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A recent project for a return customer involved four Lynden companies and three modes of transportation. Lynden International was called upon to move three 56-foot power generation modules plus three 40-foot containers of supporting equipment from Europe, to Seattle and then on to a remote location in Canada. The project spanned two months and involved many twists and turns.

Planning for the move took almost a year and Lynden’s carefully coordinated delivery was moved up a month when the customer’s equipment was finished ahead of schedule in June instead of July. The delivery of the oversized freight required planning and coordination with the project lead for ‘just-in-time’ delivery of each component.

"The pieces were collected in the middle of Europe, trucked south to the port and sent via ocean to Seattle where Alaska West Express took over to get them to Canada. Lynden International filed a temporary import into the U.S. for the customer, then we moved the freight inbound on Alaska Marine Lines’ bond," explains Paulette Shatara, Lynden International Director of Business Development, in Houston. Lynden used heavy haul trucks with specialized shock-protected trailers to move the valuable pieces from the factory, to the port for loading onto the vessel. It was a two-day journey of more than 400 miles, requiring permits and 56-foot trailers. One of the modules weighed more than 100,000 pounds. The project also involved coordinating air shipments for paint and other hazardous materials.

Once the pieces arrived in Seattle, they were carefully offloaded from the vessel onto waiting trailers and loaded onto a north bound Alaska Marine Lines barge. Alaska West Express and Canadian Lynden Transport drivers transported them to the final destination. "The successful completion of this project was the result of the cooperative efforts of Lynden International, Alaska Marine Lines, Alaska West Express and Canadian Lynden Transport," says Alaska West Express Project Manager Steve Willford. Steve also recognized Drivers Gary Ridall and James Elliot for getting the modules into the delivery site safely and the close support, advice and cooperation received from the Canadian Lynden Transport team.

Lynden continued its tradition of donating transportation of food and supplies for the 2018 Yukon Quest 1,000-mile sled dog race this winter by participating in the annual Fairbanks Food Drop event in January. Alaska West Express Drivers Brian Ambrose and James Elliott picked up freight in Whitehorse to support the mushers and their dog teams. Lynden Transport is also an event sponsor. Canadian Lynden Transport Dispatcher Deanna Benson received a call from race organizer Alex Olesen one day. "He said his uncle was curious about how things were going with the shipment," Deanna says. "The uncle turned out to be Lynden retiree Steven Reilly. What a small world!" Image from the Yukon Quest video. View the video and the food drop process at https://youtu.be/t5ijcCWoTvk?t=45.

Since 2007, Canadian Lynden Transport has hauled copper ore concentrate for the Minto Mine, a copper-gold mine northwest of Whitehorse in Central Yukon, Canada. Minto started producing concentrate in July of 2007 and the first truckloads of concentrates were transported by Lynden trucks to the Port of Skagway Ore Terminal. It was the first concentrate to be produced in a Yukon hard rock mine for several years. Lynden also hauls the byproduct, high grade concentrate, to Skagway in containers when required by the mine.

Minto was the first in a wave of new mining potential in the Yukon. With Lynden’s transportation support, the mine has been successful. The route is not an easy one. Trucks are barged across the Yukon River at the Minto landing and then travel 16 miles up a mine road for loading. In the winter, the river becomes an ice road for truck travel.

Richard Bateson manages the mine project for Lynden. “We all have to work together, Minto Mine, Canadian Lynden Transport and Mineral Services in Skagway where we deliver the copper ore. We have had an excellent relationship with the mine, Capstone Mining and Mineral Services for almost a decade,” he says.

Ronald Light, General Manager for Minto Mine and Capstone Mining Corp., agrees that the relationship works well. “The relationship between the Minto Mine and Canadian Lynden Transport has been a beneficial partnership that demonstrates how safety and production go hand-in-hand,” he explains. “Lynden has provided consistent, productive performance and has remained focused during times of change. We look forward to supporting each other as we continue to optimize our business.”

Over the past four years, approximately 14,000 shipments from all over the world arrived in Alberta, Canada for the construction of a bitumen refinery near the Kearl oil sands. Lynden International, Lynden Canada Co. and Canadian Lynden Transport provided support and logistics to engineering firm AMEC for the refinery project which included 12 Lynden employees in Edmonton and Calgary.

“The last four truckloads were delivered in late March, but over the past few years we moved everything from small packages to heaters weighing 150,000 pounds,” says Walter Rakiewich, Canadian Lynden Transport President. The Lynden companies provided international freight forwarding, warehousing, just-in-time shipping and truck transportation from Calgary to the refinery site 70 miles outside Fort McMurray. Most of the project was based at the Foster’s Wheeler’s Construction Staging Area (CSA) facility in Northern Alberta. Freight came from all over the world via air, truck, rail and ship, all coordinated by Lynden International.

“I’ve never been involved in a project of this complexity and size and it was a great experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of employees to work with,” Walter says. The project also affected the Canadian Lynden Transport crew as trucks were needed to haul truckload, less-than-truckload and heavy haul loads. Walter singled out Dispatcher Deanna Benson as key to keeping things running smoothly during the busy project years.

