Recent Alaska Shipping News

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Public Transportation
Ride-shares and rentals
Final word
 

Public transportation and green options

When you ship your car to Alaska, you will be without your car for a while. The exact timeframe will depend on several things but the distance of your shipment will be the most important. Overall, car shipments to Alaska can take between 5 and 18 days. If you are shipping a vehicle to Alaska from Seattle, it will typically take 5 or 6 days. If you are shipping a car to Alaska from Miami, Florida it will usually take 16 to 18 days.

If you are shipping your car to Alaska and you will be without a car for a few days or more, you can always make use of the various public transportation options that you will have. You can take local buses for an extremely low price, or you can take a train or subway depending on where exactly you are in the country. In certain cases, such as Alaska itself, there are some options for taking ferries in order to get around.

Using public transportation is an environmentally friendly option but there are also a couple of other green options that you can choose from in order to get from point A to B while your car ships to Alaska. If wherever you typically travel is close enough, you can always decide to walk there. You can also ride a bike if you have one or you can rent one for a fairly low cost.
 

Ride-shares and rentals

You will also have the option of taking a ride somewhere using a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft. In many more populated areas in the country including Alaska, you still have the option of taking a yellow cab. If you decide to go with a ride-share in order to get around in Alaska, you should consider using an app like Obi. Apps like these will compare all ride-share prices along with many taxi prices with current pricing accurate to within a couple of minutes. You will also have the option of jumping from the app to whichever more lowly priced ride-share app that you choose.

Finally, you will also have the option of renting a car while your car is in transit to Alaska. Renting a car tends to be the most expensive option unless you are someone who uses their car for several trips each day at which point using ride-shares/taxis will be the most expensive option. Although it can be costly, renting a car will give you the comfort and convenience of having your own car at your disposal at all times.
 

Final word

When you ship your car to Alaska, you will not have that car for a period of about one to two weeks depending on where you are shipping it from. During that period, you will need to be able to get around if you need to go to work or to the store. Thankfully, you will have a bunch of different options to choose from including taking a bus or train, walking or bicycling, taking a ride-share or taxi, or you can even rent a car. Not all of these options will be available everywhere but at least a few will be. Some options also tend to be more expensive than others such as renting a car.

Jump to section:
Where to park to avoid scratches
How to drive to avoid scratches
Final word
 

Where to park to avoid scratches

No wants to end up with scratches on their car regardless of how they occurred. However, scratches will have the best chance of happening when your car is parked no matter where you are in Alaska. This includes being parked in a parking lot as well as being parked on the street. This makes most sense when you consider that there is no way for you to steer clear of any obstacles that could scratch your car when it is parked and/or you are not even in it.

To minimize the risk of your car being scratched when choosing a place to park it, you should think in terms of minimizing the chances of another car, person or obstacle making contact with your car when it is parked. You can minimize the chances of something or someone making contact with your car when it is parked by using the following tips:

• Do not park under trees or anywhere close to bushes as they have the potential to have branches fall or blow off if the wind happens to pick up.
• If they’re open, always park in an end space because it will eliminate the possibility of your car getting scratched by a car pulling in or out of one of the spaces next to you. This will usually also allow you to park all the way to one side of a space which will decrease the chance of your car getting scratched on the side with a car next to it.
• If you can possibly avoid it, do not park in an area with high amounts of automotive or bicycle traffic. If you park on the side of a busy street, you risk your car being clipped or sideswiped by another vehicle or bike rider.
• If a space looks like it is too tight, then it is too tight to park in without a high risk of your car being scratched.

How to drive to avoid scratches

You can obviously also end up with scratches on your car when you are driving it. Sometimes the scratches could be your fault, other times they might be the fault of another driver, or they might be no one’s fault at all. However, if you drive carefully enough with enough focus on the road ahead, you will be able to avoid the vast majority of scratches to your vehicle.

