Q. What is the official name of your company?
A. Lynden
Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?
A. Lynden’s diverse family of companies offers multi-modal transportation over land, sea and air, freight forwarding, logistics and 3PL services. We have built a reputation for superior service to industries including oil and gas, mining, construction, retail and manufacturing.
Q. Does your firm include subsidiaries or affiliate companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.
A. Lynden is a family of transportation companies with the combined capabilities of truckload and less-than-truckload freight to Alaska, scheduled and charter barges, rail barges, intermodal bulk chemical hauls, scheduled and chartered air freighters, domestic and international shipping via air and ocean forwarding, customs brokerage, trade show shipping, remote site construction, sanitary bulk commodities hauling and multimodal logistics.
Our family of companies includes: Lynden Inc.; Alaska Marine Lines; Alaska West Express; Aloha Marine Lines; Bering Marine Corporation/Alaska Hovercraft Ventures; Brown Line, LLC; Canadian Lynden Transport; LTI, Inc.; Lynden Air Cargo; Lynden International; Lynden International Logistics Co.; Lynden Canada Co.; Lynden Logistics; Lynden Transport; Milky Way; Movers Inc.; Northland.
Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?
A. Lynden began with a clear mission: put the customer first, deliver quality, and be the best. Today, our mission remains the same. We believe that complex transportation problems can be solved in the hands of the right people, with the right tools and the right experience.
Lynden provides transportation and logistics solutions for projects all over the world. Over land, on water, in the air – or in any combination – we help customers get the job done. We enjoy the challenge of fitting the puzzle pieces together to arrange pickups and deliveries to some of the world's most remote and inaccessible locations.
Q. Where is your company located?
A. Lynden is headquartered in Anchorage with other companies located in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. However, the reach of our services and offices extends around the globe.
Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?
A. Lynden Transfer was founded in 1906 by Ed Austin in Lynden, WA. Henry Jansen purchased the company in 1947 and is considered the founder of Lynden. Driven by Jansen’s vision, Lynden pioneered truck delivery to Alaska from the Lower 48 in the 1950s and is still considered the most knowledgeable and experienced trucking company in Alaska.
Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?
A. We are busy serving customers in the bustling Bakken Oilfield region of North Dakota as well as providing transportation services for our mining and oil and gas customers in Alaska and elsewhere in the world. We are providing onsite management, transportation and barge service to the Kensington Gold Mine north of Juneau, AK, and we just signed on to provide airlift for the United Nations’ World Food Programme. Our Lynden Air Cargo Hercules aircraft will deliver emergency food supplies to South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia.
Q. How many employees does your company have?
A. Lynden employs approximately 2,700 employees with an average tenure of at least 10 years.
Q. Describe the equipment your company uses. Are there any new equipment purchases planned?
A. We use tractor-trailers, barges, hovercraft, Hercules aircraft and an assortment of vans, trailers and reefers to serve our customers. Alaska Marine Lines invested in 200 of the most energy efficient refrigerated units in the world this year. The Star Cool "reefers" achieve the industry's lowest energy consumption by matching the compressor speed to the required heat load of the container rather than running at a single constant speed. In addition, the box and refrigeration equipment are built as one unit with an insulation system designed to minimize energy loss. All of our equipment is designed to reduce emissions and fuel consumption wherever possible.
Q. What else does Alaska Marine Lines do to reduce its environmental footprint?
A. Alaska Marine Lines uses a time-share system on frozen loads, greatly reducing energy consumption, and the new reefers allow the same energy saving results for chill loads. The energy saved powers more units during Alaska's peak fish season to accommodate high volumes without additional generators, energy use and fuel costs. Alaska Marine Lines phased out its 220-volt reefers and transitioned to more energy efficient 440-volt units. At the Seattle terminal, lighting and heating upgrades have reduced electric and natural gas use, and electric forklifts emit 50 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the older propane units.
Q. Does Lynden have an environmental program or policy in place?
A. Yes. Lynden launched a corporate Green Initiative several years ago. Part of that effort is working with local communities to support recycling efforts around Alaska. Lynden companies move nearly 3,500 tons of recyclables each year from Anchorage to Seattle for Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling (ALPAR), helping to make drop-off recycling free and convenient for residents. In Cordova, the company donates shipment of gill nets for the Copper River Watershed Project as well as aluminum cans and cardboard where proceeds from recycling go to the local high school. Lynden was just named ALPAR’s Contributor of the Year for 2013.
Along with sister companies Lynden Transport and Alaska West Express, Alaska Marine Lines has earned Alaska's Green Star Award, recognizing businesses that practice waste reduction, energy conservation, and pollution prevention. Lynden companies are on Inbound Logistics magazine's annual 75 Green Supply Chain Partner lists each year, and LTI, Inc., Lynden Transport, Brown Line, LLC and Alaska West Express are all EPA SmartWay Transport Partners.
Q. Is your company expanding any of its operations or locations?
A. Lynden Transport just opened a new Service Center in Tulsa, OK to make more efficient deliveries to the Bakken Oilfields and to serve the oil and gas industry in Canada and Alaska.
Q. Is the company changing any of its services or products?
A. Marine transportation company Northland Services joined the Lynden family of companies in November 2013. Northland’s barge service to the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii enhances Lynden’s ship and air services to the islands and allows Lynden to service ports throughout the entire state of Alaska. Northland’s Western Alaska and Hawaii services were transitioned to Alaska Marine Lines earlier this year and rebranded Aloha Marine Lines.
Q. What is one of the most challenging work/contract the company has undertaken recently?
A. The 2013 Alaska Salmon season was a record-breaker. Alaska Marine Lines, Lynden Transport and other Lynden companies rose to the challenge, using air, truck and barge transportation to move supplies north and loads of seafood south to waiting markets. At one point, 968 reefers were sitting on the Alaska Marine Lines dock in Seattle – a new record. Another challenging project was the charter of an Antonov 124 aircraft from Houston to St. John’s, Newfoundland for Exxonmobil’s Hibernia project. Lynden International moved 19 pieces at a total weight of 57,000 kilos to the offshore oil field’s oil platform within a tight timeframe.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?
A. Challenging weather, terrain and remote locations often present obstacles to overcome. Since we do business all over the world, we must keep up on the latest shipping and customs documentation required in various countries. We often serve oil field, mining or construction customers who need parts or supplies delivered right away to repair machines or keep projects on track. We look forward to meeting these rush jobs and have earned a reputation for getting it there, no matter where “there” is.
Q. Does your company have an anniversary or other landmark event coming up?
A. This year marks the 60th anniversary of our pioneering truck deliveries on the Alcan Highway of Alaska. We have refurbished the original tractor-trailer that made the first delivery of fresh beef from Seattle to Fairbanks, Old No. 27, with a museum in the trailer. We visit fairs, parades and other community events to commemorate the anniversary and our history in Alaska.
Q. What is the address of your company’s website?
A. www.lynden.com
