Long haul trucking: Alaska operators thrive.

• Author: Colby, Nicole A. Bonham
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

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With the economy and increased driver shortage again making the list of top critical issues of concern facing the North American trucking industry, Alaska operators echo the two influences as worrisome but nonetheless continue to thrive, blanketing the state with a network of complex cargo transport options.

Whether transporting industrial mining equipment from the Northwest to a Juneau-area mine or freight from ship offload in Anchorage to a Fairbanks shop, Alaska's network of trucking companies specialize in conquering the transiting challenging geography and distances to ensure on-time, consistent delivery options for Alaska's business and residential community. The freight hauled also provides a useful snapshot as to the health and diversity of the state's economy at any one time.

Marriage Made in Logistics

Perhaps one of the biggest headlines of the Alaska transport industry this year was the May announcement that Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources had acquired Carlile Transportation Systems, one of Alaska's largest and most high-profile trucking and logistics companies, for an undisclosed price. Both family-owned operations, each company seemingly fills a gap for the other. Saltchuk Resources is parent to several transportation and petroleum distribution companies, including its shipping and logistics operation TOTE, Inc. Within the TOTE, Inc. structure of companies (which includes the separate Totem Ocean Trailer Express that is familiar to many coastal Alaskans), Carlile is part of TOTE Logistics.

Safety record, entrepreneurial spirit, and strength in the Alaska logistics market are among the reasons that Saltchuk Resources was attracted to Carlile Transportation Systems, says TOTE Logistics President lames Armstrong.

"Carlile has an excellent safety record... That was certainly a huge plus," says Armstrong. "It's a very customer-driven organization. TOTE can provide a lot of the foundational expertise from an operational, finance, and systems standpoint that allows an entrepreneurial company to continue to grow." The Carlile acquisition rounds out the Saltchuk Resources portfolio regarding logistics services to, from, and within Alaska. "It was a big gap that we had in Alaska--the logistics piece," says Armstrong. "You take the entrepreneurial spirit [of Carlile] and put a sophisticated engine [of infrastructure support and peripheral services] behind that. It's going to be phenomenal."

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"Carlile is a solutions company," Armstrong says. "They were already doing a lot of business with Saltchuk. They value strong partnerships. We want to continue...