When you think about Louisiana, chances are your mind turns to New Orleans, Cajun Food, Mardi Gras, and dark swamps and bayous. All are part of Louisiana’s unique French-influenced culture, but today truck drivers in the Cajun State don’t have to worry about becoming bogged down in swamps — numerous interstates cross Louisiana offering access to points east, west, and north throughout the country. But of course, Louisiana begins and ends with one of the nation’s most important ports, New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. A word to the wise: with Louisiana’s petroleum, natural gas, and chemical production, it may be helpful to get your Hazardous Material endorsement.
Geographic Advantages
Louisiana’s geography, situated on the Gulf Cost between Texas and Mississippi, is an excellent location for industries such as offshore oil drilling. In fact, oil tankers from the Gulf and overseas line up to access the Port of New Orleans, while other vessels seek passage up the Mississippi River to inland ports. Likewise, the state has numerous interstate highway within its boundaries access other states in all directions.
Bordering States/Countries
Louisiana border Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi across the river to the east.
As the U.S. economy experiences is ups and downs, Louisiana plays a vital role in supplying the nation with a variety of products, including necessities such as oil and gasoline.
Products Moved by Trucks
When it comes to truck driver jobs, Louisiana offers a variety of industries in which a driver can specialize as well as a large number of companies and carriers offering truck driver jobs. Whether products are exported out of state, out of the country, or simply remain in the state for the use of those living in Louisiana, according to the latest data from World’s Top Exports, the following are the primary products moved by truck drivers and offering many truck driving jobs to those calling Louisiana home:
- Miscellaneous petroleum oils
- Soya beans
- Natural gas (liquid)
- Light petroleum oils
- Crude petroleum oils
- Corn
- Solid residues including soya bean oil-cake
- heat (excluding durum)
- olyvinyl chloride
- Miscellaneous organic/inorganic compounds
Louisiana Highways
Louisiana has several interstate highways and auxiliary interstates within its borders, all of which connect to major routes across the country in most any directions. Interstate highways within Louisiana total 789 of the state’s 130,000 lane miles of roadway and include:
I-10 (east-west) from Slidell, Mississippi to Orange, Texas
I-12 (east-west) from Baton Rouge to Slidell
I-20 (east west) from Vickburg, Mississippi to Texas state line near Greenwood
I-49 (north-south) from Lafayette to Arkansas state line
I-59 (north-south) from Slidell to Mississippi state line near Pearl River
I-55 Tennessee border near LaPlace to Kentwood
Auxiliary interstate around larger cities
For more information on Louisiana and its truck driver jobs, visit www.lmta.la