Alaska Shipping History

Ray Landry was one of the most respected people in the Alaska freight industry even before he formed Span Alaska Consolidators in 1978. With 30 years of experience with the major players in the industry, Ray applied all his knowledge and insight to launching and developing the kind of company he knew would best serve Alaskans. With the support of his employees and his customers, he succeeded.

From humble beginnings, Ray steadily built his one-man operation into one of the largest freight companies serving Alaska. He worked hard. He served his clients with integrity and respect. And he surrounded himself with others who did the same.

By the time Ray retired in 1990, he’d built a strong management group that shared his sense of integrity, work ethic, and knowledge of the Alaska freight industry. More than 30 years later, the majority of Ray’s management group is still intact and active in the day-to-day operation of the business.

Today, Span Alaska and its subsidiaries ship over 400 million pounds of freight annually to Alaska,Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, employ more than 200 people, and own more than 400 pieces of rolling equipment. In addition to its vast volume of shipments from the Lower 49 to Southcentral Alaska, the company also offers overnight service from Anchorage to Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula, and provides LTL (less than truckload) service via barge from Tacoma to Southeast Alaska.

When Ray retired, the next generation of Landrys ran the business until 2014. That year, Mike, Teresa, Tom, and Paul retained a significant investment in Span Alaska, with the majority share being acquired by Evergreen Pacific Partners of Seattle.

September 2015 saw the purchase and integration of Pacific Alaska Freightways (PAF) into Span Alaska.

In August of 2016, Span Alaska was acquired by Matson Logistics. As a subsidiary of Matson Logistics, Span Alaska is now part of the Matson family. Our name, management team, staff and operations remain unchanged. With Matson’s long legacy of innovation, high quality service, and dedication to their markets, we are pleased to now be part of this great enterprise. As a leading logistics and supply chain provider in the U.S., Matson Logistics is widely recognized for consistent, high quality service and this fits perfectly with Span Alaska’s drive to provide the best possible service and value for our customers.

Span Alaska is based in Auburn, Wash., operating out of a 93-door terminal on 15 acres. Terminals in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Kodiak, and Wasilla are all operated by Span Alaska.

With a customer-first culture, Span Alaska strives to be the best freight transportation solution for the challenging Alaska marketplace. We continuously invest in our service, adding new equipment, upgrading our technology, and most important, hiring employees who embody the company’s guiding principles for customer satisfaction and success: experience, integrity, and loyalty.