Carlile Transportation Systems is a transportation company based in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. Their primary specialty is transporting freight and supplies related to the

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

industry, most notably to the

Prudhoe Bay oil field Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in North America, covering and originally containing approximately of oil.

. The company's logo is the word "Carlile" in red italicized lettering, and appears on its blue truck cabs, white cargo trailers, fuel tankers and flatbed trailers. The company currently operates facilities in Anchorage,

Deadhorse Deadhorse is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community located within the Census-designated place, CDP of Prudhoe Bay in North Slope Borough, Alaska, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States, along the Alaska North Slope, North Slope nea ...

(Prudhoe),

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

, Kenai,

Kodiak Kodiak may refer to: Places *Kodiak, Alaska, a city located on Kodiak island * Kodiak, Missouri, an unincorporated community *Kodiak Archipelago, in southern Alaska *Kodiak Island, the largest island of the Kodiak archipelago ** Kodiak Launch Com ...

, and Seward (all in Alaska), as well as in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta, and the port cities of

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

and

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

History

The company was founded in 1980 as Carlile Enterprises by brothers Harry and John McDonald with their two trucks. In 1985, they made their first haul to Prudhoe on the

Dalton Highway The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse (an unincorporated community within the ...

. Carlile developed an "approach" in transporting loads on the Dalton, which Harry McDonald described in a 2010 interview, that keeps his drivers safe, his trucks rolling, and gets the freight delivered on time and in one piece. Tom Hendrix Jr., Carlile's Vice President of Oil and Gas, tells in a 2017 interview how one of their most important clients and key partners influenced this approach: the

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of ...

. Carlile made their first appearance on

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

in a July 2006 documentary called ''Alaska: Dangerous Territory''. When they returned to History in the television series ''

Ice Road Truckers ''Ice Road Truckers'' (commercially abbreviated ''IRT'') is a reality television series that premiered on History Channel, on June 17, 2007. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and ...

'' in 2009, they were hauling approximately 30% of all loads bound for Prudhoe Bay. Carlile would be one of the featured companies of the series from Season 3 (2009) through Season 6 (2012). The company was purchased by

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

-based

Saltchuk Saltchuk is a family of transportation and distribution companies headquartered in Seattle, Seattle, WA, US. , ''Puget Sound Business Journal'' listed it as the largest family owned business in Washington state, with 2016 revenues of $2.65 billion ...

on May 31, 2013.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official WebsiteThanh Hung TransportTransportGator Website
Transportation companies of the United States 1980 establishments in Alaska American companies established in 1980 Transportation companies based in Alaska