Colorado

For commercial truck drivers, no single stretch of US interstate commands more respect — or fear — than the 150 miles of Interstate 70 between Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado. Combining extreme elevation, sustained steep grades, avalanche terrain, mandatory chain laws, and weather that can change from clear to whiteout in minutes, this corridor is responsible for a disproportionate share of serious commercial vehicle accidents in North America.

If you are dispatching or driving freight through Colorado, this guide is essential reading.

US Highway 550 between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado has a name that sounds glamorous — the Million Dollar Highway — and a reputation that is anything but. The 25-mile stretch of two-lane mountain road climbs to over 11,000 feet, carves across sheer cliff faces with no guardrails and no shoulder, and in winter becomes one of the most unforgiving stretches of pavement open to commercial vehicles in North America.

For truck drivers, this road demands a level of preparation and respect normally reserved for major alpine passes. It is not a shortcut. It is not a route to run casually.

Colorado sits at the intersection of two of the highest transcontinental freight routes in North America: I-70 crossing the Continental Divide at the Eisenhower Tunnel, and US-160 serving the southwestern corner of the state. Both routes have sections that force trucks onto some of the most demanding roads in commercial driving — roads that make the already-challenging main corridors look mild by comparison.

This article covers two of those routes: Loveland Pass (US-6) and Wolf Creek Pass (US-160).