what vehicle for alaska delivery service?

[SoulRaven]

I drove trucks up there for 10 years. There's a bigger shortage of deliveries than there are trucks to deliver stuff with.

Generally they'll fly stuff into AK then truck it from there because it's quicker.

 

[Canine]

Agree it's probably somewhat impractical yet as OffGrid said, basing out of Anchorage could work.  

Bobs idea of the venerable Cummings 6 cylinder diesel as a power train is good, so is the Ford 7.3 and Chev Duramax in the 1 ton variety.

Here's reviews posted about an an Alaskan delivery company, 1 driver, 1 truck... Evidently they are surviving, but not sure just how well. Note the experience on the single negative review. If you as a delivery person want to protect yourself, better fully document the condition of the item being shipped before you start off, or you may just lose what he did, $3K...

Feedback Received (10)Feedback Left (11)Cancellations (1)
Results: 1 - 10 of 10
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Jeffrey S.
On: 5/1/2015
For: 22' Bayliner Trophy
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Alaskashotshot did a great job! They were very professional. My trailer was not in great shape and had some mishaps along the way. They took care of everything and made sure it would make the trip. They really went above and beyond, highly recommend!!
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Ronald G.
On: 4/30/2015
For: Kubota LA524
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Friendly & helpful at all times.Keep us well informed on the shipment & any difficulty they were having, break downs & such. Worked well with me on my schedule on pickup & delivery times & dates. Reasonable on shipping costs. Would recommend their services to anyone & have already.
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Ruth M.
On: 3/23/2015
For: 1966 Plymouth Barracuda and...
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Precious Vehicle and possessions transported at LIGHT SPEED AND WITH GREAT CARE! EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Will use again for our shipping needs
Rating: Negative
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Nathan M.
On: 8/18/2013
For: 2014 19.5ft Lance Travel Tr...
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Horrible experience with this shipper. Shipment arrived damaged, and shipper attempted to conceal damage from discovery. Over $3000 in damage to travel trailer due to careless load securing/blocking. Submitted claim in accordance with uShip policy and federal motor carrier regulations, no response from claim as required by law, and now will be initiating legal action. I hate leaving negative feedback for anybody, but in this case, shipper has not made any attempt to make whole.
Response from alaskashotshot:
I could say a lot but won't, I'll just say that when you buy something online (site unseen) , and not see it in Pearson, it might not look as good in Pearson as it did in the pics. So I had to pay him 3k because he had a better lawyer.
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Jo S.
On: 6/24/2013
For: 1991 Fifth-Wheel for transport
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Excellent service and just a friendly, helpful guy! Would definitely use this shipper again and suggest him to my friends!
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Richard K.
On: 5/10/2013
For: 2 small motorcycles for ...
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
GREAT TO DO BUSINESS WITH. SHOWED UP ON TIME. THIS IS THE COMPANY YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH. THANKS, SEE YOU SOON.
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Brady B.
On: 4/25/2013
For: 1 snowmobile
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Great first experience with u ship. On time and very helpful in getting my sled up to Alaska. Thank you.
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Jerry T.
On: 4/20/2013
For: John Deere 6300
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Good communication! Delivered as promised and on time. Thanks
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Mike K.
On: 4/11/2013
For: 1986 Chevrolet K5 Blazer
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Dave and Becky are the only choice for fast & professional vehicle or freight shipping. They stepped up with my over-sized vehicle shipment from Alaska to Nebraska. The shipment arrived 2 1/2 days before the estimated delivery date. Dave was friendly and very informative along the way, sending almost daily updates with the load location and the expected delivery date and time. First class service from one of the best in the business. I would recommend them to my family and friends.
Rating: Positive
Company: ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE
Left by: Brenda M.
On: 3/29/2013
For: 2005 Fifth-Wheel for transport
Communication
Care of Goods
Punctuality
Services as Described
Reliable and on time! Great contact with Dave would use them again for any load!
Request a bid from ALASKAS HOT SHOT SERVICE

 

[westriver]

Interesting thread. It's important to have a little history tossed into the mix here, for a few reasons. First, I find it fascinating, and I'm sure others not only agree, but have done a bit of research themselves. Second, I'm currently camped in Homer, on a ledge overlooking Cook Inlet, and have been wandering AK, and the Yukon for the last month. Last, shipping in the great white north had a long and storied history.

