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ATTENTION
NO Lumber or Building supplies of ANY kind will be accepted on Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays.
Additionally, NO Lumber or Building supplies will be accepted after 10am on Fridays.
This page is intended to provide some helpful guidelines and information pertaining to Fire Island Ferries, Inc. freight boat service. We have been providing freight boats as an adjunct to and in conjunction with our passenger service for over fifty years. These many years of service have given us the experience necessary to formulate certain guidelines and policies. We strive to provide consistent and superior service given the constraints of time, the vagaries of weather, the unforgiving marine environment and the finite limits of shipping/warehouse space. So, while some of these policies may seem arbitrary and/or unfair, they have evolved through time for the overall benefit of our customers, your vendors and our company.
All freight going to or from Fire Island must be labeled with NAME and DESTINATION (i.e. – “John Doe – Ocean Beach”), please have each item labeled. FI Ferries employees will not label freight, so if someone else or a vendor is making the delivery to us please inform them it is their responsibility to label each item (most shipping companies are very cooperative as long as they know ahead of time).
F.I. Ferries is not a postal office and cannot accept any parcel post or mail in care of our customers. All mail and parcel post items must be shipped to your respective post offices on Fire Island (Ocean Beach – year round, Saltaire – seasonal, Fair Harbor – seasonal, Kismet – seasonal). Anything shipped via the US mail service in care of F.I. Ferries will be returned to sender.
When shipping via UPS, Fed Ex, Airborne or any of the other shipping services please label your freight as follows:
John Doe/Ocean Beach
99 Maple Ave.
Bay Shore NY 11706
Jane Smith – Fair Harbor
99 Maple Ave.
Bay Shore NY 11706
Please remember that without a name and destination on the address label we will not accept any deliveries.
We have freight houses in Bay Shore, Ocean Beach, Fair Harbor, Seaview and Ocean Bay Park. Due to the relatively small size of these buildings and the vast quantities of freight that pass through these communities, the freight houses can only be considered as temporary waypoints for your freight. We are not able to warehouse goods for any length of time. Please arrange to have your freight picked up as close as possible to the shipping date. For those unable or unwilling to comply with this request: we are not responsible for any freight held for 7 days or more; storage charges will begin to accrue after 14 days (equal to freight charge for each 7 day period); we reserve the right to dispose of anything left more than 30 days at customers expense.
The Village of Saltaire has a cartage concessionaire (Mr. Barry Wetherall (631) 581-0993) who is responsible for moving all freight off the dock in Saltaire. FI Ferries drops any freight for Saltaire on the dock in Saltaire and is relieved of further liability. Please contact Mr. Wetherall ahead of time to make arrangements to have your freight delivered to your residence. FI Ferries freight charges are from Bay Shore to the Saltaire dock (or vice versa). Because of this unique arrangement, homeowners will be held responsible for any freight charges renters or house guests incur that remain unpaid. Please inform your guests/renters that they can and should pay their freight bill at the freight boat. There is a separate and unrelated charge for cartage from the dock – please contact Mr. Wetherall for further info.
Atlantique, Dunewood and Kismet do not have freight houses. As a result, all freight must have a shipping date. For those of you who are dropping off freight yourselves please put a shipping date on each item. For those who are having freight shipped to them via UPS or common carrier, please call (631) 665-3600 or 666-3600 at least a day ahead of time (Mon. – Fri. 7:00am through 3:30pm) to let us know of your intended shipping date. When you call make sure to ask for someone in the freight department to facilitate the proper communication.
All freight boats are scheduled to leave Bay Shore at 10:00am.
Weather permitting, we run Monday through Friday year round. During the height of the season, we also run on Saturdays
(from mid-April to Mid-October), call for actual dates.
For same day deliveries we will accept shipments from 7:30am to 9:30am at the foot of Maple Ave. Please inform shippers that the earlier the better. Please give us the courtesy of a phone call for any large shipments so we can make the proper space accommodations.
