Logistics & Transportation

Logistics is a boundary-spanning activity playing a significant role in both traditional and fast growing industries. Resource-rich Louisiana is a center for energy exploration and production, petrochemicals, pulp, paper, forest products, agriculture, advanced materials, manufactured goods and information technologies. Louisiana is a vital North American distribution and logistics hub centered in the fastest growing region of the United States and at the center of Western Hemisphere trade. Louisiana’s installed logistics infrastructure is among the most extensive in North America. Connected to the nation’s agricultural and industrial heartland by water, rail, and highway, Louisiana is truly a world class logistics hub.

Ports
The Louisiana port system, including both deepwater and shallow draft ports, is one of the largest port systems in the world, bringing millions of tons of cargo into and out of the country (Ports Authority of Louisiana, 2001). The Port of South Louisiana is the largest single port in the United States (ranked by Tonnage, 2001, U.S. COE). About 2,300 miles of navigable inland waterways connect each of Louisiana's six deepwater ports to our network of eight coastal ports and 13 inland ports.

Download the Five-Year Capital improvement Plan 2007-2011 for the Ports Association of Louisiana.


Existing SouthEast Major Waterways and Ports
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Existing Louisiana Major Waterways and Ports
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Rail
Louisiana is one of only two sites in the United States where all six of North America's Class One railroads converge, providing great capacity and choice.

Highway
Louisiana is home to six interstate highways, all with access to water and rail connections.

Air
Louisiana’s public and commercial airports can accommodate the largest aircraft and are home to some of the world’s leading aerospace component manufacturers.

Louisiana's continued emphasis and investment in education, infrastructure and quality of life is moving Louisiana into the top tier of states in which to live, work, and do business in the 21st Century.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development organized the Louisiana Investment in Infrastructure for Economic Prosperity (LIIEP) Commission to update its Statewide Transportation Plan, an aid in the continuing development of Louisiana's transportation policy and planning framework to achieve its goals today and over the next 30 years.

Click here for the DOTD Overview & Summary. (.Pdf)

For additional information about transportation and logistics opportunities in Louisiana, please contact Don Pierson.

Don Pierson Assistant Secretary 225-342-4319 (phone) Pierson@la.gov

Logistics & Transportation Links