By the time the first gold rushes were hitting their stride, the steamboat trade was plying any navigable water with a miner upstream, and making quite a living at it. At the peak, there were over 250 ships serving the Yukon river system alone. By the 1950s, roads put a stop to that. Expediting go it's start on dog sleds, small river boats, mules  and even on foot, before moving up to things like model T's and "Cat trains" which were small Caterpillar bulldozers pulling a train of sleds over winter trails. By the twenties, air traffic became a player, and really hard core pilots were delivering supplies, and mail, in open cockpit aircraft. The extension of the road system to really remote areas meant that a lot of freight could be driven right to the door of truly remote gold, silver, mineral and oil exploration sites. Key remote villages can be serviced year round, with some pretty big aircraft for passengers and cargo, which can then be shuttled to the middle of nowhere in a few hours. I spent an evening around the campfire with an Air North pilot who flies Boeing 737s to gravel runways in some amazingly wild parts of northern Canada. He flies everything from Bulldozers to beer to remote mining operations. Big time expediting happens in a lot of ways, from Greyhound buses that travel regular routes in the north, while pulling large cargo trailers wherever they go, to the newest FedEx rigs for the bush. These are Single cab 4WD superduty Fords with very heavy duty cargo boxes replacing the pickup bed. There are still countless small flying services that do scheduled, or charter work to anywhere a standard plane, tundra tire plane, ski plane or float plane can get to, which is pretty much anywhere. And there are the giants in the field like Lynden and Carlile who can get anything, anywhere in the north, from a small shipment, to oil field structures, and other super loads.

Is it possible to make a go at expediting in the north? I'm sure it is. But, there are others that have a 50+ year jump start on anybody starting out, and it's an extraordinarily tough, and expensive, environment to operate in. Personally, I would do it for one of the proven companies and put a full year in behind the wheel of somebody else's truck, before I spent a minute learning the hard way on my dime.

 

[highdesertranger]

great post westriver. when I was in Homer I remember seeing 1/2 dozen converted school buses camped down by the beach with smoke coming from their wood stoves. a lot of people don't realize that most of the roads in Alaska an the west where originally built for mining. I have seen those FedEx 4x4s in Nevada. highdesertranger

 

[akrvbob]

One important point we are missing is that many of the gold mines in the TV show are in Canada, and most of their supplies are coming out of Dawson because it has such better access to the Lower 48. You're going to be doing international business with all of it's many complications.

There are many more roads in northern Canada than in Alaska because of the Yukon gold rush. The Alaska Bush is predominatley served by air and boat.
Bob

 

[highdesertranger]

x2 on what bob said. I thought about the whole crossing the border thing, but once the original posters said he was just talking I didn't bring it up. yeap most of the equipment comes from Dawson and Whitehorse. highdesertranger

 

[westriver]

I just had a fascinating conversation with a professional sled dog racer who spent several years working out of Dawson, then had enough of the BS, and relocated to the wilds outside of Fairbanks. She reported that doing business, and just trying to get by in the Yukon was a continual struggle,. In part due to the overbearing nanny state that always wants to be involved with everything you do, but never wants to actually perform, or even answer the phone, when it's time for them to step up, and do anything that you might benefit from. The other issue is the horrendous price gouging on anything and everything. She said that she could head to Fairbanks and grab a 2000W Honda generator for under a grand. The same unit costs over $1800 in Dawson. Getting repairs on any equipment is a tough problem, since the attitude is, "just buy a new one", since there is all kinds of gold money flying around, and you can afford to replace it, so why bother fixing it? It's the same thing with everything from food to fuel. Gas is $1.40/liter, ice is $3 for a five lb bag, and a lb. of decent deli meat will set you back $16-18 bucks. She I now running her operation for $22K LESS per year in AK. compared to the crazy cost of trying to survive in the Yukon. Not that this has a whole lot to do with trying to make it trucking in the Yukon, but personally, I wouldn't spend a minute trying to wade through any of the BS it takes to do much of anything there Spending a few days in Dawson to enjoy the sights and empty the wallet is about all I can handle.