1. Always stay alert and be on the lookout for things that are sticking out into the path of your car. This includes things like street signs, branches from trees, or anything else that looks like it might have a chance of touching your car as you drive by.
2. Avoid driving anywhere close to other cars that are driving aggressively or erratically. When someone is driving like that, it will be impossible to predict what they will do next, and they will likely not signal when they do.
3. It might seem obvious but never drive through an area that looks like it could be a tight squeeze for your car or that has a very low clearance. It is extremely easy to have your car scratched.

Final word

Ending up with a bad scratch on your car can really impact its appearance negatively and can be very costly to repair. The cost to repair a scratch on your car’s paint in 2023 could be anywhere from $200 to $1000. Avoiding a scratch will be the most cost-effective option as well as the most convenient. To avoid having your car scratched, avoid parking too close to another car, on streets with lots of traffic or near trees and/or bushes. When you are driving, do your best to always drive defensively, keep your eye out for objects that could scratch your car from the side of the road such as tree branches and never drive near anyone who is driving in a reckless manner.

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Statistics about drunk driving
Penalties for driving drunk
Wrapping up
 

Statistics about drunk driving

Drunk driving is the most senseless and irresponsible decision that you can make as a driver. Driving under the influence of alcohol means you are risking the safety and lives of all other drivers out on the road. It is also one of the most avoidable offenses you can commit since there are so many alternate transportation options available to everyone in 2023 primarily including ride-share apps like Uber.
Here are some of the most troubling statistics about drunk driving:

• On average in the US, a person is killed by a drunk driver every hour. That’s about 9,000 deaths due to drunk driving per year.
• Fatalities resulting from drunk driving crashes resulted in almost one third of all traffic related deaths.
• A 2019 survey indicated that more than one in twenty adult aged drivers admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol at least once in the previous year.
• According to the most recent data, drunk driving accounted for 33% of all traffic related fatalities in Alaska.
• The CDC estimated that people drove under the influence almost 150 million times back in 2018.

Penalties for driving drunk

The penalties that someone could receive in Alaska if they are caught driving drunk or cause an accident are justifiably severe. Not only will you face the loss of your driving privileges for an extended period as well as jail time and community service, but you will also suffer big financial consequences as well including sky high insurance premiums.
In Alaska, the penalties for drunk driving are as follows:

1. First drunk driving offense – No less than three days in jail, a $1,500 fine and a three-month long license suspension.
2. Second drunk driving offense – No less than 20 days in jail, a $3,000 fine and a year-long license suspension.
3. Third drunk driving offense – No less than 60 days in jail, a $4,000 fine and a three-year long license suspension.

However, the financial cost might be the worst penalty of all when you are caught driving drunk in Alaska. On top of thousands of dollars in fines, a driver will additionally face a tremendous burden in legal fees if caught driving drunk. On average, legal fees for a DWI defense in 2023 cost approximately $1,500 to $10,000 overall depending on the severity of your particular case. And that is not it. Your insurance premiums will rise as well. When you are convicted driving drunk in Alaska, your car insurance premiums can increase by about 50% or more in some cases. If you pay the average car insurance rate in Alaska of $1,000 per year, that means your rates will increase to $1,500 per year or more if you are caught drunk driving.
 

Wrapping up

Drunk driving is completely awful and should never even be a consideration when you need to get home after a night of drinking. Each year around 9,000 people die in the United States due to drunk driving. On top of possiblly being responsible for someone being injured or dying, you will face severe fines, extremely high insurance premiums, massive legal fees, a long license suspension and jail time if you are caught drunk driving.

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How to maximize visibility
How you can ensure your car is visible
Other ways to stay safe at night when driving in Alaska
Wrapping up
 

How to maximize visibility

Driving at night in Alaska anywhere other than areas like Fairbanks and Anchorage will have a maximum amount of darkness to deal with. In cities such as Fairbanks and Anchorage, there is an abundance of light from many streetlights and buildings all in one condensed area. When you actually get out onto the highways in Alaska, especially the more remote highways such as Dalton Highway, light and visibility will come at a minimum. This is why you will want to maximize your visibility when you are driving at night in Alaska.

