1,225 jobs from Lenexa to Kansas City. The company plans to occupy 200,000 square feet of office space to be built in two phases, bringing 1,225 jobs within three years, and adding 125 jobs in the fourth year, bringing the total to 1,350.

Graybar: (HQ St. Louis) Graybar, a Fortune 500 company, has specialized in supply chain management services and distribution of high-quality components, equipment and materials for the electrical and telecommunications industries for over 80 years.

Jack Cooper Transport: (HQ Kansas City) Jack Cooper Transport Co., Inc. and subsidiaries is one of the largest privately owned auto transport carriers in the nation and the recipient of the Outstanding Carrier Award from General Motors.

LMS:  (HQ St. Louis) Emerging from a transportation logistics division at Monsanto in 1996, LMS has quickly become a formidable contender within the highly competitive third party logistics (3PL) industry.

Materialogic:  (HQ St. Louis) Materialogic is a nationally-recognized third party fulfillment, distribution, logistics and marketing support services provider that delivers superior outsourced business processing solutions.

Metro Park Warehouses (Kansas City): A 3pl providing public and contract warehousing, local and regional transportation, crossdocking and consolidation, transportation and inventory management, pick and pack, product assembly, and specialized packaging.

Phoenix International: (Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis) Phoenix International is the largest privately owned, full-service international freight forwarder, NVOCC, and Customs broker headquartered in North America; providing logistics solutions since 1979.

Prime, Inc.:  (HQ Springfield) Prime Inc. is North America's most successful refrigerated, flatbed, and tanker carrier.

Slay Industries (HQ St. Louis) Slay Industries is a diverse group of transportation and distribution companies including a trucking unit operating a fleet of 700 tractors and 1,200 trailers for 20 locations, mainly east of the Mississippi river. 

SRC Logistics: (HQ Springfield) Provides a broad range of logistics services, including public and contract warehousing, non-asset-based transportation management, fulfillment, distribution, and reverse logistics.

UniGroup Inc.: (HQ St. Louis) UniGroup, the parent company of United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit, is a local and long-distance household goods mover. Its other subsidiaries insure movers, sell and lease trucks, sell moving supplies and rent portable storage and moving.

World Wide Technology: (HQ St. Louis) World Wide Technology is a leading Systems Integrator providing technology products, services, and supply chain solutions to customers around the globe. WWT has a national network of distribution centers linked to a centralized Oracle inventory and order management application hosted in their secure data center in St. Louis.

Missouri has the workforce Transportation and Logistics companies need:

• 80,121 Missourians are active in the Transportation and Logistics industry in Missouri.
• 6 Missouri post-secondary institutions offer programs in truck driver training.
• 11 Missouri colleges and universities offer programs in logistics or supply chain management.

Missouri is also home to the following Transportation/Logistics research centers:

Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) at the University of Missouri—Columbia: CELDi is a multi-university, multi-disciplinary National Science Foundation sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center . Research focuses on supply chain modeling, material flow design & improvement, and intelligent systems. Missouri companies that have worked with MU-CELDi at MU include Leggett & Platt, Ameren, Boeing, and Hallmark.

Missouri University of Science and Technology Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety: CTIS is one of only 10 National University Transportation Centers in the nation. The UTC program was created in 1988 to meet the nation's need for the safe, efficient and environmentally sound movement of people and goods through research, education and technology transfer. Participating universities are involved in a variety of advanced and applied research ranging from intelligent transportation systems and fuel-efficient vehicle deployment to innovations that will improve passenger safety and reduce traffic and freight congestion. National UTCs are expected to provide national leadership in advancing research and technology solutions to America's transportation challenges.

UMSL Center for Transportation Studies: Researchers at the Center for Transportation Studies have performed transportation analysis for companies including Forward Air Corporation, St. Onge Company, Lanter Company, and Emerson Motor Company.