US 26 Winter Driving Advice

So I have a 43,000 lb reefer load coming from Western WA to eastern OR (details somewhat vague for load security). and the fastest route is over US-26.

If ODOT says 26 is packed snow the morning beforehand, with clear weather the night before the delivery, is it better to go US 97 (which is solidly bare and wet all week) even if that means it’s dumping snow on Snoqualnie Pass right now?

Is it better to go as far as I can without snow (aka the 26) or tackle the snow first going all the way around I90 and Highway 97? The 97 option seems like it may require an awkward 30 minute break (although I guess on duty chaining makes that less awkward) if it takes 8 hours or more due to inclement weather.

Bear in mind, I’m one of those truckers who goes 55 on bare and wet, 60 mph on bare and dry, and about 15-25 max on ice, so I don’t speed or push it being heavy haul.

Also, hypothetically if it takes 6-8 hours to get there, and your delivery is in the wee hours of the night, but your delivery isn’t ready until 13 hours before your appointment time, when is the optimal sweet spot time in which to leave?

For hypothetical example, say the delivery was due at 0400 and the pickup reefer isn’t ready until 1500, is it better to leave at 1500 to get there by 2200 or leave more like around 2100 to get there closer to my delivery time? I’d rather go over any mountain pass during daylight hours. Did I just answer my own question?

Thank you very much,

Overthinking Rook

Without having at least general cities on pick up n destination it's hard to day. But if your route involves going over Snoqualmie, that means Seattle area to south eastern Oregon. That's more than a 6 hour trip. Not sure where you're getting your calculations from. But considering the weather and your comfort/experience level, consider that your more likely to average 40 mph, 6 hours is 240 miles.

In general, without checking specific weather, Snoqualmie is a low elevation pass, it gets a lot of wet heavy snow but it also melts quickly.

I usually don't take 26 because it's tight, has a lot of elevation changes and you make better time going down 97. In either case, you're average speed is going to be much slower than tsking interstates. 97 has a lot of towns, curves and a lot of it is two lane. Conditions change rapidly and US highways get treated after interstates. They don't have a high of priority.

Good that you're trip planning, here's some tools I use.

Where you're hauling to and from?

HOS , on all clocks?

Weight?

Weather on the routes?

Adjust average speed for the above. How many miles based on conditions will you get each day?

Set stop points, break points and ETA?

Try Driveweather app. It's easy to use, it's based off NOAA.

Also Ventuski app, windy app, and SafetravelUSA which houses all 511 apps for road conditions. Also monitor your NOAA all hazards radio constantly to keep updated on changes as they occur.

Once you have an idea of how long it's going to take you, you can give that info to your dispatcher so they can make adjustments.