To the Editor:
The SSA has once again shown it is only concerned about itself.
In a constructive step, the SSA has agreed to allow a company to barge freight to Nantucket.
However, this authorization is only for a limited duration, and comes with major restrictions on the number of runs and cargo that can be carried.
The only reason the SSA has made this concession, which is only a concession, is to avoid the ugly stain on the SSA that would develop if it did not allow UPS to deliver its packages to the Islands. Probably if any less “important” company (in the eyes of the SSA) found itself in the same situation as UPS, no such arrangement would have been accommodated.
In another example of its self-centered thinking, the SSA expressed concern that by allowing UPS freight to be barged, it would lose about $200,000 in freight charges. Who is the SSA trying to kid? What loss of revenue?
By the very fact that the UPS complained, the SSA already knew that space not already reserved by UPS had been booked by other trucks and cars. In fact, the very reason the SSA agreed to this new arrangement was precisely that all available slots on its boats had already been reserved, to the exclusion of UPS. This is a fact that was eventually admitted to by the SSA general counsel.
Why does the SSA go to such lengths to complain and deny service to any potential competitors?
Since the SSA can already claim it meets its mandate “to be a lifeline for the Islands,” why must it always push for more? Why not allow others to make some money by shipping from an off-Cape port? Why does the SSA require virtually all traffic to the Islands to profit only the SSA?
There is no state mandate requiring the SSA to make as much money as possible.
There is no state mandate prohibiting the SSA from allowing others to provide services to the Islands.
The problem is that the SSA is a monopoly and is in this business solely for itself, and to hell with anyone else, whether it be Islanders, those on the Cape, or our planet.
Damien Kuffler
Woods Hole
