This from Bill Post:
The City of Chicago has pushed back the date for a request for proposals for tower ladders, aerial ladders, and engine company apparatus for the Chicago Fire department for at least the 5th time.The opening date for bids was initially scheduled for April 30th. On April 25th it was pushed back to June 8th, on June 6th it was pushed back to July 10th, it was then pushed back to July 23rd and on July 24 the date was pushed back again to September 24th.
#1 by Marty Coyne on July 30, 2018 - 9:23 PM
Perhaps the biggest irony is the city refused a request from one of the manufacturers for a 365 day delivery schedule as it needed the rigs ASAP. It then turned around and pushed off the bid date by 60 days.
#2 by Bill Post on July 30, 2018 - 7:42 PM
The CFD is just going to have less and less manufacturers who are interested in bidding for a Chicago contract. Remember that in 2009 Fleet Management asked for bids on 100-foot rear mounted aerials. The city requested and them rejected the bids 3 times during the year. Even when they chose a manufacturer they passed over the two lowest bidders to give the contract to their favored bidder. It gave the impression of a rigged bidding process. The other manufacturers that went through the bidding process are probably wondering if it is even worth jumping through the hoops in Chicago when they see that they have a good chance of being rejected for a higher bidder.
#3 by Michael M on July 30, 2018 - 4:49 PM
Why can’t they just re- write the bid so that it is not so narrowly written and economically undeliverable. I am sure that is what most of the manufacturers are seeing is how un-reasonable the city is. Who is writing their bids anyway? My guess is someone from the city, not the CFD is writing the bids.
Again, since they run their equipment into the ground as evidenced by the 2000 HME squads and the 1996 Tower ladder that was tower 21 and the 2000 ALF that was tower 5, and many other engines that have been replaced. Making life difficult for potential vendors is the last thing the city should do.
#4 by Chuck on July 29, 2018 - 4:09 AM
Probably shows a combination of 1) a narrowly written, economically undeliverable bid and 2) nobody wants to get involved in this city’s bullshit. If you read the bid documents, some of the preconditions for the bidders were just absolutely ridiculous.
#5 by michael m on July 28, 2018 - 6:55 PM
Hmmm, the City must be a tough client to work with. It is hard for me to believe they have had to push back the Bid dates!
At least the city has some new fire equipment, but with the way they run their rigs into the ground, they will definitely need more equipment.