Tires (New) & Related Parts & Services Annual Contract

Hall County, Georgia Board of Commissioners is seeking qualified vendors to provide tires (new) and related parts and services for use by various Hall County departments (herein “Services”). The County seeks to award one (1) or more vendors to perform all the services.  The County will make any extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted on the County Website. Date IFB Issued: March 20, 2024Bid Due Date: April 4, 2024                                 Bidding Process: Hall County (herein “County”) is now accepting sealed bids for the provision of Services in the County’s Purchasing Division, located on the fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County Government Center, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, until 2:00 p.m., EST on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Bidders must submit three (3) copies of their bid along with all completed mandatory documents, signed affidavits in hardcopy and also include on one (1) USB Flash Drive with all documents.  Proposal Documents: Bidders may download bid submittal documents via the County’s Website at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx  then choose Tires (New) & Related Parts & Services Annual Contract. General Qualifications: Bidders must be in the regular business of providing similar services, be licensed, insured, and bonded if required to do so in the State of Georgia.  Bid Retention: Bidders may not withdraw their bid after the bid opening. Bids must be valid for one-hundred and twenty (120) calendar days. The County reserves the right to retain all bids submitted and use any idea(s) in a bid regardless of award.  The County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation in any bid received. All forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ must be completed and returned with the bid. Please sign Exhibit B - Contract.                           Award Process: The County reserves the option to reject any or all bids, in whole or part, or to select any bidder, without liability on part of the County to the Bidder to complete the described Work.  The County will award the contract to one (1) or more vendors to perform all work to the lowest cost, responsible and responsive bidder. Lead times and length of time to complete the services may also be a factor in award. The Bidder expressly understands that the County may reject bids for any reason.  SCOPE OF WORK:           General: 1.01   To provide a contract for new tires, tubes and related parts and tireservices (shop and road), for Hall County.  All sizes and types of tires will be included from small trailer and passenger car tires to heavy off-the-road equipment such as graders, loaders, and side pans. Hall County is seeking a guaranteed bid price for a 12-month period. This contract will begin upon contract execution and be in effect until June 30, 2025. The successful bidder(s) may be allowed four (4) annual one (1) year renewals of this contract all upon the same terms and conditions. 1.02   Interested vendors must be able to sell and service all types of tires as listed herein. Vendors will be required to provide new tires and tubes, mount on County owned vehicles and equipment, provide in-shop and road service for all vehicles and equipment for which tires are listed, and provide a unique road service for the emergency vehicles, if awarded any of these items.  If you are not able to provide the required services for a certain size tire, do not bid on that tire.  1.03 Vendors will be required to provide disposal service for waste tires removed from County vehicles.  The address and name of the disposal vendor will be required.   DNR / EPD identification number will be required.  Disposal of waste tires is to be in accordance with all rules and regulations of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division.   This specification covers: Tires (New) & Related Parts and Services contract.   Specifications:          1.04   Brands Acceptable: More than one brand of tire is acceptable. Proposals will be           accepted on tires of equal fit, form and function as major tire brands, including but           not limited to:  B. F. Goodrich, Firestone, General, Goodyear, Michelin, and Uniroyal.           It is agreed and understood that furnished tires are to be approved manufacturer’s original equipment or that manufacturer’s approved substitutes, due to warranty and product liability requirements. It will be the vendor’s responsibility to insure that application is correct and to make the County aware of any such substitution or change in standard size when applicable and agree that the County will not be held  responsible for any of the County’s employee’s instructions to vendor to not furnish the proper tire if so required by manufacturer for any application. Questions or disputes are to be directed to the issuing officer named herein.  1.05   Manufacturer’s Warranty: Provide copies of warranties from the tire supplier(s)  you intend to use, describing in detail their warranty claims process.           1.06    Brand Substitution: If a brand of tire awarded is not available in stock, and the user department cannot wait 72 hours to acquire it, substitution of another equal brand will be allowed only after the County issuing officer named herein has approved the substitution.          1.07 Tubes:  It is agreed and understood that furnished inner tubes are to be approved manufacturer’s brand or that manufacturer’s approved substitutes, due to warranty and product liability requirements. It will be the vendor’s responsibility to make the County aware of tube requirement when applicable and the County will not be held responsible for any of the County’s employee’s instructions to vendor to not furnish tube if so required by manufacturer for any application. Questions or disputes are to be directed to the issuing officer named herein.          1.08   State Tire Recovery Fee: A $1.00 fee is imposed by the State of Georgia on the retail sale of all new tires. The vendor will add this charge to each invoice as a separate line item to show that said fee was collected.          1.09     Priority Status: Time is of the essence for County vehicle’s needing service on a contract resulting from this Invitation for Bid. The majority of County vehicles to be services belong to Public Safety Departments. Successful bidder (s) must agree that Hall County will be extended “Priority Service” on any County call or visit to contractor‘s business location for tires or services. Successful bidder (s) will be expected to grant such service and provide immediate attention to any contact by the County regardless of any other obligations or expectations the vendor might have.          County personnel have been instructed to inform the Purchasing Division of any refusal of vendor to provide this “Priority Service”. Once notified, Purchasing will notify vendor that he is in “Default of Contract” and Paragraph 26 of the Terms and Conditions Section of this bid will be invoked. Refusal of the vendor to correct the situation will result in cancellation of his contract.          