The response of dowel jointed concrete pavements to the combined effect of nonlinear thermal gradient and moving axle load is examined using three-dimensional finite-element (3DFE) modeling. The 3DFE-computed response to moving axle load was field validated versus measured concrete slab response to a fully loaded moving dump truck. The 3DFE-predicted slab curling due to nonlinear thermal gradient through the slab thickness was validated versus: (1) corner-dowel bar bending as measured using instrumented dowel embedded in an instrumented rigid pavement section in West Virginia; and (2) Westergaard’s closed-form solution. The effects of slab thickness, slab length, axle loading position, and axle type on slab stresses are examined. It is shown that while a negative temperature gradient reduces the intensity of traffic-induced stresses, positive temperature gradient increases it several fold. Formulas are developed for the computation of the peak principal stresses due to the combined effect of tandem axle l...