On another interesting point for Bob, or anybody who has driven up the AK. Highway recently. Did you notice how many businesses in the Yukon and rural AK. are boarded up? We have done the trip four times since 2002. This time, at least several times a day we passed places that we had stopped at, and spent money in, on previous trips, but now have old oil drums blocking the driveways, and chipboard nailed over the windows and doors. There are summer long traffic counts done by the state, every five years, counting every car and RV that crosses into AK. by road. The last one showed a 28% decline, and some of the locals I talked to say that the one being done this summer will show continued steep declines. Tok is a bit of a shock lately, with campgrounds that are nearly empty in the middle of July, lots of closed businesses, and even open ones with very little traffic. I spoke to a gas station owner there who said that RV traffic in the summer is a tiny fraction of what it was a decade ago. We have probably made our last trip this time, but I can't imagine what i's going to be like in a decade or two, if things continue to deteriorate at this pace?

 

[Canine]

If those traffic declines are as Westriver outlined, that's bad for AK. Now today I noticed diesel almost 30 cents below gas here in Phoenix, with diesel less then 2.50. At those prices down here, and oil currently below $50 a barrel, you'd think that rvs would be flocking up the Alcan. I would if I had better financial backing in order to save for the known high prices like $8 hamburgers etc.

I was in Ak several years ago, took a ship up from Seattle, just to Anchorage and back down. During my day trips I found the prices for everything as expensive as San Francisco, which doesn't say much good about SF... Everything was high, I remember that. I chalked it up to a combination of freight costs and a "get it while you can" mentality.

It does sound like doing any international business would require big financial backing. The big deep pocket outfits will most always make it as they have the resources to outlast a slow time. The guy or gal on a shoestring budget is gone in a year or two. Happens a lot of places with a lot of different industries. Maybe if the OP found a niche market, but those tend to dry up in a while. Tough, tough place. If you grew up there and had contacts or a lot of plain old luck maybe...

 

[akrvbob]

I think the main reason the Lodges are closing down is that today's vehicles have such long gas range. Last year when my girlfriend and I drove it we only stopped for gas 4 times from Dawson City to Tok and those were all larger cities with relatively cheap gas. We stopped at a couple of the open lodges and they were so expensive we just drove on to the next larger town.

I'm under the impression it's been a very good year for tourism in Alaska.
Bob

 

[westriver]

Now doubt, it's been a great year for tourism in the north. The issue however, is that  "tourism" that is continuing to boom has little to do with the type of travel members here typically would be undertaking.  Every year there is another significant drop in RV traffic over the AK. highway and the related contribution to the overall tourism economy of the north. The survey I mentioned earlier had determined that not only was there a huge decline in cross border vehicle traffic over the five year period, but that visitors who drove to the state had declined to less than 5% of the 1.56 million out of state visitors in 2012. Locals I have spoken to believe that these numbers will look a lot worse when the next survey figures are released in the spring.

Your are correct about not needing fuel as often, but the situation is a bit more complicated. Murray Lundberg at explorenorth.com is a travel writer, Whitehorse resident, and very involved with local events in the north. In the past he has written about how declining business, and the overbearing Yukon government combine to make it very difficult, or impossible, to succeed in some of the more remote locations on the highway. Roadhouses that are barely squeaking by end up being crushed by the government, that requires massively expensive upgrades to septic systems, fuel storage and other capital outlays, leaving the owners to reach the conclusion that the only choice is to nail a "closed" sign on the door. It will be real interesting to see how towns like Tok and Haines Junction fair as traffic continues to decline over the next decade, or two. We may see a situation where tourism, as defined by packaged tours of flights, cruises and planned activities for those with a fat wallet, continue to boom, and the adventurers among us find it to be more of an adventure as you face, "no services next 200 miles" signs as the support system for road based travel slowly shrivels up, and dies.  Compared to a dozen years ago, Tok looks like a ghost town, yet the Kenai is still packed full of RVs. The difference? Of the hundreds of RVs that fill the municipal campground in Seward every summer night, a significant percentage of them are rentals, piloted by out of state, and foreign visitors, who stepped off a plane in Anchorage, and got a taxi to the RV rental agency. They have a week, or two at best, to see as much of AK as possible, and few of them drift to outposts like Tok, or the AK. Highway. The other issue that's temporarily providing a bump is the gas exploration that is most of the traffic on the southern 1/3 of the AK. Highway. If these guys end up totally pulling out, which is likely as the industry continues to struggle, there are going to be a lot more campgrounds, gas stations and restaurants failing and fading into the weeds.

Interesting issues to ponder, indeed.

 

[akrvbob]

The biggest factor is the cruise ships. Why drive through 2000 miles of not very pretty Canada when you could be in a cruise ship in luxury and still cost less that driving all that way?

But we are totally off-topic.
Bob