Once a stop on the famously scenic and photogenic Route 66, Rolla is now the go-to I-44 location for shipping speed and access, accelerating supply chains and brightening the profit picture for diverse industries through excellent logistics and proximity. Highway speed, multimodal options—Rolla puts your operation in control and opportunity at your door.
Bisecting Missouri and Rolla with its diagonal east-west route, I-44 runs from Wichita Falls, Texas through Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Joplin, and Springfield to an eastern terminus in St. Louis, where the new Mississippi River bridge enhances connections to a nationwide interstate network that includes I-65 to Chicago. I-44 also connects in both Missouri and Oklahoma to I-35, the nation’s third longest north-south interstate route offering Mexico-to-Canada access.
In Rolla, the I-44 intersection with U.S. Highway 63 and Missouri State Highway 72 adds immediate north-south arteries for pan-directional ease and speed. Rolla’s highway location and logistics extend your reach.
Supplying speed, service and added sector strength: As a prime mover of materials and goods, I-44 is also a major draw for the transportation, distribution and storage sector. Approximately 33% of Missouri’s transportation and warehousing companies—accounting for 43% of the state’s total employment in that sector—has located along I-44. That means superb service for Rolla industry, as well as added sector opportunity.]
Rolla National Airport: Municipally owned and operated and located just 15 minutes north of the city, the Rolla National Airport at Vichy originated as an Army airfield and today serves as a commanding travel hub for executive and corporate jets, accommodating non-precision VOR/DME and GPS approaches and aircraft with up to 130,000-lb. tandem-wheel main landing gear configurations. FBO services include fuel sales, hangar and tie-down rental, with private hangar rental and flight instruction also available.
Lambert International: Just 90 minutes from Rolla, the St. Louis Lambert International Airport keeps the nation on the move as one of the Top 50 Busiest Airports in the world, serving over 12 million passengers annually. Lambert offers non-stop flights across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean through 13 commercial carriers with negotiations underway for direct service to China.
Both Rolla and St. James offer immediate access to the BNSF Railway, the nation’s second largest freight rail network. This leading Class I carrier provides ample capacity and extended reach throughout the nation’s critical Midwestern and Western markets.
Barge: Lock-free, ice-free, cost-effective year-round shipping.
Less than 2 hours away, the multi-modal Port of Metropolitan St. Louis (PMLS) offers Mississippi River transport that is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The nation’s third busiest inland port, PMLS is also the northernmost port on the Mississippi providing ice- and lock-free shipping year-round.