Lynden, Inc. keeps on truckin’
Company remains true to local roots

by Christopher Key

 

Ed Austin started business nearly a century ago with a couple of horses and a wagon. If you had told him that the company he founded would become a diversified, international corporation, he would have probably said you were nuts. Or perhaps something a bit stronger — Ed had a reputation for colorful language.

By 1926, he had traded the oatburners in on a Mack truck and was hauling eggs and milk to Seattle and mixed freight on the way back. He called his company Lynden Transfer. He gained experience working in difficult terrain by negotiating Chuckanut Drive, the only route south until the Samish Highway was completed in the late 1930s. In a pinch, Ed’s wife Ethel would also drive.

Meanwhile, Henry Jansen was beginning his truck driving career hauling milk and whey for Walter Craig. Illness forced Ed Austin to quit driving in 1940 and he hired young Jansen to drive for him. The trucking business at the time was uncertain at best and seasonal by nature. Jansen supplemented his earnings by working for an Everson sawmill and by trapping muskrat, which he sold to Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Seattle.

Ed Austin operated Lynden Transfer for 40 years before selling the company. His reliable and reasonable trucking service was a big factor in Lynden’s prosperity. The two men who bought the company from Austin took less than a year to decide the business was not for them.

Hank Jansen talked Walter Craig and Edward Hofman into joining him and together, they bought the company. At the time, their rolling stock consisted of three tractor-trailer rigs, a van, a pickup and miscellaneous trailers. By 1950, Lynden Transfer had bought two companies, merged with another and was becoming a force to be reckoned with. The milk transporting business ended up as a subsidiary called Milky Way. The growing concern established an office, garage and shop on Depot Road.

Lynden Transfer, which would eventually be a major power in Alaskan shipping, originally got in through the back door. James Bookey, who operated a company called J.E.T. Lines, wanted to pioneer truck traffic to Alaska. He lined up business but nearly went broke trying to keep equipment operating over the primitive roads. Eventually, he also attracted the attention of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which informed him he didn’t have the proper permits to haul from Seattle to the Canadian border. He solved the problem by contracting with Lynden Transfer to use its permit.

In the first of many inspired business decisions, Hank Jansen applied for a permit that would allow him operating rights within a five-mile radius of the company headquarters. The actual effect of this was to allow Lynden Transfer access to the Canadian border. Once that was achieved, acquiring permits to serve British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska was a piece of cake.

“We would have had a big battle on our hands,” Jansen said, “if we had applied for direct authority to extend our rights into Canada and Alaska. Nobody took any notice of what seemed to be a routine request for an extension of local delivery rights.”

Thus began an odyssey that would lead to Lynden Transfer becoming a major player in the development of what would soon become the 49th state. Bookey, who had most of the experience on the route, was soon driving trucks with the Lynden Transfer name on the door.

Throughout the fifties, Lynden Transfer solidified its hold on trucking the Alaska Highway by offering fast and reliable delivery of perishables to Fairbanks and Anchorage. It was a service Alaskans welcomed since, at the time, they either had to wait for slower delivery by ship or pay a stiff premium for air transport. The resourceful Lynden Transfer drivers who made the trip possible became legends in the folklore of the North.

Lynden Transfer, working with Kenworth engineers, pioneered methods of keeping their diesels going through sub-zero weather and protecting cargo from the horrendous road conditions. Drivers were accustomed, in the days before steel-belted radials, to changing an average of 20 tires per trip. The company record was 60.

The company’s Alaska service was firmly anchored by establishment of a Fairbanks terminal in the late 1950s. Walter Craig sold his half interest in the company to Hank Jansen and the company purchased Lynden-Bellingham Auto Freight.

Alaska became a state in 1959 and trucking companies that had been serving various communities were handed permits to continue that service. With typical foresight, Hank Jansen had carried freight to as many communities as possible so as to secure those routes for his company.

Carrying mail for the US government was another opportunity for the company. Lynden Transfer lost its first bid to haul mail for the postal system, but Jansen rarely made the same mistake twice. When the contract came up for bid the next time, Jansen made sure that he underbid everyone else.

