How to Move Freight Across the Icy Roads of Alaska

SPEAKER_2 (0:02)

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Joe Weisenthal (0:18)

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots Podcast. I'm Joe Weisenthal.

Tracy Alloway (0:23)

And I'm Tracy Alloway.

Joe Weisenthal (0:24)

So Tracy, we're here in Alaska, we're still here in Alaska.

Tracy Alloway (0:27)

We are, it's beautiful.

Joe Weisenthal (0:28)

It's stunning.

Tracy Alloway (0:29)

And it's bright, it stays light until like 11 p.m. It's so bright, I couldn't believe it.

Joe Weisenthal (0:33)

It's amazing, Alaska in August, it's the best. It's already such a fascinating place to me.

Tracy Alloway (0:38)

What iconic industries will we be talking about while we're in Alaska, Joe?

Joe Weisenthal (0:42)

Well, there's many industries that we've hit over and over. Obviously, we like to talk to people in the trucking industry for all kinds of reasons. But also, one of the things that I'm aware of is that Alaska has its own distinct trucking culture. I think there was a reality TV show about it, right?

Tracy Alloway (0:56)

Ice Road Truckers?

Joe Weisenthal (0:57)

Yeah, right? Was it that based here?

Tracy Alloway (0:59)

Yes. I have questions about how realistic that actually is. But you are absolutely right that trucking in Alaska is the well-known thing, maybe because of the reality TV show. But when you think about trucking in Alaska, you think these crazy mud-riddled roads, and people having to cart these huge payloads of, I don't know, I heard it was mostly dirt in the summertime because people are doing a lot of road construction. But I don't know that much about it.

Joe Weisenthal (1:24)

I don't know that much about it. Trucking is a fun topic to cover. A, because it's just an interesting logistical industry in any environment. And then B, I don't think anyone has a better pulse on the economy at any given moment than people in trucking. So while we're here in Alaska, for all these obvious reasons, we got to talk trucking.

Tracy Alloway (1:42)

I think you have to come clean, Joe, and emit your secret dream to become an owner operator working in Alaska. I don't even know if that's possible.

Joe Weisenthal (1:50)

Well, let's find out. I'm really excited to say we really do have the perfect guest. We're going to be speaking with Josh Norum. He is the president and owner of Sourdough Express. Josh, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Josh Norum (2:01)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Joe Weisenthal (2:02)

What is Sourdough Express mean and what is the company?

Josh Norum (2:06)

So Sourdough Express is a trucking company in Alaska. All of our assets are based in Alaska. My family bought it in the 1920s.

It's been in existence since 1898, so we're celebrating 127 years this year. We are an all-service trucking company, so we run the haul road, the ice road is up in Prudhoe Bay. We haul between Anchorage and Fairbanks, which are the two main population centers in Alaska. We also own a moving and storage company that focuses on DOD military members moving in and out of Alaska's military bases.

Tracy Alloway (2:36)

What does Sourdough actually mean in those contexts? Because I hear Sourdough Express and I think, are you like, you know, driving around huge loads of baked goods?

Josh Norum (2:45)

Yeah, most people think that we're a bakery, but no. Sourdough is basically a long-term Alaskan, so somebody who's been here for many years or experienced winters here and really understand the culture of Alaska and understand what it takes to live here.

Tracy Alloway (2:59)

So just one more question before we dig into the now, but you said your family bought this company in the 1920s and it's existed into the late 1800s. What was it actually in the early 1900s? Because I assume it wasn't big trucks back then.

Josh Norum (3:14)

Yeah. So most of the freight coming into Alaska then was gold mining, and they were coming from Dawson City. So the owner, Bob Ellis, ended up coming into Alaska and establishing in Fairbanks. My family was working in and out of the company through that time and ended up purchasing it in 1923 and the first years was not trucks. It was dog sleds and sleds and I mean, packers and walking the trails with the freight. By the 1920s, the pictures show that there are trucks and makeshift roads that they're traveling on, but most of it was not far. It was makeshift trails that they were getting where they needed to go to their mining claims and then as the community established in Fairbanks, we continued to grow and moved heavily into heating fuel and the different supplies that people needed to live in that climate.