1.10 Downtime of Vehicles / Equipment: It is understood that time is of the essence and the vendor will be expected to adequately staff his facility to insure a rapid response and completion of each service requirement as it may occur. If it is found necessary to take more time than is expected to complete a service requirement, the contractor will be required to keep the using County department informed as to the status of repairs and estimated time required for completion. During this downtime, the contractor will be required to make continuous reports, as necessary, to keep the County department informed as to progress. Immediately after requirement is completed, the contractor will be required to notify the department of completion as well as the nature of the technical problem as to why it occurred and the type of service/repair which was performed.          Continuous delays and downtime, caused by and attributed to vendor, may result in cancellation of contract resulting from this Invitation for Bid.          County personnel have been instructed to inform the Purchasing Division of continuous delays and downtime. Once notified, the Purchasing Supervisor will notify vendor that they are in “Default of Contract” and Paragraph 26 of the Terms and Conditions Section of this bid will be invoked. Refusal of the vendor to correct the situation will result in cancellation of his contract.          1.11    Sub-contracting of Services: Sub-contracting of services between vendors will be permitted pursuant to Articles 110-111 of Exhibit B. Time is of the essence for the County. The majority of County vehicles needing tires and related services will be Public Safety providers such as Law Enforcement, Fire and Ambulance personnel. The additional time required for transporting equipment between locations has proven to add unnecessary delays in putting the equipment back into service.          1.12   24 Hour / 365 Day Service: Bidders must be able to provide 24 hour / 365 day service to bid on this Invitation for Bid.  Holidays will be of no consideration and will not be considered as times that your facility’s normal hours of operation are suspended and will not be considered as emergency labor hours. 1.12.01   Normal Business Hours:  Defined as those hours your business is regularly open to the    public for normal business.   Normally from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.  This will help in establishing your “Normal Hours Service Charge” on the Bid Schedule. 1.12.02   Emergency Business Hours:  Defined as those hours your business is not open to  the public for business.  Normally from 5:00 pm to 8:00 am daily all day on Saturday and Sunday and holidays. This will help in establishing your “Emergency Hours Service Charge” on the Bid Schedule.           1.13 Road Service-Off Road Service: Bidders will be required to provide road service and/or off-the-road service on tires they are awarded.  These services will include going to location, changing tire(s) and putting the vehicle back into operation. Charges for these services will be in addition to the all other charges and costs for tires, tubes, balancing, fixing flats, etc. that is covered in other line items on the Cost Proposal. Invoices for road service and off-the-road service will have to be completely itemized to include all services and other pertinent information as previously explained.          Note: When receiving a call for this type service, it will be the vendor’s responsibility to have all tools and equipment readily available to perform said service. The County will not pay for duplicate charges if vendor has to make multiple trips for tools and materials          1.14 Emergency Vehicles Special Requirements: The Sheriff’s Office, Fire Services, and Ambulance Service have unique requirements that are not shared by the other County departments. The successful bidder will be required to provide the following services for these departments in addition to regular services applied to all other County departments:             1.14.1   Storage of Tires:  Storage of the above listed department’s tires when not in use; including   regular and mud & snow tires.  Some presently mounted on wheels and some not.   Successful bidder may be required to pick up such presently stored tires at the County’s present tire contractor and transport to and store at his facility.  1.14.2   Changeover: Take off regular tires and mount mud & snow tires during inclement Weather.   This service is to be provided 24 hours a day / 7 days a week during the appropriate times of the year. It is understood that time is of the essence in this matter and vendor will be expected to adequately staff his facility to insure a rapid response and  completion of this requirement each time it may occur.               1.14.3   Road Service: 24 hours a day / 365 days a year. Charges for these services              will be in addition to the other charges and costs for tires, tubes, balancing,              alignments, fixing flats, etc. that are covered in other line items on the Cost               Proposal.  Invoices for road service and off-the-road service will have to be               completely itemized to include all services and other pertinent information as              previously explained.               Spaces are provided on the Cost Proposal for your pricing to cover these               requirements, including all of expected costs. No further consideration will be given              other than for the price you state on the bid sheets.          1.15  Garage Keepers Liability Insurance: Due to the strong possibility of the successful vendor (s) having to keep a County vehicle overnight to continue working on a project, it is imperative that the successful vendor (s) have not only “Garage Liability Insurance Coverage” as required by the “Terms and Conditions” section of this Invitation for Bid, but “Garage Keeper’s Liability Insurance” also in an amount of not less than ($500,000.00) five hundred thousand dollars per occurrence. Check with your insurance agent to verify you have this extended coverage. A certificate of proof will be required.          1.16   Truing of Tires: Tires that are found to need truing by trimming away tread rubber will not be acceptable.          1.17   Records of Tires sold to the County: Hall County will require an accounting of all tires sold to the County on a monthly basis. This requirement will include all waste tires disposed. These documents shall be available for the County and any regulatory agency review.          All tires removed from County vehicles/equipment, that are to be repaired, shall be marked with “Hall County” and the “Vehicle’s County Fleet Number”.  All such tires shall be identified in above document so as to account for the new and/or used tire purchase.          All “tires for reuse” removed and held in inventory by vendor (s) for the Sheriff’s Office shall be recorded in a continuing inventory and all additions and removals shall be documented. This inventory shall be a part of the above monthly document. Any tire removed from the County vehicles and replaced by one of the “tires for reuse” shall be and appropriately accounted for within above document.            1.18    Freightliner Chassis Ambulance Tires: Several of Hall County’s ambulances are on Freightliner chassis. County fire/emergency personnel, with Freightliner’s assistance, have determined that the most advantageous tire to be utilized on theses chassis will be the Michelin XZE steel belted, 14 ply, tubeless, radial tire with steel belted sidewalls, size 245-70-19.5. This will be the only tire considered for award for this application.  Estimated yearly usage is 36 tires.