Greater Boston, corridor by corridor
Greater Boston, corridor by corridor: six counties and fifteen towns grouped by the harbor, the Route 128 ring, the I-495 belt and the Route 24 channel. Open the one nearest your dock.
Counties
| County | Towns with pages | Roads |
|---|---|---|
| Suffolk County | Chelsea and South Boston | Route 1 and the Tobin, I-93, and I-90 |
| Middlesex County | Everett, Woburn, Wilmington, Lowell, Marlborough, Framingham, and Devens | Route 128, I-495, and I-93 |
| Norfolk County | Franklin, Norwood, and Canton | Route 128, I-495, and Route 1 and the Tobin |
| Essex County | Lawrence and North Andover | I-495 and I-93 |
| Plymouth County | Brockton | Route 24 |
| Bristol County | Taunton | Route 24 and I-495 |
Towns by ring road
Harbor
- Chelsea Suffolk County
- South Boston Suffolk County
- Everett Middlesex County
Route 128
I-93 corridor
- Wilmington Middlesex County
I-495 belt
- Lowell Middlesex County
- Lawrence and North Andover Essex County
- Devens Middlesex County
- Marlborough Middlesex County
- Framingham Middlesex County
- Franklin Norfolk County
Route 24 and south
Why rings
Trucks around Boston run the same few roads: I-93 and Route 1 out of the harbor, Route 128 around the inner ring, I-495 around the outer belt, and Route 24 south. Pages follow those roads, not municipal lines.
How the areas are chosen
The towns on this page are the ones with industrial space and a freight pattern that suits gaylords. They are not every town in the region, and a missing town is not a refusal. Use the nearest one to see which roads and trades are close to you, and put your ZIP in the request.
Counties and rings together
The county pages group towns by administrative boundary and the ring grouping groups them by road. You need both: the county tells you which pages apply to your address, and the ring tells you how a truck will reach it.
Choosing your page
Look first for your town. If it is not listed, find the nearest one on the same road and read that page. If you are between two, read both. The pages describe roads, trades and the kinds of dock found along them, so one of them will usually describe your dock well enough to write a request from.
How to read a ring
The harbor ring is the oldest part of the chart, with docks on or near the water. Route 128 is the first beltway around the city, and its docks are mostly light manufacturing and warehouses. I-495 is the second, farther out, with newer distribution and life sciences plants. Route 24 runs south from the city toward Taunton. A dock's ring tells you roughly how far a truck travels and which highways it uses.
When your town is between pages
Many docks sit between the places named here. If yours is in Burlington, Waltham or Peabody, for instance, the Woburn page covers much of the same Route 128 ground. If yours is near Milford or Hopkinton, the Franklin and Marlborough pages describe the I-495 ground closely. When in doubt, send the ZIP and the road.
What every area page contains
Each page opens with a locator map, then lists ZIP codes, highways, trades and the kind of request that tends to fit. Sources appear at the foot, each dated. Together these let you judge quickly whether a page describes your own situation, and borrow its wording when you write.
Hover or tap a road on the home chart for a shortcut to the same pages.
The Areas menu in the header groups towns by ring, working outward from the harbor, and ends with the six counties; a short phrase naming a landmark beside your dock also helps.