The Good Friday earthquake of 1964 closed airports, railroads and waterfront facilities. Lynden Transfer became Alaska’s lifeline since only trucks could get through to many locations. This event also helped solve the company’s “backhaul” problem. Trucks that went to Alaska loaded to the doors usually came back at least partially empty. Damage caused by the earthquake forced seafood processors to find alternatives for getting their product to the lower 48 and Lynden Transfer trucks were the answer. The company also increased its southbound loads by getting involved in copper mining.

A major turning point in the company’s history came in 1967 when Lynden Transfer bid on, and won, the right to carry second and third class mail to Southeast Alaska. LTI was the first common carrier making scheduled shipments to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Haines and Skagway. None of these communities except Skagway and Haines are accessible by road, so LTI worked out a system with the Alaska ferries whereby their trailers were always first off the boat. Shore crews scrambled to unload cargo for that particular port and got the trailer back on board within 30 minutes. Many residents of the panhandle tasted fresh food for the first time in years.

There was much speculation in the early 1970s about construction of a pipeline to transport newly discovered oil on Alaska’s north slope to the nearest ice-free port. Hank Jansen wanted his company poised to take advantage of the enormous economic impact of the proposed project. In order to secure the necessary capital, Jansen took the company public in 1972. With those resources and established terminals in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Lynden and Seattle, LTI was ready. By the start of pipeline construction in 1974, LTI had a facility at the southern pipeline terminus in Valdez and had greatly expanded its terminal in Fairbanks. For LTI, this was the real Alaskan gold rush.

The company’s extensive Alaska experience gave it a huge advantage over competitors, many of which couldn’t make it even during the height of the boom. LTI trucks were among the first to utilize the new haul road from Fairbanks to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay. The firm that started with a horse-drawn wagon now had 136 tractor-trailer rigs on the road.

Knowing that the construction boom would eventually flatten out, Hank Jansen began positioning the company for the aftermath. Headquarters were moved from Lynden to Seattle. The company began using an innovative “roll-on, roll-off” system pioneered by Trans Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE). LTI established the Alaska Marine Trucking division, which took advantage of the lower rates and faster service.

“After TOTE entered the market,” said Henry Jansen’s son Jim, “we decided if we can’t beat ‘em, we’d better join ‘em.”

A strike by the Inlandboatmen’s Union in 1977 threatened the regular operation of the Alaska ferry system. The company leased a tug and barge in order to keep its customers in southeast Alaska supplied.

Jim Jansen was playing an increasingly important role in the company and the two men knew that they had to diversify in order to survive rapidly changing conditions. LTI made some internal changes and started setting up subsidiaries to take advantage of new opportunities.

First on the list was Knik Construction Co., a joint venture with two other contractors. The new company won a contract to build a highway and a bridge across the Chena River near Fairbanks and it was off to the races.

Canadian Lynden Transport, Ltd. was formed to take advantage of a multitude of construction projects in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Hank Jansen’s son Vic ran the operation from a terminal in Edmonton.

LTI soon grew into a multi-mode transportation company with the formation of Lynden Air Freight in 1977. This gave the distinction of being the only firm to serve Alaska by land, sea and air. Rather than requiring a huge investment in aircraft, Lynden Air Freight simply booked space on commercial air carriers.

Once the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was in place, demand grew for services to the oil companies operating in Prudhoe Bay. LTI stepped up to the plate with a subsidiary called Alaska West Express. The new company transported bulk liquids and specialized equipment to the operations on the North Slope.

In 1979, Lynden bought the assets of South East Barge Lines. The new operating company was called Alaska Marine Lines Inc. and originally offered container service to Juneau. Soon, the company was supporting Knik Construction operations in southwest Alaska and hauling fuel and freight to native villages in western Alaska. The diversification for survival would carry the company through a multitude of economic ups and downs and by the 1980s, LTI was considered one of the most successful companies in the northwest. Expansion continued with new terminals in Kenai, Prudhoe Bay, Houston and Kent.

Shareholders formalized the restructuring plan in 1982 when they voted to make Lynden Transport and its various branches wholly owned subsidiaries of Lynden, Inc.

Alaska Marine Lines continued to expand by purchasing the assets of Foss Alaska Lines and Pacific Western Lines, enabling the company to add five more ports in southeast Alaska to its scheduled runs. Alliances were forged with local freight companies in each port to enhance services. Soon, the company withdrew from western Alaska to concentrate on its operations in the panhandle. Within a year, the company had locked up a 60 percent share of the southeast market.

