Young Brothers Seeking Barge Schedule Change

Schedule change could make it harder to get fresh food.

Young Brothers Ltd. said it applied to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission for approval to change the schedule of one of its two weekly trips to Molokai.

The barge company wants to change its Monday night stopovers to Tuesday night. Currently, the first barge of the week departs Honolulu on Sunday, stops Monday morning on Maui and then at night on Molokai.

Under the new proposal, cargo would arrive Tuesday nights on Molokai, and would be available Wednesday mornings for pick up.

The second barge of the week departs from Honolulu Barge to Arrive Back-to-Back Days
Schedule change could make it harder to get fresh food.

Young Brothers Ltd. has applied to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission for approval to change its Molokai shipping date from Monday night to Tuesday night.
Under the new proposal, the schedule would be pushed out by a day so that cargo would be available Wednesday mornings for pick up. The second barge of the week, which arrives Thursday mornings, will maintain the same sailing schedule.
Local grocers have expressed concern reasoning that back-to-back barge arrivals will allow for too small delivery window. They say perishable goods will not last throughout the week and that customers will either receive less choices or a higher cost should air shipping be required.

In response to customer concerns YB said it would extend barge pick-up times to include Thursdays and Fridays until noon. YB is proposing to adjust its tariffs so the company can offer Friday pick-ups and additional refrigeration time at no extra cost.
YB said that the change was due to Molokai’s small harbor size and that it requires a smaller barge in order to maintain shipping schedules. To use the smaller barge, YB said the schedule change was necessary.
Concerned customers can contact the Public Utilities Commission at (808) 586-2020 or Hawaii.puc@hawaii.gov.
on Wednesday nights and arrives on Moloka‘i on Thursday mornings. The sailing schedule for the second barge of the week would remain the same.

In response to customer concerns to have one-day spacing between cargo pick-up times, YB said it would extend barge pick-up to include Thursday and Friday until noon.

However, YB has proposed to raise its tariff so the company could offer no extra charges for Friday pick-ups or for the additional refrigerated cargo storage time.

There are some benefits associated with the proposed change.

The cargo available Tuesday on Molokai is dropped off Friday in Honolulu. Under the proposal, the cargo available on Molokai on Wednesday may be dropped off on Friday or Monday in Honolulu. The option to drop-off cargo on Mondays would keep it fresher.

The company said it will use a smaller barge, which will be more appropriate for Kaunakakai Harbor.

The proposed change would also affect drop-off schedule for cargo going from Molokai to Honolulu. The cut-off to make the first barge of the week to Honolulu would be 3:30 on Tuesday.