Peter Bradley
Editorial Director
peter@dcvelocity.com
Karen Bachrach
Executive Editor
karen@dcvelocity.com
Toby Gooley
Managing Editor
tgooley@dcvelocity.com
David Maloney
Senior Editor, Special Projects & eContent
dmaloney@dcvelocity.com
Mark Solomon
Senior Editor
mark@dcvelocity.com
Susan Lacefield
Associate Managing Editor
slacefield@dcvelocity.com
James Cooke
Editor at Large
jcooke@dcvelocity.com
Steve Geary
Editor at Large
sgeary@dcvelocity.com
George Weimer
Editor at Large
gweimer@dcvelocity.com
Erica E. Mac Donald
Assistant Editor
Sean Maloney
Assistant Editor
Keisha Christopher
Director of Creative Services
keisha@dcvelocity.com
Jeff Thacker
Director of eMedia
jeff@dcvelocity.com
Rhonda McGee
Director of Research
rmcgee@dcvelocity.com
Columnists:
Clifford F. Lynch
Don Jacobson
Shelly Safian
Kenneth B. Ackerman
Art Van Bodegraven
Barry Brandman
bigpicture
ferry tales
Gary Master
Publisher
gmaster@dcvelocity.com
Mitch Mac Donald
Group Editorial Director
mitch@dcvelocity.com
Jim Indelicato
Group Publisher
jindelicato@dcvelocity.com
EDITORIAL OFFICE
Tower Square, Number 4
500 East Washington Street
North Attleboro, MA 02760
(508) 695-4530
Subscribe at
www.dcvelocity.com
or call (630) 739-0900
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT FREIGHT LOGIStics and physical distribution, the images that come to mind are ocean container ships, 18-wheelers on interstate highways, or trains hauling double-stacked containers across the continent. But getting goods to the end of the
line often requires something quite different.
A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to spend a few days on Martha’s
Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. During our last day on the island,
we spent a leisurely lunch at the Lookout Tavern overlooking the
Steamship Authority’s loading dock in Oak Bluffs.
I imagine that when most people think of the ferries that move between
the mainland and the island, they picture the large passenger vessels
crowded with tourists that are often featured in films
and news stories on Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket.
But while sitting on the restaurant porch, I particularly enjoyed watching the process of loading one of the
smaller freight vessels that serve the island.
The Steamship Authority, which operates the ferries
that serve Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and bills
itself as “the lifeline to the Islands,” has a couple of vessels that specialize in carrying trucks.
What I found intriguing was the various skill levels
demonstrated by the truck drivers in backing onto the
vessel (not to mention the skilled ferry pilot who
backed effortlessly into the dock). While the large ferries open at both ends and allow drivers to pull straight
on and straight off, these smaller freight ferries require
the large rigs to back up a narrow ramp onto the shifting deck. One driver, handling double trailers, took a good 10 minutes and several attempts
to get in position to move up the ramp safely. He was followed by a UPS
18-wheeler, whose driver maneuvered up the ramp as naturally as an auto
driver might back into a space at the mall. Impressive.
The freight vessels will also take cars, and I had backed my undersized
Civic onto one of these on the way over. I found that challenging enough,
so my hat is off to the drivers who regularly maneuver their tractor-trailers or straight trucks safely on board.
This process goes on several times a day and is part of a long-lived routine that ensures the Islands’ businesses have the food, drink, clothing,
building materials, and tourist tchotchkes they need. And, of course, there
are hundreds or even thousands of locations around the nation that present comparable logistics challenges—islands, mountain communities,
towns in the hinterlands—all part of a network of carriers and workers
that deliver the goods and make this an endlessly interesting business.
A PUBLICATION OF
Editorial Director