Obviously, you will want to ensure that your headlights and high beams are both working before you start driving and that you use each of them at the appropriate times when driving at night. You can also ensure that your windshield has been properly cleaned. If your vehicle’s windshield is dirty, this can directly cause lower visibility and it can indirectly lower visibility as well by causing glare when an oncoming car’s headlights hit your windshield.

Also, ensure that your wiper blades are functioning correctly and that you have enough windshield wiper fluid if needed. Finally, if you need glasses to drive at night or in general, make sure you wear them and that they are clean. To take that a step further, you can also use an anti-glare coating on your glasses to reduce the possibility of glare from occurring at night from other driver’s headlights.
 

How you can ensure your car is visible

Another big part of staying safe as you drive in Alaska at night will be to make sure that your car is as visible as possible to other drivers. If someone cannot see your car, they will not be able to even try to avoid colliding with you.

Other drivers being able to see your car out on the road will also begin with your headlights and high beams both working correctly and being used at the appropriate times. However, you also need to ensure that drivers behind you will be able to see you as well. This means that you will also need to check your taillights and brake lights regularly in order to ensure that they are functioning correctly. If you have a dark colored car, you might want to consider using some reflective tape on the front, sides and back of your car in order to make your car stand out as much as possible as well.

If you need to pull over to the side of the road, keep your car running so that your headlights and taillights remain on without draining the battery. However, you also should turn your hazard lights on as well. Your hazards are not only additional lights that will be on, but they blink which draws extra attention to them.
 

Other ways to stay safe at night when driving in Alaska

If maximizing safety as you drive at night in Alaska is a top priority for you, you should realize that being able to see clearly and being able to be seen is just part of what you should be concerned with. You will also need to heighten your focus as much as possible as well as maximize your potential reaction time. In Alaska, on top of inclement weather conditions there could be hazards in the road such as downed trees or various animals crossing the road such as moose or bears.

In order to keep complete focus on driving and the road ahead ensure you do the following:

• Eliminate any distractions such as cell phone use, overly loud music and eating while driving.
• Get enough sleep the night before you drive because if you are too tired, you will be focused on staying awake rather than the road ahead.
• Know your exact route or have directions read to you by an app or passenger. If you need to occasionally take your eyes off the road to peak at a phone or GPS, your focus will not be entirely on driving.

To be able to maximize your reaction time when driving at night, you must:

• Keep extra distance between you and the car in front of you. If someone driving in front of you has to stop short for any reason, having extra space in front of you to complete a stop can save you from getting into an accident.
• Be ready to be surprised. Always keep your hands at ten and two and drive defensively at all times. You never know when you might need to suddenly stop or drive around something.
• Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will dull everything you do, even some basic motor functions such as speaking correctly will be dulled. It will certainly slow your reaction time while driving.

Wrapping up

Driving at night in Alaska can be challenging, as visibility is significantly reduced it can be more difficult to see other vehicles, wildlife crossings, and other obstacles on the road. You need to increase your visibility as much as you can, maximize the ability for other drivers to see you, stay focused on the road and give yourself as much potential reaction time as possible. If you need to transport a car to Alaska from any US state or from Alaska to any US state, our vehicle logistics experts will get the job done, give us a call today for a free quote at (907) 331-3100.

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How easy is it to ship a motorcycle to Alaska?
Alaska motorcycle shipping preparation
How much does it cost to ship a motorcycle to Alaska?
 

How easy is it to ship a motorcycle to Alaska?

Contrary to what some might believe, shipping a motorcycle to Alaska is actually quite easy and convenient. The process is as simple as booking your shipment, doing a little bit of preparation and being present for both the pickup of your motorcycle, and then picking it up at the port in Alaska. The process will begin with a call to your preferred motorcycle shipping company such as Alaska Car Transport. During the call you will be able to get a shipping quote with an estimated price and transit time. At that point you can ask any questions you might have and then you can choose to lock in and schedule your shipment or you can call back at another time to do so.

Whether you book your shipment during the initial call or in the future, you should then make arrangements so that you will be able to be present for the motorcycle’s pickup. You will need to be available for a window of about two days for the pickup. This is because it is not possible for a motorcycle shipping company to guarantee an exact date/time of pickup.

