The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division has canceled several trips scheduled for the Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicular ferry on Monday, July 26, due to staffing issues.
The following departures are canceled for Monday:
- Hatteras vehicular ferry: 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.
- Ocracoke vehicular ferry: 11:00 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 8 p.m.
A complete ferry schedule for all seven North Carolina routes is available online on the NCDOT’s Ferry Division website.
The Ocracoke Express passenger ferry returned for the summer season on June 21, and also departs from the Hatteras village ferry terminal at 9:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., with departures from the Ocracoke Silver Lake Terminal at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Visitors can book reservations for the passenger ferry, or for the Ocracoke-mainland routes online or by calling 1-800-BY-FERRY.
So there’s no one available to staff these ferries? A qualified manager can’t leave an office in order to keep the ferries running?
I’m not surprised, there were articles here and elsewhere back in March and April that the state ferry service was having real difficulty hiring the seasonal staff they need. They’ve been hit by the crunch just like every restaurant, business, or shop everywhere. There’s not enough staff, so they have to “rob Peter to pay Paul,” by taking people off the less travelled routes to put them on the busiest route.