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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Sourdough Express handles wide range of goods in state From fish to steel pipe — and family heirlooms — company that began 100 years ago in Fairbanks
moves products for Alaska’s major industries of today Patricia Jones PNA Contributing Writer
Whether it’s fresh salmon destined for Seattle, oversized steel pipe headed to the North Slope or family heirlooms packed for yet another household move, Sourdough Express knows how to properly handle the goods.
“The job is not considered complete until the customer is satisfied,” said Jeff Gregory, company president and the fourth generation of the family-owned business.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary of being located in Fairbanks this summer, Sourdough Express touts a long and varied history of providing transportation and freight services in the Last Frontier.
Primary customers have been companies involved in development of Alaska’s natural resources — oil, mining and related construction industries.
But the company isn’t just coasting on its tenure. Instead, Gregory and his two siblings, Debbie Norum, vice president of finance, and Karen Conover, vice president of sales and marketing, are working hard to expand Sourdough’s reach into new markets.
“While keeping our market share of existing business, we are focusing on the construction and fishing industries,” Gregory said. “We’ve diversified during the last decade.” A move to Cordova Three years ago, Sourdough Express expanded in Southcentral Alaska, purchasing a small consumer-based shipping company in Cordova called Food Transport Services. In addition to moving the company under the Sourdough Express umbrella, the company expanded its facilities and services there.
Sourdough Express opened a complete shipping terminal and began offering the company’s high quality household moving services to residents of that community.
“Cordova customers are very loyal, and we wanted to expand our services there,” Gregory said.
Included in that market of residents requesting relocation services are U.S. Coast Guard personnel stationed at Cordova.
Expansion into seafood shipping Sourdough Express’ shipping terminal in Cordova sees its fair share of Alaskan seafood.
It’s a specialty market with its own unique challenges, Gregory said.
“Seafood is shipped basically only three to four months of the year, although there’s the occasional winter load,” he said. “It’s all hurry up and go.”
Contrary to popular belief, not all Alaska seafood is flown out of the state. Some products are trucked south in refrigerated trucks, called reefer vans. And Sourdough Express carries seafood to in-state processors and consumers, typically in Anchorage, Gregory said. Construction impact at Sourdough Alaska is known for big construction projects, and Sourdough Express has played a role in many of those projects.
“There are high dollars of volume in the construction industry,” Gregory said. “Both small and large contractors are served by our company.”
This year, he expects to keep busy with contractors working on construction of a new hospital at Fort Wainwright, and on the missile defense project at Fort Greely, just south of Delta Junction.
“We’re targeting those types of big projects,” he said.
And with the company’s line of specialized equipment, Sourdough Express can haul almost any type of equipment or load.
The fleet includes traditional enclosed trailer units, as well as flat beds, low boys, reefer vans, tankers and dry bulkers. Specialized dollies, which can trail long loads like bridge beams or long steel pipe, are also available. Connex storage sales start An auxiliary business that has evolved in recent years is sales and leasing of Connex steel and aluminum storage units. Available for sale in 20 and 40-foot lengths, Gregory said that line has rapidly been growing.
“When we buy them from fleets Outside, we make sure they are watertight, the doors work well and the paint is good,” he said. “This lasts forever and it’s easy to move. It’s like a portable storage shed.”
Sourdough Express also rents Connex storage units to contractors and the oil industry, for seasonal use as storage or as an office on the job site. Maintaining oil industry ties Sourdough Express continues to maintain its strong presence in traditional markets: freighting service for those developing Alaska’s natural resources and providing reliable residential and commercial moving services.
“Oil is the primary industry we grew up from, starting in the early 1970s,” Gregory said. “We’ve hauled supplies and products for every major project on the North Slope in some capacity since the 1970s and inception of the pipeline.”
In fact, during the early stages of development on the North Slope, Gregory’s grandfather pushed state political leaders for creation of a truck route from Fairbanks more than 500 miles north to Prudhoe Bay. That is now known today as the Haul Road, although officially it is called the Dalton Highway.
“The Dalton has a diversified role in Alaska’s economy,” Gregory said. “Oil, tourism, village and rural supplies, mining and hunting interest all need the Dalton Highway.” Residential moving services As an independent agent for Global Van Lines since 1987, Sourdough Express provides standardized moving service with expertise in long-distance shipping.
Global Van Lines is a renowned worldwide van line capable of shipping personal belongings anywhere in the world.
Sourdough Express is one of the companies that have been military approved carrier for the Department of Defense. Inspectors from the Department of Defense continually inspect the company’s facility to insure standards are being met.
“The inspectors keep us at a certain level of performance, so we may continue doing business with them. Our standards are higher because of the military,” Gregory said. “Now other non-military commercial and residential shipments receive a higher quality move, because of the military standards in Alaska.”
Such formalized military inspections have produced a high quality industry of movers in Alaska, Gregory added. “You hear all these bad stories about moves up here, but when you move out, you have a much better moving experience.” Consolidating and crating the load Sourdough Express uses crates, containerized moving units or wooden vaults in most of their moves. The company also offers thru van service with household goods and vehicles, which eliminates any trans-loading. That way, furniture and household goods are only handled once — even though the crate might be moved through numerous different transfer points.
“It’s a matter of handling the goods only so much. That’s the trick,” Gregory said. “Every time you handle goods, it adds costs and can provide opportunities for damage. The crate packing is the way to go.”
An average household move, with a family of four, is about 8,000 pounds, said Karen Conover. She’s familiar with that number, after providing numerous estimates calculating weight, cost and time for clients during the past nine years.
“We’ve seen some 12,000 and 13,000 pound loads though,” she said. “In Alaska, people have a large amount of recreational items and it adds up in weight.”
Sourdough offers full pack and partial pack service. Crews can also wrap furniture and load pieces for shipping. And the company also offers air ride padded moving vans to destination. Commercial moving services Sourdough Express also provides moving and relocation packages for corporations needing to transfer personnel around the state or from the Lower 48. While many larger companies already have a formalized relocation package, Conover said that many mid-sized companies lack this benefit. Sourdough can assist by creating a relocation packet that is beneficial to the corporate client and the personnel they are moving.
The company also specializes in office relocations — packing up an entire office or business and moving it to a different location.
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