You should also plan and make any arrangements that you need to in order to be able to pickup your motorcycle at the port. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to get your motorcycle shipped any further than the particular port that you have chosen to ship the bike to. Each port will have specific hours when you can pick your motorcycle up, storage charges and documentation requirements, so it is best to call them and verify all of this prior to going there to pickup your motorcycle.
 

Alaska motorcycle shipping preparation

The preparation for your motorcycle transport will also be easy. In fact, you will be able to complete it within a day or two prior to the beginning of your scheduled pickup window. You should start the preparation for your shipment by ensuring that your motorcycle has just about a quarter tank of fuel. It cannot have any more than this because its transportation will require that it be shipped for part of the journey on a cargo ship. It is against fire regulations for any vehicle, including motorcycles, to have more than a quarter tank of fuel when it is aboard one of these ships. However, you will still need a little bit of gas in the bike to operate it once you pick it up from the port in Alaska, otherwise you will need to haul it home yourself. Unfortunately, there are no carriers available to take your bike from the port to your home in Alaska.

Once you ensure that you have about a quarter tank of fuel in the bike, you will need to remove any detachable parts and personal items from the motorcycle. This will include any gloves, sunglasses, helmets or anything else like that. Finally, you will need to get the motorcycle washed or clean it yourself. This will allow your motorcycle transport driver to conduct a mandatory visual inspection for preexisting damage.
 

How much does it cost to ship a motorcycle to Alaska?

Overall, the cost of shipping a motorcycle to Alaska will typically cost between $0.30 and $1.20 per mile. This is given in a range because the cost to ship a motorcycle to Alaska will be dependent on several variables that unfortunately cannot be predicted beyond giving you an estimate in the form of a quote. These things include the total distance of your shipment, the time during the year that you are shipping your motorcycle, the traffic along your transit route (if you chose to have your bike picked up from your home) and the weather along your shipping route.

Jump to section:
The location of your blind spot when you are driving
How to safely check your blind spot
Final word
 

The location of your blind spot when you are driving

The position of your blind spot when you are driving is behind and to the side of the driver on each side of the car. Specifically, the blind spot is the area that is not visible in the side mirrors or rearview mirror. It is normally located over either of the driver’s shoulders and extends diagonally toward the rear of the car.

Failing to check your blind spot before merging onto a highway or changing lanes can lead to disastrous consequences. It can result in a crash with another vehicle, which can cause significant damage to either car, injuries, and even death. Blind spot collisions cause over eight hundred thousand deaths per year and several hundred fatalities according to the NHTSA.
 

How to safely check your blind spot

Checking your blind spot is a simple process, but one that must be done correctly and never haphazardly. You can safely check your blind spot in Alaska by:

1. Adjust your mirrors – Adjust your sideview mirrors to ensure they are positioned correctly to minimize your blind spot. You should be able to see the sides of your car in the mirrors as well as the space directly next to the side of your car. If you cannot see both with your sideview mirrors, then they are not correctly adjusted.
2. Check over your shoulder – Prior to changing lanes, turn your head and look over your shoulder in the direction you intend to go. This will help you identify any cars, pedestrians, or other obstacles that might be in your blind spot.
3. Use blind spot assist technology – Many newer vehicles come equipped with blind spot assist technology. This feature will alert you if a vehicle is in your blind spot using visual warnings and/or physical assistance. There are a few different types of blind spot assist technology. In general, a warning light will either appear on your windshield or sideview mirror. With really advanced blind spot assist technology, this can be paired with steering and/or braking assistance.
4. Use your peripheral vision – Even with your mirrors adjusted correctly, it’s still important to use your peripheral vision to scan your surroundings while driving. This will help you identify any potential hazards, including those in your blind spot.

However, you should be aware that using your peripheral vision or your car’s blind spot assist technology will not be a substitute for actually turning your head and physically checking your blind spot. You will still need to completely check your blind spot before you change lanes or merge.
 