Lynden’s adaptability was a huge plus, according to Steve Foster, CSA Manager at Foster Wheeler. “Lynden provided great service to AMEC. Our ability to meet the contractors’ requirements was solely based on the excellent service provided by Lynden personnel at this facility.” He specifically noted Lynden’s ability to mobilize when priorities changed, the availability of trailers and other equipment and the availability of a dedicated driver to assist when the changes hit.

“After working on several of these projects in my career, this one stood out as the most successful because we had buy-in from the entire team on safety and service. That leads to success for both companies.”

In 2014, Lynden was selected from all of AMEC’s global business units as a recipient of the Beyond Zero Outstanding Achievement award for working 100,000 hours accident-free. Lynden Administrative Assistant Candice Fox also received an award for exceptional dedication to the CSA team (see photo below).

With an established Canadian presence through Lynden Canada Co. and Canadian Lynden Transport, Lynden is ready to continue its support of Canada’s oil industry. “I think we all feel a great sense of accomplishment with the way this project turned out and great pride in our employees who made it a success,” says Randy Jackson, Lynden International Vice President.

Last year, four Lynden companies teamed up on a project to transport lead and zinc ore concentrate from the Yukon Territory to Washington and then deliver it to its final destination in Trail, B.C. Alaska Marine Lines, Canadian Lynden Transport, LTI, Inc. and Alaska Marine Trucking began transporting two-ton bags in November 2010 then, in March 2011, switched to specially designed ore containers.

Canadian Lynden Transport’s Whitehorse operation trucks the ore concentrate 400 miles from the Bellekeno Mine site in the Yukon Territory to Skagway, AK, where it is loaded onto Alaska Marine Lines barges by Alaska Marine Trucking. Once the barges reach Seattle, LTI Inc.’s Moses Lake operation picks up the huge ore pots and delivers them to a smelter in Trail, B.C.

The ore is carried in 16-ton pots moved three at a time on a B-train chassis from the Yukon to Alaska at a total weight of 170,000 pounds. In Washington and British Columbia they are carried two at a time for a total weight of 105,000 pounds (see photo).

The new contract is keeping the LTI, Inc. Moses Lake crew busy. "This has been an interesting project for us,” says Regional Manager Vance Jansen. “It's a good example of the efficiencies that come from multiple Lynden companies working together." Lynden International also plays a role by filing customs entries.

Canadian Lynden Transport and Lynden Transport handled a move from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Edmonton, Alberta for customer Akita Drilling this spring. The Arctic Wolf drill rig consisted of 32 loads, including six weighing 90,000 to 110,000 pounds each. These challenging loads were coordinated by Prudhoe Bay Manager Jesse Burget and his crew and moved to Fairbanks. Tom Cox, Larry Johnson and Lonnie Young secured the loads in Fairbanks making them road ready for movement into Canada. Timing was important as seasonal road restrictions were about to go into effect that would delay the heaviest loads from transport to Edmonton.

“The Prudhoe Bay, Fairbanks and Edmonton crews did a great job making it all happen,” says Lynden Transport Manager Mark Graves. The last and heaviest load of the entire rig made it to Edmonton one day before the restrictions were in place.

“We moved this rig north about four years ago for the customer,” says Canadian Lynden Transport President Walter Rakiewich, “so it was nice to get the repeat business.”

From left, Tom Cox, Larry Johnson and Lonnie Young with the substructure for the Arctic Wolf drill rig in Fairbanks.

Canadian Lynden Transport stepped up service in February with the addition of a 60-ton step deck to its fleet. The new trailer is 3,000 pounds lighter than the one currently in service, but can carry more weight -- approximately 10 tons more. It has an expanding axle system to handle heavy haul loads over the Alcan and a lower floor height so drivers can haul taller loads than before.

Now that the Tok Bridge replacement is done, trucks can carry more weight on the Alaska Highway. The new trailer couldn't have come at a better time. Oil field customers can use versatile new equipment like this for drill rig moves between Alberta, B.C. and the Port of Houston. Home base for the new step deck is Edmonton so it can fan out to any location for customer use.

From the Lynden Archives: The article was originally written in March 2010.

If you're not sure, let us enlighten you. A mud tank is a piece of machinery used in a drill rig. As in drilling for oil. In Western Siberia.

(EPCO Mud Tank)

Lynden International and Canadian Lynden Transport recently teamed up on an international drill rig move for Equipment Procurement Company Limited (EPCO) out of Calgary with a final destination of Siberia. The mobile drill rig consisted of 14 pieces and four containers of parts -- the most impressive being a 93,000-pound rig carrier and mast that required special permits and an 11-axle trailer truck combo to move it over the road.

(EPCO Rig Carrier)

The oversized loads and the proper documentation to move the freight in and out of three countries was challenging, but nothing too unusual for the Lynden team. The loads went from Calgary to the Port of Houston and were then loaded aboard a ship bound for St. Petersburg, Russia. Once there, they were transferred to rail for the final leg to the oilfields in Western Siberia.

Lynden is well represented in Russia and well versed in international project shipping. Lynden International operates as AmRusTrans with offices in Moscow and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

From the Lynden Archives: This article was originally written in March 2010.