Washington car shipping

Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane on I-5 and I-90

Washington’s car traffic hangs on two interstates. I-5 strings the Puget Sound metros together, from Everett through Seattle and Tacoma to Olympia and Vancouver. I-90 is the east-west spine: it leaves Seattle, climbs Snoqualmie Pass, drops to Ellensburg and crosses the Columbia Basin to Spokane. A move between the two halves of the state nearly always means crossing the Cascades, and from late fall to spring that crossing sets the schedule.

Licensing a car at a Washington vehicle office

A new arrival gets 30 days to obtain a Washington driver license and register each vehicle, and the license has to come first. Plates come from a vehicle licensing office, not a driver licensing office; bring the current title and note the odometer reading before you walk in.

Use tax comes up next. The Department of Revenue exempts a private car that was acquired and used in another state for more than 90 days before the move, provided it is licensed here within 30 days; the old state’s registration is the usual proof. Motor homes, trailers and off-road vehicles do not qualify. A Washington State Patrol VIN inspection is kept for special cases such as rebuilt or total-loss vehicles, homemade builds and VIN discrepancies.

Emissions after Washington ended tailpipe testing

The Department of Ecology closed the emission check program on January 1, 2020, after 38 years, so owners no longer test a car before renewing its tabs. The Clean Car Law matters for nearly new cars: a 2009 or newer passenger vehicle with fewer than 7,500 miles, bought by a Washington resident, must be certified to California standards. A car bought before you became a resident is exempt at any mileage.

Cascade passes from November to April

Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 and Stevens Pass on US 2 each average more than 450 inches of snow a winter. Avalanche control usually halts traffic for 30 minutes to two hours, longer after a big storm. From November 1 to April 1, every vehicle over 10,000 pounds, a weight any loaded car hauler exceeds, must carry chains on I-90 between North Bend and Ellensburg and on the US 2 and US 12 pass sections, and signs can demand chains on heavy vehicles alone. Chinook Pass, Cayuse Pass and the North Cascades Highway close for the season, so winter traffic has fewer ways over the mountains.

Demand follows the national calendar, busiest in June and July and quietest in January and February. Those quiet weeks overlap chain season, so a winter move across the mountains trades a calmer market for a looser delivery date.

Tacoma, the dock for Alaska

The Port of Tacoma handles about 80% of the marine cargo moving between Alaska and the Lower 48, and personal vehicles roll aboard twice-weekly sailings to Anchorage. An Alaska-bound car from Spokane or another state therefore usually ends its road leg at a Tacoma terminal, where the sailing schedule, not the highway, sets the arrival date.