Alaska: an international cargo leader: within close proximity to the rest of the world, Alaska is poised for international cargo success.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.

A year ago, a routine air freight delivery brought home the challenges-and remarkable successes-of delivering goods and services internationally to and through Alaska. It was a package of documents from an international government contractor I've worked for. The material was time sensitive and critical to the deadline project at hand. To make things challenging, I was telecommuting from a remote cabin on a wilderness island in southern Southeast, 20 miles by water from the nearest town (Wrangell), airport and freight distribution point.

Originated at an international location, the material left its secondary distribution point (Denver) at 10 a.m. on a Thursday and was in Anchorage by nightfall, where it was collected by a subcontractor to the primary freighter (FedEx) and loaded aboard a prop plane to blustery Southeast. The package-showing no physical signs of its cross-the-world journey-arrived in Wrangell at an ungodly hour the next day, even well before me. There, it was picked up by a local freight handler and available from an office near the tiny airport.

By mid-morning (and after a weathery 20-mile boat ride to town), I had the deadline package in hand, it having flown at break-neck speed across the world to finally land on our spec of dirt and rock scattered among the islands of the Alexander Archipelago. Another windy boat ride and I was reading the documents by the warmth of the cabin stove, as rain pelted the window and whipped up a wicked sou'easterner.

The concept of moving physical goods from here to there in a timely fashion is a challenge that modern ingenuity and technology has overcome. And Alaska, given its pivotal geographic point at the top of the world and between primary continental waypoints, is a key player in the global cargo network that keeps it all spinning.

UP AND AWAY

Freight movement manifests itself in many forms-by air, sea and land. But simply given the nature of the geography, air cargo is arguably among Alaska's greatest transportation-related industrial influences, with news of general expansion constant, despite the occasional bump (an inevitable effect of an industry inherently dependent on the health of national and global economies). Last summer, Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski acknowledged its role by adding a 10th seat on the state's Aviation Transportation Advisory Board to represent air cargo, noting, "The air cargo industry in Alaska represents a large part of Alaska's aviation backbone.

"Cargo...