One of Greater Richmond’s key advantages for businesses is its strategic location on the East Coast’s longest thoroughfare, Interstate 95, while sitting midway between Maine and Florida. The region has a strategic location for both the Northeastern corridor as well as the growing population in the Southeast markets.
- More than 45 percent of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive of the area.
- More than 100 motor freight companies and brokers serve the area including specialists in heavy hauling, over dimensional loads and liquid or dry bulk.
- Fast shipping access is readily available with both FedEx and UPS regional hubs in the region.
- More than 40 courier companies offer scheduled and rush, local, intrastate and interstate services.
Roads
- Interstates I-64, I-95 and I-85 converge in the metro area and Interstate 81 is easily accessible just west of Richmond.
- Traffic is light — Richmond typically experiences less than one hour of congestion during rush hours compared to 4.6 in Atlanta and 4.7 in Baltimore.
- The average commute time is 25.6 minutes.
Runway
- RIC has Foreign Trade Zone #207 with U.S. Customs inspection on-site which grants greater flexibility in the designation of new “subzones” or “usage-driven” FTZ sites.
- Other air options include the Richmond Executive Airport (FCI) which is adjacent to Chesterfield Industrial Park with separate taxiways for industrial users; the Hanover County Airport is conveniently located just east of I-95; and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), one of the nation’s largest international airports, is only two hours driving time or 50 minutes by air from RIC.
Port
Rail
- Greater Richmond offers CSX and Norfolk Southern, two of the nation’s largest railroads, which both provide rail freight service.
- Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor project cleared the way for double-stack freight trains.
- CSX offers international container service via the National Gateway.
- AMTRAK provides passenger rail service with 11 northbound and 12 southbound trains each weekday.
More Information About Infrastructure