Final word

It’s crucial to prioritize your safety and that of other drivers by checking your blind spot before merging onto a highway or changing lanes. Despite thoroughly examining your side and rearview mirrors, cars in your blind spot will not be visible. Therefore, it’s imperative to rapidly turn your head towards the direction you intend to merge and check your blind spot before proceeding. If you are considering shipping a car to Alaska and are wondering how much it might cost or how long it will take, you can always get an estimate for your specific shipping needs by using our Alaska car shipping calculator at anytime!

Jump to section:
The benefits of leasing a car
The drawbacks of leasing a car
Final word
 

The benefits of leasing a car

Leasing a vehicle is a great way to be able to drive around in a new car without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars buying a new one. However, there are both positive and negative aspects to leasing a car.

The benefits of leasing a car begin with your ability to have a new car without having to pay the extremely high price of buying it outright. Even if you buy a new car through financing, your monthly payments for leasing the same vehicle will almost always be lower by at least 30%. Leasing a car will also allow you to drive the newest and nicest cars that you likely could not afford otherwise. In addition, when you lease a car, the dealership will typically cover most of or all scheduled maintenance such as oil changes and tire rotations.

When you lease a car, the biggest advantage might be driving a new car not because it is nice or raises your social status but because new cars always have the least problems, are typically the safest and usually perform the best. Finally, when your lease is up, you just bring your car back to the dealer and renew your lease, get a new lease on another car or buy/finance a car, you will not need to worry about selling or trading in your old car. Selling your car or negotiating the best trade-in price can take weeks. When you choose to lease a car, you will always avoid that.
 

The drawbacks of leasing a car

As we mentioned, there are also several drawbacks to leasing a vehicle. You will only be able to use the car for two-to-three years. At the end of the lease, you will be able to renew it or, in rare cases buy it (if you selected “lease to own” at the time of signing your lease). You will have a very limited number of miles in which to use the car for. If you exceed this limit, you will be contractually obligated to pay penalty fees which can vary but will be somewhere between $0.20 $0.50 per mile. Most two-to-three-year leases will only allow you to put ten to fifteen thousand miles on the vehicle. If you do not keep the car in near perfect condition, you will also have to pay penalty fees for “wear and tear”. This includes interior damage like stains and rips as well as exterior damage such as scratches and dents. There also can be termination fees at the end of the lease. Leasing a car also prevents you from making any customizations to the car with few exceptions such as moderate window tinting.

The biggest disadvantage to leasing a car over buying a car is the same disadvantage between renting an apartment and buying a house – the payments never stop. Obviously the payments end when your lease does but so does your ability to use that car. When you have a car financed you will have payments, but those payments will eventually end at which point you will own the car.
 

Final word

Leasing a car has its pros and cons. On one hand it is a great way for you to have full access to a beautiful brand new car for a few years. On the other hand, you will need to be conservative in both the way you drive and how much you drive because there are penalty enforced limits on both the condition of the vehicle as well as the number of miles that you put on it. When you lease a car, you are essentially just renting it long term for a much lower overall rate than if you actually rented an equivalent vehicle from a car rental business like Avis. This is a good option for those who know that they need a car, want a really nice one and think or know they will not be able to afford typical financing payments.

Jump to section:
Speed and safety
Courtesy
Final word
 

Speed and safety

As with all other areas of driving, safety is always paramount when you are driving your car in a parking lot in Alaska. This applies not just for your safety but for the safety of all other drivers and pedestrians that are in the same parking lot as you.

There are several steps you can take in order to maximize safety when you are driving in a parking lot:

• Keeping it nice and slow – You should always drive very slow in any parking lot in Alaska. Never exceed 15 miles per hour in a parking lot for any reason. You never know if a car or pedestrian might pop out in front of you suddenly.
• Signal your intent – It is very important to signal when you are driving through a parking lot and you intend to turn or pull into a spot. Doing either of these things without signaling will not give any warning to the vehicles and pedestrians near you which will minimize their ability to react to your maneuver. That means that there will be the highest chance of a collision with a vehicle or pedestrian.
• Focus and stay on the lookout – As we said, cars can shoot out of a space suddenly as can a pedestrian. If you are distracted by your phone, the radio or a conversation, you could lose a critically important moment or two that you could have used to react quicker.
• Park with precision – How you end up parking will affect the safety of yourself and others as well. For example, if you park somewhere with a restricted view in one or more directions, you end up being much more likely to get hit by an oncoming car as you pull out or potentially hitting a pedestrian.

