FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Kenworth Alaska recently relocated its Fairbanks dealership to a new facility to offer customers increased service capacity and expanded parts availability.

The new Fairbanks location offers triple the amount of service space available in its previous location. The new 21,000 sq.-ft. facility houses 10 service bays and one enclosed wash bay and is located on a 3.3-acre site.

Since the new facility is so much bigger, Kenworth Alaska becomes the only truck dealer in Fairbanks to offer services under a single roof and in a building designed specifically as a heavy-duty truck dealership, said Ken Mason, COO for parent company Kenworth Northwest, which operates five other locations.

Were also pleased that the new facility offers a more convenient location for customers since its near the crossroads for State Highway 2, the western route to Canada, State Highway 3, the southeastern route to Anchorage, and the Dalton Highway, the northern route to Prudhoe Bay, added Jim Scherieble, general manager of Kenworth Alaska.

The 414-mile Dalton Highway leads to the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay and is a treacherous stretch of highway.

The demanding, mainly gravel road follows the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and climbs more than 120 mountain grades and hills with 25 grades approaching or exceeding 18%. Temperatures can fall to 50 or 60 degrees below zero; and because trucks face such extreme conditions, reliable parts availability and service following the sale becomes critical to their operation.

As pipeline maintenance on the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System expands and work begins on a new Trans Alaskan Gas Pipeline, our new facility will serve the needs of customers involved in the oil and gas industry for years to come, Scherieble said.