KC SmartPort FAQ

Q. What is Kansas City SmartPort?

A. KC SmartPort, Inc., is the global authority on transportation and logistics opportunities in the 18-county, bi-state Kansas City region.

Q. What organizations created Kansas City SmartPort?

A. KC SmartPort was created jointly by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas City Area Development Council, and the Mid-America Regional Council.

Q. How can I take advantage of KC SmartPort?

A. There are many ways. First, you can use this web site to gain more information about the transportation and logistics industy in the KC region.  In addition to the web site, KC SmartPort's founding organizations, the Greater KC Chamber, KCADC, and MARC, offer many resources you can take advantage of.

Q. How does the Kansas City area compare to other cities in the transportation and logistics industry?

A. Kansas City is one of the leading centers of commerce in the central United States. The city is a major transportation hub. About 400 flights a day come and go from Kansas City International Airport.   KC is one of only five U.S. cities with three intersecting interstate highways (I-70, I-29, and I-35). The city's rail system carries 300 daily freight arrivals and departures. Kansas City ranks first in foreign trade zone space, underground storage space, greeting card publishing, frozen food storage and distribution, and hard winter wheat marketing. It ranks second in wheat flour production. Both General Motors and Ford have major plants here, ranking Kansas City eighth in the nation in auto assembly.

Q. Where is the SmartPort Facility located?

SmartPort is not a physical port, SmartPort has an office in Downtown Kansas City, but the organization’s main function is to market the Kansas City area with all of the transportation assets.  SmartPort markets all of the transportation assets in the 18-county, 50 cities and 2-state region.

Q. What is the Kansas City Customs Clearance Facility?

This facility will house U.S. and Mexican Customs Officials who will clear freight going southbound to Mexico.  This facility will be for U.S. exports only, once the goods been cleared by U.S. and Mexican Customs in Kansas City then an electronic seal will be placed on the container, which can track the trucks all the way to its destination.  This operation will expedite service at the border into Mexico. 

Q. Will the goods coming from the Mexican Port of Lazaro Cardenas be cleared by Mexican Customs in Kansas City?

First of all the Lazaro Cardenas to Kansas City Corridor is an existing trade corridor that SmartPort promotes.  This route is merely an alternative to congested west coast ports to bring goods into the U.S.  This is a separate project from the Customs Facility.

Second, freight from a foreign country coming into the U.S. must be processed and cleared by the U.S. customs and Border Protection Agency.

Q. Why is SmartPort building a Super highway?

Recently this has been a common misconception.  SmartPort is not building a super highway, but is simply promoting the Interstate 35 Corridor which runs north and south through North America.  This corridor exists today, but there is not a plan to expand all of I-35 into a 12 lane highway.