Tennessee to Washington Car Shipping Guides

Moving to Washington

• Washington is the front door to Alaska

  The Northwest Seaport Alliance says more than 80% of the total trade volume between Alaska and the lower 48 moves through its North and South harbors at Seattle and Tacoma, and its facilities handle automobiles and trucks. If your shipment is bound for Anchorage or Fairbanks, the Washington part is a short road leg feeding a scheduled sailing. Ask which sailing the quote assumes: missing it costs days, not hours, and no amount of driver goodwill recovers it.

• The mountains decide a Washington winter, not Seattle

  Most of the state's population sits west of the Cascades on I-5, where winter is wet rather than closed. The crossing to Spokane and the east runs over passes on I-90, and those are what shut in a storm. A December delivery from Seattle to Spokane is a mountain job with a pass forecast attached, while one from Seattle to Portland is not. If your route crosses the range, the pass conditions matter more than either city's weather.

• Two populated corners with a long gap between

  Carriers run I-5 between Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma and Portland constantly, so pickups along that corridor are easy to schedule. East of the Cascades the towns are farther apart and the traffic is thinner, so a pickup in the Tri-Cities or the Palouse waits longer than the mileage suggests. Meeting a carrier on the I-90 corridor is often quicker than holding out for a door collection well off it.