FedEx: Not on Chappy

By JULIA WELLS

The company motto is The World On Time, and the phrase was good
fodder for the recent Tom Hanks blockbuster, Cast Away. But there is now
one place in the world where Federal Express is not on time.

In fact, it is more accurate to say that Federal Express is not On
Time, which is coincidentally the name of the Chappaquiddick ferry.

Chappaquiddick? No Federal Express delivery here.

Not On Time or anytime.

A contract between Federal Express and the owner of the
Chappaquiddick Ferry expired last month, ending the long-standing
practice of Federal Express pickup and dropoff at the small ferry house
on Memorial Wharf.

Ferry owner Roy Hayes said this week that the contract was not
renewed because there is no longer space in the ferry house to
accommodate all the packages and letters that come in in the summer
months. Mr. Hayes said Federal Express officials knew that the contract
would not be renewed months ago, but no substitute arrangements were
made.

The result has been chaos when it comes to Federal Express delivery
for Chappaquiddick residents.

Residents who are expecting FedEx deliveries and are unaware of the
situation have gone to the ferry house, only to find nothing there.
Others who call Federal Express report being told a variety of stories.
One person was told to go to Oak Bluffs to pick up a package this week.
Another was told to go to the Martha's Vineyard Airport. Another
found that the FedEx truck would meet him at the ferry for hand-to-hand
delivery.

"They claim that they will deliver anywhere, and now people
are paying for a service they are not getting," declared Maureen
Baron, a resident who heads a special committee on utilities for the
Chappaquiddick Island Association.

"I have been talking about this for a long time. It's
not unreasonable to ask these people to deliver. I just don't have
the room anymore in the ferry house," said Mr. Hayes.

This week Federal Express managers scrambled to come up with a plan
to deliver to Chappaquiddick.

"Right now my bosses are meeting in Framingham. My personal
quest was to do something about this," said Frank de Stefano, the
Federal Express manager for the Cape and Islands region. Mr. de Stefano
spoke briefly with the Gazette by telephone from his office in Hyannis
on Wednesday morning. After that, all further calls were routed through
the media relations office.

Late in the day on Wednesday an announcement was made.

"While we understand a number of residents would like to have
door-to-door delivery, it has been determined that it is not feasible at
this time. The lay of the land and the physical terrain, including the
roads, are limitations, in addition to the fact that many of the houses
are occupied by renters in the summer," said Pam Roberson, a media
relations spokesman for Federal Express in Memphis, Tenn.

Ms. Roberson said Federal Express now plans to station a truck
"somewhere near the ferry shack," in Edgartown, although she
admitted that she was unfamiliar with the Vineyard and could not be
specific about the location of the truck. She said residents who are
expecting Federal Express delivery will now receive a telephone call,
and will be able to meet the truck in Edgartown for pickup.

Ms. Baron, who has been in contact with Mr. de Stefano, said on
Wednesday she had not been informed about the arrangement. She said the
arrangement could prove to be problematic.

"Will people have to drive over on the ferry to get their
packages? What if you are not home when you get the telephone call? This
doesn't make a lot of sense," she said.

Mr. Hayes said he had offered to let Federal Express go ahead in the
ferry line, the same way he allows the U.S. Mail truck to go ahead. He
said he would charge a small fee for the go-ahead, but he said the fee
was not unreasonable.

"This is a service people pay for - this is not the same
as the U.S. mail," Mr. Hayes said.

Ms. Roberson said money was not a factor in the decision to refuse
delivery on Chappaquiddick.

"Financial considerations were discussed, but money was not an
issue. It was strictly based on physical feasibility. That's
all," she said.

"And it's not a refusal, it's an inability to
offer our service," she said.

Ms. Baron said she had met with Mr. de Stefano some months ago to
discuss a new arrangement for Federal Express delivery. She said her
group had proposed a new dropoff site on Chappaquiddick at the site of
the small general store that is open in the summer months.

"We were not looking for door-to-door delivery. We were
looking for a dropoff spot. We had done a lot of work ahead of time and
Frank came and looked at the dropoff spot at Gerry Jeffers' garage
[and store]. We don't want more trucks on Chappy; the road is
narrow and we really want to keep the trucks down," Ms. Baron
said.

She said opinion is divided on Chappaquiddick about door-to-door
delivery.

"I know that some people do want it, while other people are
concerned about more trucks on the roads," she said.

But Ms. Baron said she never heard back from Mr. de Stefano.

Mr. Hayes reported a similar experience.

"A representative came down and went over to Chappy to look at
the situation. I thought they were going to do dropoffs at Gerry
Jeffers' store. Then the end of the month came, and I hadn't
heard anything," he said.

Ms. Baron said amid all the confusion, one thing is clear:
Chappaquiddick residents are now encouraged to use some other delivery
service for packages and letters.

"What Federal Express needs to know is that we will encourage
people to use other carriers. I will call L.L. Bean and tell them that
they cannot deliver here. I have an account myself that I will cancel.
People pay for this service, and they are told they will get
delivery," she said.

Mr. Hayes said he also intends to end his contract with United
Parcel Service for the use of the ferry house when it runs out in July.
He said he will offer UPS a similar deal to go ahead in the ferry line
for a fee.

Ms. Roberson said she did not know of anyplace else where Federal
Express could not deliver.

"I am not aware of any other situations like this," she
said.

She concluded:

"We always like to think that we offer something that our
competition doesn't offer. But in this situation, it's just
not feasible."