Leary assumes presidency of Carlile: new leader sets sights on improving safety, customer service, employee communication.

• Author: West, Gail
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Deep in the industrial zone of Anchorage, near the railroad tracks and the port, sits the headquarters of one of Alaska's largest motor carriers and logistics companies--Carlile Transportation Systems. And in the president's office of Carlile sits its new president, Linda Leary.

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Taking the reins of the company March 1, Leary said goals for the company under her leadership are heavily weighted toward safety, but include new computer systems and continuing to build communication with customers and employees.

"We really like to be on the cutting-edge of technology," Leary said. "We try to be nimble and competitive."

Carlile is 28 years old, and has grown to encompass 11 facilities across the country--from Houston, Minneapolis and Tacoma to Edmonton, Alberta. In Alaska, Carlile has offices in Anchorage, Kenai, Seward, Kodiak, Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. It's a diversified carrier with a network of global service providers that handle all modes of transportation.

Carlile was founded in 1980 by four partners, including two brothers from Seward, John and Harry McDonald, who were driving trucks of grain and fertilizer between Anchorage and Delta Junction's farm. In 1994, the company added two additional partners, one of whom left the company in the late '90s.

Additionally in 1994, Carlile purchased K&W Transportation, a Washington-based business that provided shipping service over the water from the Lower 48 to Alaska, Leary said.

"We'd always been an Alaska-based company, and K&W helped give us an interstate link from the continental United States over the water and over the highway. It pretty much doubled the company overnight," Leary said. Revenues went from about $15 million to about $30 million with the purchase, and most of it--$64 million--came from Alaska.

Among the company's most important markets is the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay. Carlile drivers regularly haul freight up the Dalton Highway, a 414-mile route that is a demanding and sometimes treacherous stretch of mostly gravel road.

Although the oilfields are an important source of customers for Carlile, "You have to do a little bit of everything," Leary said. The company is known for its heavy-haul ability, capable of transporting more than 200,000 pounds and large-dimensioned cargo. It also transports hazardous materials, maintaining compliance with all federal, state and local regulations.

Carlile is also a logistics company, handling complex, unusual and...