Thank you.
We will accept commercial deliveries (see restrictions below)
Monday thru Friday 7:00am to 3:30pm
Saturdays (when freight boat runs) 7:00am to 9:30am
Deliveries attempted during other times will be refused and
trucks will be turned away.
Lumber/Building supplies are only accepted for same day delivery.
NO Lumber/Building supplies will be accepted after 9:45am.
NO Lumber/Building supplies are accepted on
Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays.
Building supplies include: kitchen cabinets, plumbing supplies/fixtures, windows/doors, tile, flooring, paneling, bulk landscape supplies, fireplaces, stairs, hot tubs, etc.
If in doubt please call.
Liquor will only be accepted for same day shipment, deliveries will only be accepted between 7:00am and 9:45am (Monday – Saturday).
Personal freight: please make an effort to have all boxes, cartons, crates etc. labeled and sealed properly. We will not be responsible for any items in unsealed containers and reserve the right to refuse such containers. Please do not use plastic garbage bags to ship your freight, too often they look like plastic bags of garbage. You are responsible for labeling your freight. The unusually hectic nature of freight and the large numbers of people to deal with has forced us to stipulate that FI Ferries employees not label anyone’s freight, after all you know where you want your freight to go. If you are dropping off your own freight in Bay Shore, the freight house will be accessible whenever the terminal is open. If the doors are closed, ask a parking attendant to open them.
Please remember we are operating in a marine environment that is beyond our control. Your freight is being shipped on boats, on the water. We are subject to wind conditions, salt spray conditions and fog conditions as well as the normal rain, sleet, snow and sun variables. If you are worried about it, protect it. We strive to make sure all freight we ship is protected from the elements, but you are ultimately responsible for the proper safeguarding of your property.
Please inform any of your vendors that ship via truck of some basic tenets. All freight must be labeled. All freight must be properly protected (i.e.- we will refuse any new furniture that is not boxed, wrapped or otherwise protected). All freight must be delivered only during the hours previously mentioned. All freight that requires a signature will be accounted for by the number of pieces received. We will only sign a shipping document if we are provided with a copy of said document. We have made a rather substantial investment in equipment (forklifts, pallet jacks, hand trucks, training, etc..). Please have your vendors take advantage of this, any freight that can come pre-palletized and shrink wrapped can be easily and quickly off-loaded, saving both sides time and headaches (remember though that if we receive one pallet of freight we will sign for one pallet – we do not count the number of pieces within the pallet). The condition we receive your freight is generally the condition you receive your freight. No claims can be made for freight once it leaves our care and custody. We are not responsible for hidden damages, those claims must be made to the original shipper. We have an astoundingly good record within the shipping industry, yet mistakes do happen.
Please bring any problems to our attention immediately.
The freight operation, while courteous to a fault, is not a courtesy service. All freight charges are due upon receipt unless you have a commercial shipping account (including a $1000.00 deposit) with us. We only accept cash (no credit cards), and we will accept personal checks from Fire Island homeowners. We have available a published price list which we use as a basis for determining the freight charges. Due to the vast variability of items we ship, prices are usually set upon visual inspection of the item in question and can vary from the printed cost.
Due to limited inside storage, many items will be restricted to outside storage. We are not responsible for any items left outside overnight. Aside from the obvious gas containers, gas powered equipment, propane tanks and bbq grills, other items requiring outside storage include (but not restricted to) : kayaks, canoes, windsurfers, sailboats, jet skis, dinghies, soiled laundry, nursery stock, lumber, building supplies (see above), golf carts and bicycles.
We would like to make your freight shipping experience as painless and expeditious as possible. Your cooperation will help immensely.
If you have any questions, please call and ask to speak to the freight department.
Thank you.
Phone Numbers
(631) 665-3600 / 666-3600
Kismet, Saltaire, Fair Harbor, Dunewood, Atlantique, Ocean Beach, Seaview, and Ocean Bay Park.
