Tennessee businesses enjoy access to fast and efficient railroad service. Six Class 1 railroads (out of seven in the U.S.) operate in Tennessee, creating 2,177 miles of rail. Railroads include BNSF, Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. Twenty-one shortline railroads provide an additional 763 miles of rail.

Memphis is the third largest rail center in the U.S., trailing only Chicago and St. Louis. Memphis is also one of only four U.S. cities served by five or more of the seven long-haul Class 1 rail systems.

Our network of eight interstate highways puts most major U.S. markets within a day’s drive or less. Tennessee ranks #1 in the southeast for truck transportation employment and employment in the couriers and messengers sector.

Distance in driving miles from Tennessee cities to selected major markets:

Tennessee is home to 79 airports, including the second busiest cargo airport in the world (Memphis International). Besides our five commercial airports, Tennessee businesses are served by 74 general aviation airports and 148 heliports.

In Tennessee, you’ll have access to more than 1,000 miles of navigable waterways, plus 950 miles of inland waterways.

Tennessee has 165 miles of Mississippi River-front property. Of the nation’s inland and navigable waterways, an estimated 75% are within the Mississippi River system, making it the busiest water transportation artery in the country.

Memphis is the second-busiest port on the Mississippi River and the fifth-busiest inland port in the U.S. The International Port of Memphis is the largest stillwater harbor on the Mississippi River and is ice free year-round.

The port of Cates Landing is located on the Mississippi River. It is accessible to barge traffic year-round with up to 14,000 linear feet of slack water and is a Foreign Trade Zone.

Tennessee is part of the four-state region of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, which provides the state access of the Gulf of Mexico harbors and international markets. The waterway links to 4,500 miles of navigable waterways serving 23 states throughout the South and Midwest.

Tennessee ranks second in favorable utility rates in 2017, according to Area Development.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the nation’s largest public power provider, TVA delivers reliable and competitively priced electric power that gives businesses and families more opportunity to prosper.

• The TVA service area in Tennessee covers about 42,028 square miles, about 49 percent of TVA’s territory and 99.7 percent of Tennessee. This includes an electricity service area of 42,143 square miles and a watershed management area of 22,514 square miles.
• In fiscal year 2017, TVA sold over 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to 61 municipals and 22 cooperatively owned utilities that distribute power in Tennessee.
• Since 2000, the TVA system has delivered 99.999 percent transmission reliability. 
• TVA’s power rates are 17% lower than the national average.
• TVA has made the strategic decision to continually increase generation capacity through low-cost, carbon-free sources. To that end, TVA is continuing to expand its nuclear resources

Telecommunications

• 89% of Tennesseans live in census blocks where at least one provider offers broadband
• The recently enacted Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act (TBAA) aims to spread broadband access to more Tennesseans while promoting practices that increase deployment and encourage broadband adoption. The legislation established the Broadband Accessbility Grant Program providing $30 million over a three-year period for deployment to unserved homes and businesses. TheTBAA also provides a tax credit to private service providers totaling $15 million over three years ($5 million per year) based on the purchase of broadband equipment used to provide broadband access in our most economically challenged counties. 

• #1 for Logistics Leaders (Memphis, 2016)
• #2 for Best Infrastructure – CNBC ranked Tennessee as No. 2 for Best Infrastructure in its rankings of America’s Top States for Business (2017).
• #1 in the Southeast (No. 2 nationally) for Best Infrastructure – Business Facilities (2017)
• Tennessee ranks No. 1 in the  nation for employment per 1,000 jobs in transportation and material moving occupations (2017).

From the terminal at the International Port of Memphis, shipments can reach 132 metropolitan markets, representing over 60 percent of the U.S. population, overnight.