Courtesy

There is also the hot button issue of courtesy when it comes to parking lots both in Alaska and just about anywhere else parking lots exist. Most people do their best to remain courteous to other drivers in a variety of ways but there are definitely those who do not do so. The main issue with not being a courteous driver whether you are in a parking lot or in traffic is that it leads to aggressive driving and even road rage sometimes.

Driving in a courteous manner in parking lots will start with giving pedestrians the “right of way” in all instances. You should do the same for other drivers whenever it is possible as well. For example, if you see someone backing out of a space, do not speed up in an effort to pass them before they can completely pull out. Instead, stop and give them the room that they need in order to complete backing out.

Another integral part of parking lot courtesy in Alaska will be parking. We mentioned that you need to park a certain way in order to maximize safety but you will also need to park in a fashion that takes into account the cars parked next to you as well as pedestrians in the vicinity. When you park, you should do so equidistant from each of the painted parking lines in your space. Doing this will ensure that you give enough space to each of the cars next to you for the passengers to get in and out of the car with relative ease.

You should also make sure that you pull far enough into the space but not too far. Pulling too far into a space can cause you to partially enter the space in front of you which can prevent another person from parking there. If you do not pull into a space enough, you can partially impede the traffic that will be driving by in the parking lot.

Finally, parking lot etiquette does not end when you get out of your car. It will include watching how quickly and far you open your door when there is a car next to you so that you do not ding or scratch another vehicle. It also includes returning a shopping cart that you used to the store or to the designated cart return so that it will not roll into a nearby car or block someone else from entering a parking space in the near future.
 

Final word

Proper parking lot etiquette in Alaska includes taking both safety and courtesy measures for your own good as well as the good of all other drivers and pedestrians in the lot. You should always drive slowly, stay focused, use your turn signals, give the “right of way” to other drivers and pedestrians, park correctly and be mindful as a pedestrian yourself. If you ever need your car moved to or from Alaska, you can easily set up its transport by calling us at (907) 331-3100 anytime!

Jump to section:
Safety measures
Speed reduction
Final word
 

Safety measures

Speed bumps are large and long intentionally made bumps in the road either consisting of the same asphalt and pavement as the road that they are on or rubber and plastic. The purpose of speed bumps are to force people to slow down in areas that have a lot of pedestrians crossing the street. You will only find speed bumps on streets or in parking lots that have speed limits that are 30 miles per hour or under, otherwise the potential for damage to cars driving over them at the posted speed limit would be too high.

You can often find speed bumps in school parking lots, hospital or nursing home parking lots, residential streets, and business park parking lots. Speed bumps are typically on placed on a street or in a parking lot where it can be proven that there is a certain amount of traffic (typically the requirement here is at least several hundred vehicles per day), that these vehicles are driving under a certain speed and that there is a current necessity for the speed bumps.

Speed bumps have been proven to reduce speeds in big ways. Here are some statistics that prove how effective speed bumps are at getting drivers to drastically reduce their speeds thus keeping pedestrians safe:

• Speed bumps can be linked to almost a 60 percent decrease in passerby injury or death
• Streets that have speed bumps were found to have almost 40% less accidents
• Speed bumps have been found to reduce overall traffic speeds by at least 15-20 miles per hour

Speed reduction

Speed bumps are extremely effective at reducing speeds in any given area. Drivers know that they can inflict very serious and expensive to repair damage on their vehicles if they do not reduce their speed enough prior to driving over the speed bumps.

It is critically important to reduce your speed to the posted speed limit in any areas that have speed bumps in order to avoid damaging your car. You might be able to get away with going five miles faster than the posted speed limit over a speed bump, but not much faster than that. The faster that you drive over a speed bump the worse that the damage will end up being.

