Truckers and Falmouth residents sounded off again this week on a plan by the Steamship Authority to make changes to the early morning freight schedule from Woods Hole to the Vineyard.

SSA governors voted earlier this month to eliminate the 5:30 a.m. freight boat out of Woods Hole from most of next year’s winter and spring schedules. The boat line is now receiving public comment on the summer and fall schedules, which would remain unchanged.

At a hearing in Falmouth on Monday, Woods Hole residents and Vineyard freight haulers were equally unhappy about the plan. Village residents who are concerned about early morning truck traffic on the Woods Hole Road want the 5:30 a.m. trip eliminated altogether. And truckers say eliminating any early freight runs will add hours to their work days and drive up the cost of goods for Islanders.

Under the changes approved so far, from Jan. 5 to March 14, the first freight trip will leave Woods Hole at 6:30 a.m. (some trucks will be allowed on the 6 a.m. regular ferry).

Longtime Vineyard freight hauler Trip Barnes: “The Island has grown. You can't stop progress.”

Steve Myrick

Longtime Vineyard freight hauler Trip Barnes: “The Island has grown. You can't stop progress.”

Steve Myrick

From March 15 to April 1, the 5:30 a.m. trip will be back on the schedule. Then from April 15 to May 10 the first freight trip out of Woods Hole will again be at 6:30, with the ferry berthed overnight in Vineyard Haven and making a 5:30 a.m. run from the Island.

As now proposed, the summer and fall schedules will be unchanged, with a 5:30 a.m. freight trip out of Woods Hole.

On Monday, Nat Trumbull of Falmouth faulted the SSA for increasing the number of freight trips to the Vineyard, pointing to schedule changes that began in 2010.

“Without trying to sugar coat it, the Steamship Authority has become a bad neighbor,” he said. “Good neighbors don’t act as the Steamship Authority has been acting. The noise these trucks are creating is more than a nuisance or an irritant, it’s abusive in my view. These are an invasion of our homes, our peace and quiet, that demand redress.”

Al Colarusso, a Middleboro trucker and Vineyard Haven resident, said he transports vital goods to the Island.

“When truckers go to the Island, they’re not going to the Black Dog and eat,” Mr. Colarusso said. “They’re not going to the beach, or the carousel. They’re bringing medicine, gas, and oil, because that is the highway for 125,000 people. What these 250 neighbors from Falmouth are saying is the 125,000 people on Martha’s Vineyard can pay more, wait more, or go without.”

Carol Wagoner, a Falmouth resident who lives near the Woods Hole Road, had another view.

“We’re being told you better accept the fact that we bought property on a state highway,” Ms. Wagner said. “We accept that fact, where we are. I only wish that the people who live on the Vineyard would accept the fact that they live on an Island. An Island does not have a highway to their front door, to their businesses, to their beaches, to their commerce.”

Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd, a longtime Island trucker, spoke about growth and consequences.

“We didn’t ask the presidents of the United States to decide to come to the Vineyard with their entourage, and we didn’t ask people to pay millions of dollars for these houses,” Mr. Barnes said. “The Island has grown. The people have to eat. The people have to get their furniture moved. The people need the services that you need everywhere else. You can’t stop progress.”

John Leite, an Oak Bluffs trucker, spoke about the link the ferry provides between the Island and the mainland.

“This is not an industrial port,” Mr. Leite said. “This is an extension of the highway. We just want the right like everybody else to come and go, and the way we come and go is by using this boat. Doing what’s suggested, starting late, meaning we are going to get back late, and guys getting into overtime would be an economic hardship. That burden would have to be passed on to the consumer on the Vineyard. We don’t think that’s fair.”

SSA governors plan to vote on the summer and fall schedules at their next meeting, Sept. 26 on Nantucket.