Nashville's strategic central North American location, within 650 miles of half the U.S. population and 75% of its major markets, has made it a transportation hub with a wide range of resources essential to moving products and people.

Highlighting these resources is the 4,417-acre Nashville International Airport, served by 16 scheduled air carriers and the Nashville Air Cargo all-cargo complex. The scheduled passenger carriers currently operate 400 average daily operations, providing direct service to 89 markets, with limitless global connections. Freight facilities are located adjacent to the airport's passenger terminal.

Air cargo integrators, charter cargo airlines and air express companies operate daily from the Nashville Air Cargo all-cargo complex. The complex, located across the airfield from the airport's passenger facility, is within five minutes of Interstate 40. It provides taxiway access to Nashville International's three parallel runways and crosswind international runway. A fifth runway is planned to meet growing demand for cargo and passenger services.

Nashville's river, road and rail resources complement its excellent airport infrastructure, providing an outstanding shipping and distribution network. Three major U. S. interstate highways intersect in Nashville (I-40,I-65 & I-24), which is served by 140 freight carriers and more than 150 truck terminals. The Port of Nashville provides full river barge access to the Gulf of Mexico. CSX Transportation serves Nashville with a major intermodal rail yard for the Southeast. An average of 90 trains and 7,200 rail cars roll through Nashville daily, making the city an important rail interchange point. More than twenty international forwarders offer domestic and international services, including same-day and overnight shipping, cargo charter and custom brokerage services.

Prime location and easy, cost-effective accessibility have made the Nashville/Middle Tennessee economy one of the most diverse in the United States. The local economy generates all types of shipments, from small, high-value items to "just-in-time" manufacturing components. As an entertainment, printing and publishing center, Nashville products that need to get to market quickly include records, CDs, videotapes, musical instruments, books and periodicals. Other high-value, time-sensitive products either going to market or required for manufacturing include electronics, telecommunications equipment, computers, pharmaceuticals for Nashville's massive health care industry, automobile parts for Middle Tennessee's Saturn and Nissan plants and aircraft components.

A continued influx of business and industry to Middle Tennessee has created a growing demand for more domestic and international airfreight capacity. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority is currently rehabilitating and enlarging Nashville Air Cargo facilities. It has dedicated a total of 113 acres for continued expansion of airfreight services for this thriving cargo market.