Trucking photos
Semi tractor hauls supplies along the remote James Dalton Highway, which terminates at the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska’s Arctic. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
While the road system in Alaska is limited, industrial trucking operations are critical for distributing and shipping products throughout the State. Trucking is an industry across the nation that consumes 25% of all fuel usage. Due to its remoteness from the rest of the lower 48 states, Alaska has no simple choice for transporting goods to and from the State. Road, sea, rivers, and air are the primary ways of moving supplies. All of the trucking photos on this site are available to license for commercial use or purchase as fine art prints.
Semi tractor trailer travels the James Dalton Highway (the Haul Road) with mt Sukakpak rising in the distance. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
The Haul Road
The reality TV show Ice Road Truckers has probably contributed to the greatest public awareness about trucking in remote areas. Alaska has the now famous James Dalton Highway, Alaska Route 11, locally called the Haul Road or Dalton, which is heavily featured in the TV show. The road connects Fairbanks with the Arctic Ocean and Prudhoe Bay, and it was built to supply the oil field industry following the construction of the Alaska oil pipeline. The road is notorious for bad weather, high winds, blowing snow, and narrow sections. Several Department of Transportation road service camps along the road is dedicated to keeping the road passable for Truckers. Most of the trucking photos here are from this section of Alaska road.
Semi-tractor trucks travel the dangerous section of road on the Dalton Highway, or Haul Road, known as the Rollercoaster, a very steep descending hill. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
A truck hauls supplies over Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Truckers haul supplies along the James Dalton Highway in winter, Arctic Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi truck hauls supplies to Prudhoe Bay oil fields, James Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi truck crosses the bridge over the Yukon River on the James Dalton Highway, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi-tractor trailer travels the James Dalton Highway near Prudhoe Bay, Arctic North Slope, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
A truck drives the James Dalton Highway through Atigun Pass in Alaska’s Arctic. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Trucks travel along the James Dalton Highway near Slope mountain in the Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi truck hauls supplies to Prudhoe Bay oil fields, James Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Avalanche sign at the base of Atigun Pass, the highest roadway pass in Alaska, along the James Dalton Highway (haul road) in the Brooks Range. The Haul Road provides access to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Aurora streams over semi-tractor-trailer trucks at the Coldfoot truck stop in Coldfoot, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Truck on the James Dalton Highway (haul road) transports goods to Prudhoe Bay, Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska, trans-Alaska oil pipeline. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi travels the Dalton Highway during high winds and blowing snow north of the Brooks Range on Alaska’s Arctic coastal plains. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi-tractor trailer travels down the north side of Atigun Pass, James Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
A snow plow clears snow from the James Dalton Highway (Haul Road), connecting Fairbanks with the Prudhoe Bay Oil fields. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
The truck driver puts chains on the truck tires for better traction crossing the Atigun Pass of the Brooks Range, Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Trucking and wildlife
Wildlife crossing the Dalton Highway can cause problems for truckers since there are no lights along the route. Most trucks have elaborate supplemental lights to broadcast far down the road to see wildlife or other obstructions that may be on the road.
Caribou cross the James Dalton Highway in front of a trucker in the Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
A herd of musk ox crossing the James Dalton highway caused a risk for the trucks and vehicles that travel the road, Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)