Alaska Air Cargo

[live2huntelk]

Who has went through the process to become a known shipper and has shipped with them? I am interested in hearing personal learning expereinces. I have visited their website and talked with their customer support. Feel free to post experiences or PM me to discuss. Thanks!

 

[william schmaltz]

Shipped with AK Air Cargo a whooooole bunch. There is an exception to the rule where shipping within Alaska you don’t need a known shipper so I decided not to personally become a known shipper. They wanted to charge me $200 to confirm my home address to ship one item to the L48.

My former employer was a known shipper. They would come by once a year to re-confirm us. I’ve shipped thousands of temperature-sensitive laboratory samples all across the country and never once had an issue with cooler temperatures or with meeting the requsted arrival times; which were almost always next day.

 

[live2huntelk]

Shipped with AK Air Cargo a whooooole bunch. There is an exception to the rule where shipping within Alaska you don’t need a known shipper so I decided not to personally become a known shipper. They wanted to charge me $200 to confirm my home address to ship one item to the L48.

My former employer was a known shipper. They would come by once a year to re-confirm us. I’ve shipped thousands of temperature-sensitive laboratory samples all across the country and never once had an issue with cooler temperatures or with meeting the requsted arrival times; which were almost always next day.

I live a little over an hour from an Alaska Air Cargo terminal and they are charging $222 to drive to my place to verify the address. Once the address is approved, I plan on calling them to ask more questions.
Do they require items placed to be placed on and strapped to a skid or can you just ship items in a tote?
I cannot remember what they said, but you have X number of days for the shipped items to be picked up or they start charging you by the day for storage.

 

[Voyageur]

I live 5 hours from an Alaska Air Cargo terminal and they would have charged me $600 to drive to my place and verify the address. For my once a year hunting trip to Alaska I decided to pass. I will say they were very easy to work with and did their best to find a different and less expensive option for address verification, but were unable to.

 

[william schmaltz]

If I can, I place things in action packers/coolers/totes to ship. If I have items that don't fit into a tote like frame packs, camp chairs, collapsible paddles, etc.; then I will just shrink wrap stuff together so its a more manageable size and shape. You could also just pile stuff on a pallet and shrink wrap around it. They will just charge you for the 50lb pallet and maybe addition dimensions.

I've always picked up items wtihin a day or so. The only time I couldn't pick something up and the called me about charging was in Fairbanks. I think it was 5 days and they were going to start charging daily for storage.

 

[live2huntelk]

I just did a Live Chat with Alaska Air Cargo....

- they indicated that the maximum size item dimension is 53Lx48Wx34H (inches) and 100 lbs.
- In Bethel, I would have 72 hours after arrival item to pick it up or they charge $0.65/kg per day.
- 3 types of service - General (cheapest), Priority, GoldStreak(most expensive)
General shipment moved within 72 hours....sometimes it may take longer.

looking at economics of shipping totes stacked toegther, plastic compactor bags, antler packing supplies, possibly mountain house meals, etc (inside) up to Alaska then use to totes to bring frozen meat home either as checked bags and/or through Alaska Air Cargo.