Lynden Air Freight grew rapidly, expanded into the international market and established a terminal in Honolulu to serve another isolated state. The company also partnered with United Parcel Service to provide door-to-door package delivery to more than 300 Alaskan communities. Eventually, Lynden Air Freight would become Lynden, Inc.’s largest source of revenue as well as its largest employer.

Back here in Whatcom County, the familiar name LTI, Inc. became a subsidiary of Lynden, Inc., encompassing the Milky Way and Special Commodities divisions.

There was a growing demand in Western Alaska for shallow-draft equipment to service the projects of Knik Construction and the communities of the Kuskokwim River area. Lynden, Inc. met the demand by establishing Bering Marine Corporation, with tugs and barges crewed by people who understood the working conditions of the region.

Boom and bust cycles endemic to the business caused company stock to be regarded with some caution by Wall Street. The Jansens felt that the burdens of being a public company were hampering progress, so they made an offer to shareholders and took the company private in 1987. To this day, it remains family owned.

Lynden companies, including Lynden Transport, Alaska West Express, Alaska Marine Lines and Bering Marine played a major role in the cleanup of Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Lynden, Inc. supported efforts to prevent future disasters by forming the Lynden Emergency Response Team, a system wide resource to deal with the unexpected.

Over the years, the company secured a reputation for community involvement.

“I believe in putting something back into the community you operate in,” Hank Jansen said. “We’ve always tried to distribute contributions and help out according to what managers chose to do in their particular cities or towns.”

Lynden, Inc. and its subsidiaries sponsor everything from the Miner’s Picnic at Juneau’s Gold Rush Days to mushers in the Iditarod sled dog race. Much of the company’s largesse benefited Lynden and Whatcom County and in 1991, Henry Jansen was given the Whatcom County Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to the community. The same year, Whatcom County Business Pulse magazine named Jansen “Businessperson of the Year.”

More than 20 years preceding his recent passing, Henry Jansen again showed his considerable foresight by implementing a transition plan that would insure the smooth transfer of leadership in his company. Hank’s sons manage the company and a third generation of the Jansen family is now moving into positions of responsibility.

In addition to the subsidiaries already mentioned, Lynden, Inc. now operates Lynden Air Cargo. This company flies five L-100 (more familiar as C-130 Hercules) cargo planes in far flung locations. One of the planes serves Alaska, while three more fly cargo under a civilian contract with the US Air Force. One of the planes is always rotated to maintenance.

Lynden’s newest operating company is Alaska Railbelt Marine, which contracts with the Alaska Railroad to transport rail cars to and from Alaska, operating three tugs and barges from the port of Whittier. These barges provide weekly cargo and general rail service to central Alaska. The barges have racks over rail cars to handle 40 and 53 foot containers..

Lynden Logistics helps companies manage their transportation requirements in a third party consulting capacity.

Lynden Inc. CEO Jim Jansen says that there are no major changes planned for the company at present and that rumors of a pending sale are, “…you can quote me on this: it’s not true.”

One of the challenges the company faces is the continuing trend away from the small, family-owned dairies of Whatcom County to huge corporate operations on the other side of the mountains. There has been some talk of moving the LTI office out of Lynden to be closer to that market, but, according to Jim Jansen, “…we hope we can always maintain a terminal in Lynden. It will be difficult as the milk market continues to move east, and all of our Whatcom County markets are fiercely competitive. Lynden is where we started and we will work hard to maintain our presence there. That’s how Hank would want it.”

Some time ago, the company purchased land in Bellingham, leading to speculation that the LTI office might move there. Jim Jansen said that there were no plans to proceed with such a move and that the property was now up for sale.

The company remains a dominant force in southeast Alaska transportation, although it faces more than 35 competitors in the Anchorage and Fairbanks markets. The original freight and milk hauling operation in Lynden now represents only three percent of Lynden, Inc.’s business.

“It’s now time to give credit to Hank and continue building the company,” said Jim Jansen. “The values and integrity that Hank established will survive far beyond his and my lifetime.”

Whatcom County may represent only a small fraction of Lynden, Inc.’s operations in the 21st century, but the company is determined not to forget where it came from.