I-40

Interstate 40 replaced Route 66 as the primary east-west freight corridor across the American Southwest, and it has inherited all of Route 66’s exposure to one of the most demanding environments a highway can occupy: desert heat, expansive terrain, sparse services, and a climate that destroys road infrastructure faster than maintenance budgets can keep up with it. Between the California border and the Oklahoma state line, I-40 passes through approximately 1,000 miles of some of the roughest pavement on the US interstate system.

Interstate 40 between Little Rock, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee is a roughly 135-mile corridor through the Arkansas River Valley and the Mississippi Delta that most commercial drivers approach with zero concern. The terrain is flat. The alignment is straight. There are no mountain passes, no steep grades, no dramatic features.

It’s that complacency that makes this section so dangerous.

The Southern Ice Problem

Ice storms behave differently in southern states than in northern ones, and the difference matters enormously for commercial drivers.