Here’s the deal with I-75: this is the backbone of southeastern freight. Everything moving between Florida’s ports and the Midwest manufacturing belt rides this road. You’ll crawl through the worst truck congestion in the Southeast at Atlanta, climb through the Appalachian foothills, navigate Kentucky’s unique truck tax system, and land in Ohio’s manufacturing heartland. It’s 1,786 miles of commerce, and every mile has something to teach you.
This corridor connects Florida’s tourism and agriculture economy to the auto plants, steel mills, and distribution centers of Ohio. Produce heads north, manufactured goods head south, and everything funnels through Atlanta.
Florida — 470 Miles
Florida’s 470-mile stretch of I-75 runs from the southern tip of the state up through the middle. The southern terminus connects to Alligator Alley (I-75 swings east-west across the Everglades), and the corridor feeds freight from Fort Myers, Naples, and the Southwest Florida coast into the main northbound flow.
The Tampa Bay area is your first major congestion zone. I-75 through Tampa, especially where it meets I-4, is chronically congested. Morning and evening rush hours will add an hour to your transit if you time it wrong. Early morning or late night is the way through Tampa.
North of Tampa through Ocala to Gainesville, the road opens up into Florida’s agricultural interior. Reefer trucks are thick on this section during citrus harvest season. Florida’s afternoon thunderstorms from June through September dump rain so hard you can’t see 50 feet ahead. Hydroplaning is a real risk — flat terrain means water sits on the road surface instead of draining.
Near the Georgia line, Lake City is where I-75 meets I-10. This interchange stacks up with truck traffic, especially on weekends when Florida tourism traffic peaks. Watch your speed through Florida — the state has aggressive enforcement on commercial vehicles, and the fines are steep.
Georgia — 355 Miles
Georgia means Atlanta, and Atlanta means pain. The Atlanta metro area has the worst truck congestion in the entire Southeast, and I-75 runs right through the heart of it. The downtown connector where I-75 and I-85 merge into a single highway through downtown is a legendary bottleneck. During rush hours, you’re looking at stop-and-go that can last two hours. Average speeds of 15-20 mph through the metro are common during peak times.
Your options: run through Atlanta between 10 PM and 5 AM, or take I-285 around the perimeter. I-285 adds miles but can save time depending on when you hit the city. Check real-time traffic before you commit. Breaking down on the downtown connector during rush hour is a nightmare scenario — thankfully the Georgia DOT HERO units patrol and help.
South of Atlanta, I-75 through Macon and Valdosta is more manageable. Valdosta near the Florida line has a cluster of truck stops and is a common staging point for drivers timing their run through Atlanta. North of Atlanta toward Chattanooga, the terrain starts to change as you approach the Appalachian foothills. The Ringgold area near the Tennessee line starts to roll, and this is where you begin thinking about grades and engine braking.
Tennessee — 161 Miles
Tennessee is only 161 miles on I-75, but those miles include some of the most demanding terrain on the corridor. The section between Chattanooga and Knoxville follows ridgelines and valleys through the southern Appalachians. Chattanooga sits in a valley with ridges on either side, and the approach from the south involves sustained grades. Construction seems to be a permanent feature of the I-75/I-24 interchange area.
North of Chattanooga through the Cumberland Plateau, the grades are steady and real. Loaded trucks will feel the pull, and your brakes will get a workout on the descents. If you’re new to mountain driving, this is where you learn to gear down and let the engine do the work. Riding your brakes on a sustained 5-6% grade will fade them, and faded brakes at the bottom of a mountain grade is how people die.
The Knoxville area is another congestion point where I-75 meets I-40. Fog in the valleys can reduce visibility to near zero, especially in fall and spring mornings. Elevation changes mean you can go from clear skies to ice-covered bridges in a few miles.
Kentucky — 192 Miles
Kentucky has something no other state on this corridor has: the KYU tax. Kentucky imposes a mileage-based usage tax on commercial vehicles. It’s called the Kentucky Weight Distance Tax, and every motor carrier running through the state needs to register, track miles, and file quarterly. First-timers get caught by this all the time. You need a KYU number before you enter the state with a commercial vehicle. Getting caught without one means fines and delays. If you’re an owner-operator, put this at the top of your to-do list.
The route runs from the Tennessee line near Jellico — where the mountain grades have steep climbs and a truck climbing lane — north through Lexington to the Ohio River crossing at Covington/Cincinnati. Jellico Mountain is a known trouble spot in winter.
Lexington is the major Kentucky city on I-75. The interchange with I-64 handles significant east-west traffic. North of Lexington toward Cincinnati, the terrain flattens into the Ohio River Valley. The approach to Cincinnati and the Brent Spence Bridge is one of the most important and most congested truck crossings in the country. This bridge has been functionally obsolete for years. A replacement project has been in the works, so expect construction and delays. Plan for them.
Kentucky winters bring ice storms that can shut down the state. The freeze-thaw cycle makes road surfaces unpredictable from November through March.
Ohio — 211 Miles
Ohio is where the freight gets dense. You cross the river from Kentucky into Cincinnati and enter one of the most concentrated manufacturing and distribution regions in the country. I-75 runs from Cincinnati through Dayton to Toledo, connecting auto plants, parts suppliers, steel facilities, and major distribution centers.
Cincinnati is the first test. The I-75/I-71 split, combined with the Brent Spence Bridge bottleneck, makes the southern Ohio metro challenging. Dayton is a logistics hub where the I-75/I-70 interchange connects two major corridors and carries heavy truck traffic — freight from the east-west I-70 corridor meets the north-south I-75 flow.
North of Dayton through Findlay to Toledo, I-75 passes through what truckers call the “parts corridor.” Auto parts, manufactured components, and raw materials move constantly between plants and suppliers. Toledo at the northern end is a major logistics center at the junction of I-75, I-80/90 (the Ohio Turnpike), and US-23.
Ohio winters are Lake Effect territory in the northern part of the state. Toledo gets hammered with lake-effect snow from Lake Erie. Whiteout conditions develop rapidly, and snow accumulations of 6-12 inches in a few hours are not exaggerated. Ohio’s weigh stations are active and thorough — keep your logs, credentials, and vehicle inspection current.
Running the full I-75 corridor means patience through Atlanta, skill through the Tennessee mountains, paperwork discipline through Kentucky, and cold-weather preparedness through Ohio. Master this corridor and you’ve earned your stripes as an eastern operator.