County Fire staff conducted informal competitive procurement, requesting quotes from three vendors for the purchase of the mechanics' service truck. Two vendors responded. Crown Motors was the lowest response.
The mechanics' service truck consists of a 2½ ton mechanics’ service truck body with a V-8 diesel engine and 4 wheel drive, mounted with cargo boxes, an 11 foot crane and an air compressor.
The truck body is available separately through the State of California General Services Administration (GSA) contracted vendor in the Sacramento area. The cargo boxes, crane and compressor would then need to be built onto the purchased truck. The GSA contract vendor was contacted to provide a quote for the completed vehicle cost, but did not respond.
Through informally requesting quotes, SCFD located a local vendor offering the built up and completed truck with crane and compressor. The Crown Motors quoted price met the GSA contract price for base truck body, and then added the cost of the cargo boxes, crane and air compressor. By awarding the purchase to Crown Motors, SCFD is also able to keep the sale within Shasta County.
Additionally, an extended ordering time of up to six months would be required to have the completed truck delivered through the GSA vendor, had they responded. Both responding vendors have the truck currently available for purchase.
This mechanics’ service truck will replace a similar vehicle that has reached the end of its expected service life. SCFD has a fleet of 107 vehicles spread across Shasta County. Frequently, the vehicles come to the SCFD vehicle shop for maintenance and repair, but often the mechanics travel to these critical emergency vehicles for maintenance, to reduce the time emergency vehicles are unavailable to respond to emergencies. The service truck provides transportation for a mechanic as well as tools and equipment necessary for routine and emergency vehicle repairs.
SCFD has two mechanics’ service vehicles, and they are considered vital to maintaining the SCFD emergency vehicle fleet. Failure to replace the aging mechanics’ service vehicle will result in excessive time and money spent to maintain the service truck that would be better spent maintaining other fleet vehicles.
The new mechanics’ service truck will require normal and customary maintenance. However, this replacement vehicle is significantly newer than the original vehicle. The maintenance costs are anticipated to be lower, and can be funded with existing appropriations. The old vehicle will be sold at auction.