Considering that Alaska has a population density of just one person per square mile and covers an area more than twice the size of Texas, it makes sense that online shopping orders, while convenient, can take several weeks to reach the state’s residents, especially those in rural areas.

But Amazon is bringing faster delivery speeds to customers in Alaska thanks to our delivery station in Anchorage, which opened in November 2023. The delivery station is Amazon’s first physical location in Alaska and has created nearly 400 jobs in the Anchorage area via delivery station employees and Amazon Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) and their drivers.

Amazon delivery vehicle navigating icy Alaskan highway in winter

From two weeks to two days

Alaska-bound packages arrive at our Amazon Air gateway in Anchorage via daily, year-round flights from our Portland, Oregon Amazon Air gateway. After the aircraft lands, packages get loaded onto tractor trailers and arrive at our Anchorage delivery station in the early morning hours. From there, employees unload the packages, sort them by ZIP code, and ensure the safety of the operation and all team members.

Amazon fulfillment employee processing packages on conveyor belt.

Once packages are sorted, employees put them into tote bags and carts. Less than four hours later, the same packages that arrived at the facility that morning get loaded into delivery vehicles for customer delivery. DSP drivers in Alaska wear heavy duty parkas, snow pants, boots and ice cleats, and headlamps to help them deliver throughout the winter.

Amazon employees loading packages into a delivery van.

Delivery station site lead Austin Empey said there was a lot of energy and excitement in Anchorage once people heard that Amazon was opening a delivery station, “and that excitement just goes right out onto the road with the drivers and on to the customers.”

Delivering peak performance

One of those customers is Eddie Burke Jr., a professional dog musher who lives more than an hour outside of Anchorage and orders most of the supplies for his 20 dogs on Amazon.

Dog sled team traversing snowy landscape at dusk.

“One of my favorite things about this sport is conquering that adversity out there on the trail. The relationship and the bond that you have afterwards with those dogs is truly incredible,” said Burke Jr., whose training runs last up to 70 miles, in all kinds of weather. “They’re a goofy, loving group with 20 different personalities… but they are all incredibly special.”

Snowy dog walk featuring mixed breed canines and bundled-up walker.

And many of the supplies he needs to help his dogs reach peak performance—like booties and other special gear, 12 bags of kibble each month, and joint supplements—come from Amazon.

“Just like a human athlete, these dogs need the best nutrition and supplements and vitamins,” he said.

Before Burke Jr. started ordering from Amazon, getting the supplies he needed was “a long process” that involved asking a friend who lived in the Lower 48 states to go to a store and ship it to him, or drive one to two hours to the nearest shopping center, which may have had limited options.

“I can just go on Amazon and find what I need and find these items cheaper and with free shipping than I can find them here in local stores,” he said.

Amazon delivery vehicle driving on snowy road at sunset.

And now, customers are getting their packages even faster.

“Before the facility opened, it was taking upwards of two weeks to get packages to customers’ doorsteps,” Empey said. “Now that we’re open and operating, our goal is to get it down to two days or less. It’s a game changer for not only Amazon, but all the customers here.”

Amazon is proud to support the communities we serve. As a thank you to the people who live and work in Alaska, Amazon made donations totaling $25,000 to The August Fund, a nonprofit that provides veterinary care and homes for retired racing sled dogs, and Knik Iditarod Trail Blazers, a nonprofit that maintains and preserves the historic Iditarod Trail system.