NANTUCKET, Mass. — Nantucket shop owners are frantically making backup plans after learning UPS missed the deadline to make ferry reservations for its trucks this upcoming peak season.
The Boston Globe reported, according to the Steamship Authority, UPS failed to request reservations for the trucks during an early booking window available for freight shippers for the season beginning May and ending in October. By now, the boats are near capacity, the Globe reported.
Stephanie Correia, owner of Stephanie’s Nantucket – a long-standing Main Street boutique – is one of many business owners concerned UPS won’t be able to ship and deliver their packages on the island this summer.
“I was like, that can’t be. I was really baffled by the whole situation. It just didn’t make any sense,” Correia told Boston 25 News by Zoom Monday. “This a source of a lifeline for goods, and this is part of the way we all do business here.”
UPS said in a statement the company is working on a solution.
“Our priority is to maintain outstanding service reliability for all our customers,” UPS said. “UPS has ferry reservations and is working on other transportation options to ensure packages are delivered on time to the island during the busy summer season.”
The Steamship Authority told Boston 25 News it does not comment on specific customers’ travel information, but said in a statement, “our staff works regularly with customers, including freight shippers, to address logistical issues when they arise. When issues related to delivering the necessities of life or freight crucial to supporting the economy of the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, we understand the importance of those shipments and work with customers to find solutions.”
Correia said about 60 percent of her business relies on UPS, delivering inventory to the store and shipping out customers’ orders.
As she scrambles to find an alternative, another shipping company called her Monday hoping to gain her business, she said.
“It’s not an option to not have goods. It’s just not something that we can do,” Correia said. “People… want to shop and spend money and support local merchants, because it’s a large part of summer vacation on Nantucket. You eat, you drink, you go to the beach and you shop. It’s what we do here.”
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2022 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
