Washington

At 3,020 miles, Interstate 90 is the longest US interstate highway — running from the waterfront of Seattle to the streets of Boston. Most of its length is manageable freight territory. But three segments make I-90 a serious winter corridor for commercial drivers: the Cascade passes of Washington State, the open range of Montana, and the Buffalo–Albany snow belt of upstate New York.

Understanding these segments, and knowing how to navigate them, is essential for any driver or dispatcher running the northern transcontinental freight lane.

Interstate 405 runs 30 miles along the eastern shore of Lake Washington from Renton in the south through Bellevue, Kirkland, and Bothell to its junction with I-5 at Lynnwood in the north. It is the primary bypass route for commercial vehicles avoiding downtown Seattle on I-5, and it is widely regarded among truckers as one of the most difficult urban driving environments in the western US.

The combination of extremely high traffic volume, curves and hills that are unusual for an interstate, a chronically degraded road surface, and aggressive driving behavior from a tech-corridor commuter population creates conditions that demand constant attention from commercial drivers.