The Alaska Highway: Yukon and Alaska by road
Most road freight for the Yukon and Alaska runs the Alaska Highway. From Winnipeg, loads head west across the Prairies to Edmonton, then north through Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek, B.C., where the highway starts. It runs through Fort Nelson and Watson Lake to Whitehorse, crosses into Alaska past Beaver Creek, and continues to Tok and Delta Junction. From there the Richardson Highway goes on to Fairbanks, and the Tok Cut-Off and Glenn Highway lead to Anchorage.
It's a long haul: Winnipeg to Anchorage is well over 4,000 km, so plan for several days on the road. We book loads to Alaska from anywhere in Canada, and from the lower 48 as well.
North of Whitehorse, the Klondike Highway runs to Dawson City, and the Dempster Highway continues to Inuvik, with the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway reaching the Arctic coast. The Dempster has river ferry crossings that close during freeze-up and break-up each year, so timing matters.
Northwest Territories
For the NWT, freight moves north through Alberta on Highway 35, which becomes the Mackenzie Highway at the border, to Hay River and Enterprise. Highway 3 then crosses the Mackenzie River on the Deh Cho Bridge to Yellowknife. Beyond those hubs, summer barges and winter ice roads reach remote communities and mine sites, and each has a short seasonal window.
Nunavut
Nunavut has no road connection to the south. Most heavy and bulky freight goes on the summer sealift, which loads at southern ports, including the Montreal area for the eastern Arctic and Churchill for the Kivalliq region. Booking and cargo cut-offs come months before the ship sails. Smaller and urgent freight goes by air cargo through gateways such as Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton and Yellowknife, depending on the region.
We truck your freight to the port, railhead or air cargo gateway in time for the cut-off. For mine sites and project freight, see northern mining freight.
What we move north
- Groceries, fresh and frozen food in reefers, heated in winter when the load can't freeze
- Dry goods, retail freight and building supplies in dry vans
- Steel, lumber and construction materials on flatbeds, and on Super-Bs for heavier loads on Canadian highways
- Machinery, tanks and taller freight on step decks
- Heavy equipment and modular buildings on lowboys and RGNs, including oversize loads
Full truckloads are preferred, but LTL is no problem. Partial loads to the North can take longer to line up, so share your dates early.
Planning around distance and seasons
- Distance: northern and Alaska runs take days, not hours, and driver hours set the pace
- Winter: extreme cold, short days and winter driving; freight that can't freeze needs a heated reefer
- Spring thaw: seasonal weight restrictions on many northern roads in the territories, Alaska and the northern provinces
- Ferries and ice roads: river crossings close at freeze-up and break-up, and ice roads open only for a short stretch
- Sealift and barge cut-offs: freight has to be at the dock by the booking deadline, not the sailing date
- Delivery: unloading equipment, hours and a contact at the destination
What to send for a northern or Alaska quote
- Pickup location and final destination (community, site, port or staging point)
- Ready date and required delivery date, or the sealift, barge or winter road cut-off
- Commodity, weight, and dimensions or pallet count
- Trailer: dry van, reefer (with temperature), flatbed, step deck or heavy haul
- FTL or LTL
- How the freight will be unloaded
Send it through the quote form or call or text 204-361-6765.
