Southeast shipping poses a problem: lack of UPS ground service forces shippers to find alternatives.

• Author: Swagel, Will

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For the most part, Southeast Alaskans are proud of their isolation. None of the major towns of the region is connected to any other by road. Dependence on air and water transport gives residents a feeling of living off the beaten track of mainstream America--a pleasant sense of being self-reliant and practical.

But that isolation also has downsides, as anyone who has required a $15,000 Medevac flight to Seattle or Anchorage can tell you. But there are mundane annoyances as well, and one increasing in frequency for both residents and businesses alike is the lack of UPS ground service in Southeast.

UPS ground is the mainstay of many Internet businesses in the Lower 48. It's the source of a lot of the "free shipping" offers from online and catalogue vendors. If you live in Southeast Alaska, your only choice is shipment by air--costly and unnecessary if the item is not needed quickly.

That's hardly news to Tamara Perensovich of Sitka's Foreign Automotive, for whom ordering small parts can be especially troublesome.

"Having a part shipped here where the shipping costs more than the part, that's what I have a problem with," she said. A $5 part could cost $25 to ship.

For larger parts such as mufflers and fenders, Perensovich deals with suppliers in Anchorage who will send the items via Alaska Airlines airfreight. Although timely and cost-effective, Perensovich's method requires the vendor to bring the item to the airport and a Foreign Auto employee to pick up the package at the other end.

"Shipping (airfreight) within the state is the way to go," she said, "even if you're in Seattle."

FORWARDING FREIGHT

Seattle vendors are often accommodating to Alaska customers. The city was established in large part to supply the hordes of miners heading to Alaska for the Klondike Gold Rush, and many merchants still honor the tradition. Suppliers in other parts of the country are increasingly less accommodating.

With no UPS ground, the most cost-effective way of shipping consumer and small business items is by U.S. Postal Service priority mail, which is adequate for all but the most time-sensitive shipping. But many online and catalogue vendors refuse to use priority mail, which they say would require them to make a trip to the post office.

"I try and use (U.S. mail) as much as possible," said Dee Hanson of Air Sitka flight service and the Fly-In Fish Inn bar, restaurant and hotel. Hanson added that paying a lot for small items burns her...