greater Omaha  transportation

Whether you’re moving people or products, Greater Omaha puts you in prime position. The area’s strategic location in the center of the country provides the efficiencies and cost savings of today’s leading modes of transportation.

Learn more about Air Transportation, Motor Transportation, Rail Transportation, Water Transportation and Commuter Transportation.

Air Transportation

Located just minutes from downtown, Greater Omaha’s Eppley Airfield is a major commercial airport that provided service to approximately 4.1 million passengers and 90 million pounds of cargo in 2012. In addition, it offers the capacity for continued growth to meet increasing demands.

Greater Omaha is serviced by 20 jet service air carriers, eight airfreight carriers and two full-service general aviation facilities.

The following table provides a list of nonstop flight and airline information for Eppley Airfield. 

View interactive map of Omaha destinations and routes.

Interstate and Highway Transportation

Located where Interstate 80 intersects with Interstate 29, Greater Omaha is at the crossroads for regional and national commerce. This makes it possible to reach the majority of U.S. destinations within two to three days by truck. As such, Expansion Management magazine has designated Omaha as a "Five Star Logistics Metro" for being in the top five percent of all metro areas nationwide for the Logistics Quotient. Factors considered for the quotient include overall transportation and distribution industry climate, workforce/labor costs/availability/skill levels, road/highway infrastructure and spending, road density/congestion/truck safety, road conditions, taxes and fees, railroad access, air service and interstate highway access.

Nebraska is home to 11,500 commercial motor freight carriers providing direct transcontinental access to national markets. Greater Omaha is home to one of the top 10 carriers in the nation, Werner Enterprises. An extensive availability of irregular route, contract and special commodity carriers completes the full array of over-the-road truck transportation available to metro area businesses.

Omaha’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 19, the only active general purpose FTZ in the state of Nebraska, benefits companies involved in international trade. Located on more than 17 acres of land with 250,000 square feet of warehouse space in the Riverfront Industrial Park, this general-purpose FTZ assists importers by allowing duty on imported goods to be reduced, deferred or even eliminated. As a designated port of entry, Omaha has a customs director just minutes away from the FTZ, allowing goods be imported and cleared quickly. Omaha’s central location as a transportation hub allows companies to move their goods around the country and the world quickly and efficiently.

Rail Transportation

Home to the nation’s first transcontinental railroad, Greater Omaha remains a leading rail center to such carriers as Union Pacific Railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Canadian National. The nation’s largest railroad company, Union Pacific Railroad, is headquartered in Omaha where the central location promotes efficient rail service and intermodal freight transportation to destinations across the U.S. and throughout North America.

Water Transportation

Greater Omaha is also served by several barge lines via the Missouri River. Six mainstream dams on the upper reaches of the Missouri River ensure adequate water for navigational purposes. River transportation is available March through November.  

The inland waterway system is available to Greater Omaha firms as a low-cost means of reaching both national and international markets. Commodities capable of movement in large volume, such as grain products, fertilizers, molasses, salt, cement, prepared animal foods, chemicals, iron, steel and newsprint are all products commonly shipped by barge lines.