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FAIRBANKS — We typically associate customer service with restaurants, hotels, gift shops, parks or other places where we expect to be treated with respect and dignity. Here in Fairbanks, we talk a lot about customer service in relation with the tourist season when our Golden Heart City becomes a destination for many visitors from Alaska, the Lower 48 and other countries. These fine folks are coming on ships, planes, trains and all manner of two- and four-wheel vehicles and are simply excited about being here.

We are excited, too, because they bring money to our economy, and let’s face it, it’s a chance to meet and chat with people from near and far. But in terms of customer service, we somehow forget that roads also are the place where we can make an impression on our visitors. I don’t know if we should call our behavior toward visiting drivers customer service, but maybe we could look at it from this angle. I live on Chena Hot Springs Road and have many opportunities to observe how local drivers treat visitors in campers or rental cars. These locals tailgate, pass where it’s dangerous, don’t signal their turns and, what is the most dangerous, pass sightseeing visitors well over the speed limit only to turn into their own driveway half a mile down the road.

So are we only nice to the visitors in restaurants or shops because they can leave a hefty tip, which they can’t when they are driving?

As a matter of fact, tourists on wheels pay a lot of money for choosing to drive to Alaska. When they rent a car, they pay a 10 percent tax. When they rent an RV, they pay a 3 percent tax. When they stay in motels or B&Bs, they pay an 8 percent tax on top of their room charge.

Overall, it adds up to a lot of benefits. Numbers from the 2006 Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development summer statistics report show that about 85,000 people came to Alaska by highway or ferry that year and about 534,000 people visited the Interior — and many of them rented a car or RV.

Alaska.com advocates exploring our state in a rental car because “driving in Alaska is breathtaking and fun — roads here aren’t like highways of the Lower 48.” It also gives potential drivers safety tips for Alaska roads including having their headlights on at all times, driving slowly because of the possibility of encountering a moose or pulling over if five or more cars are trailing them.

Unfortunately, the Web site does not give potential visitors any warning about reckless and rude drivers who also are present on Alaska roads.

That’s something visitors must experience firsthand as a part of the whole Alaska package.

Do we want our visitors to view the beautiful scenery that we enjoy every day? Of course we do. Do we want them to drive 40 miles per hour on the highway when the speed limit is 55? No, that’s also unsafe, but when we do encounter someone with license plates from elsewhere “poking along” (I was behind a car from Virginia the other day and also saw one in the Fred Meyer parking lot from Quebec, Canada) respect them and try to understand how they got here and why.

We’ve all had similar experiences driving in other areas of the country or even the world as tourists.

Next time you are on the road, think about the driver in front of you. He/she doesn’t know the road, they don’t know how long it will take to get there and yes, they do want to see the moose and anything else that catches their eye, but they sure don’t want to be forced off the road by someone in a hurry to get home to watch their favorite TV show.

Appreciate our visitors. They have come a long way to appreciate what we have.

Alica Unruh is an adjunct professor of applied business specializing in business, marketing, and human resource management. She may be contacted at ffaku@uaf.edu.

This column is brought to you as a public service of the UAF Tanana Valley Campus Department of Applied Business.