Logistics of transportation in Alaska: freight and information working in harmony.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Jeremy Miller, VP of Operations for Carlile, says, "Logistics is two components: it's the actual freight and it's the information about the freight, and both of those have to move in harmony." Luckily for Alaskans, transportation companies around the state have spent years fine-tuning to get rid of all the bad notes, and no matter what one needs moved where, there's a solution.

Air Land Transport

Air Land Transport, Inc. has offices in Anchorage, Kenai, and Fairbanks and provides transportation to locations on the road system throughout Alaska. Johnclaude (JC) Snead, an account manager for Air Land Transport, says, "We transport a variety of unique freight, [including] human remains, helicopters, rare/unique vehicles, live animals (rarely), jumbo sized sculptures, boats, and bridges, as well as steel, building materials, and heavy equipment." Air Land Transport's ability to transport whatever fits in a truck is a direct result of their many services, including in-state LTL (less than truckload), in-state full load, cross-dock and consolidation services, and air freight.

Snead says, "Air Land Transport will recover freight and deliver it to any air carrier [and vice versa] for shipment to beyond destinations [or delivery in Alaska], Our drivers are trained to comply with the most current TSA regulations." The company manages a fleet of sixty trucks and more than one hundred trailers, "which can accommodate just about any transportation," Snead says, including flatbed, refrigerated (both chill and freeze), and oversized loads.

An important logistics service that Air Land Transport provides is cross-dock and consolidation, whereby customers with consolidated shipments "require dispersal into several smaller shipments or for routing to several destinations. We can also provide handling services for customers who require multiple shipments to be consolidated for a single delivery," he says.

One project Air Land Transport handles every year is the Iditarod, hauling and handling all of the dog food and musher equipment. Snead says the Iditarod is actually one of their more challenging yearly events, as their Anchorage terminal facility is partially loaned out, and so the warehousemen and drivers have less room to utilize.

Snead says that for any project to be completed successfully, "communication with the client is the most vital and important detail. Air Land is based off our excellent customer services, and that is what continues to drive our company." To provide timely information to their customers, all of Air Land Transport's terminals have access to their tracking and POD system, and customers can call in or email in their order number to get up-to-date information, whatever freight they may need moved throughout Alaska. "Everything comes from the back of a truck, so we have seen it all," Snead says.

PenAir

PenAir provides transportation to Alaska routes west of Anchorage including the Bristol Bay area, the Aleutian Islands (including the Pribilof Islands), Aniak, McGrath, and Unalakleet. Danny Seybert, PenAir CEO, says, "For the communities that we serve, by and large, the only way they're going to get their product into the community is if it fits in the door of our airplane." While many of the rural and small communities PenAir serves receive barge service in the summer, only Unalaska gets barge service year-round. "For the communities in Bristol Bay and out West, logistically...