If you drive over a speed bump too fast, you can damage your car and the cost to fix these things will not be cheap. If you damage your vehicle driving over a speed bump these will be the costs to repair specific issues:

1. You can throw your car’s alignment off – This can cost you between $50 and $200 to repair depending on how many wheels need to be aligned.
2. You can damage the suspension system, including the shocks, ball joints and the struts – This can cost you between $1,000 and $6,000 to repair depending on which components were damaged and to what extent.
3. You can damage your tires including a drop in pressure or even causing your tire to blow out – This can cost you between $50 and $250 to repair per tire depending on the type of tire and vehicle.

Final word

Speed bumps can be extremely beneficial to the safety of both pedestrians and motorists in the area where they are located. They effectively get all or most drivers to drastically reduce their speeds which leads to a tremendous reduction in both pedestrian fatalities due to speeding as well as the number of car accidents in a given area. If you need any type of vehicle transported to Alaska from any US state or if you need a car transported from Alaska to any US state, you can always get a free quote by visiting our homepage at any time.

Jump to section:
Increasing speed
Signaling and checking your blind spot
Alaska’s highways and speed limits
Final word
 

Increasing speed

On-ramps are an essential part of any highway, parkway or road that has significantly higher speeds than the streets or roads around it. Without on-ramps, a highway must have traffic lights in order to allow traffic from surrounding lower speed roads to get onto that highway safely.

The issue is that in order to match the speed of the slowest lane of traffic, the traffic entering the highway will need a few hundred feet to appropriately accelerate. Matching the speed of the slowest lane of traffic on the highway is crucial because otherwise drivers on the highway would need to slam on their brakes each time someone entered the highway.

So, when you get onto an on-ramp in Alaska or anywhere else, you must use that on-ramp to increase your speed to the minimum speed of that highway. The minimum speed of a highway, assuming there are three lanes, is typically twenty miles below the speed limit or maximum. So, if you were entering a highway with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour you would need to use the on-ramp in order to increase your speed to 45 miles per hour which is likely somewhere close to matching the speed of the right-most lane of traffic.
 

Signaling and checking your blind spot

When you enter a highway using an on-ramp, increasing your speed will not be your only objective, you must also take a few safety precautions as well. Think of using an on-ramp to get onto a highway the same way you would as if you were changing lanes, you would never change a lane without first checking to ensure it was safe beside you to do so.

It is critically important for your safety and the sake of staying out of an accident that you check your mirror and your blind spot prior to officially merging onto the highway. This will all need to happen quite quickly as you will be accelerating, and an on-ramp is only a few hundred feet long. So, check your blind spot very quickly as soon as you are ready to merge and keep your eye on your left sideview mirror as you do merge. If at any point while you are merging onto the highway you hear a horn in close proximity, then you should quickly pull onto the shoulder as long as it is clear and safe to do so. You can then attempt merging onto the highway again once traffic clears using the shoulder as a space to accelerate and match the speed of those on the highway.
 

Alaska’s highways and speed limits

Just as a reference so you know how much you will need to accelerate if you use an on-ramp in Alaska, here is a list of Alaska’s largest highways and each of their speed limits:

• Sterling Highway – The speed limit ranges between 45 and 60 miles per hour
• Elliot Highway – The speed limit ranges between 50 and 60 miles per hour
• George Parks Highway – The speed limit ranges between 45 and 60 miles per hour
• Richardson Highway – The speed limit is 60 miles per hour
• Denali Highway – The speed limit is 30 miles per hour
• Seward Highway – The speed limit is 65 miles per hour
• Dalton Highway – The speed limit is 50 miles per hour
• Klondike Highway – The speed limit is 40 miles per hour

Final word

When you are margining onto a highway using an on-ramp the point is to match the speed of the traffic on the highway that you are getting onto. Without on-ramps, there would need to be traffic lights along highways which would limit their usefulness in allowing motorists to reach a destination in a minimum amount of time. When you are using an on-ramp and are ready to merge onto the highway be sure to check your blind spot and your side-view mirror before you do so. If you are shipping a car to or from Alaska and would like a free instant quote, call our vehicle transport experts at (907) 331-3100!