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Assembling RFP Specifications Services We established VFD-Funding, to do your bidding. It now appears that we may need to literally do so. Most volunteer fire departments do not know how to write the specifications, know what to specifically add to the requirements in their request for proposals (RFP) for the apparatus they need, or have access to someone who will do so at no charge. This has created a situation where we have heard, seen and were told (including in writing by manufacturer/dealer reps) that many manufacturers or dealers are writing the specs for the RFP, then adding components to them that are their proprietary items (no exceptions or substitutes) that must be part of the successful bid. Thus, he who writes the bid for proposals, gets the bid. We have also heard, seen and felt that if a manufacturer gets the bid, they also get the financing of the apparatus, if a grant is not available. Many have their own financing companies, or they are owned by a financing company. This creates a situation, where volunteer fire departments are paying higher prices for the fire trucks they acquire, higher interest rates, and ultimately higher costs overall. All because they don't know how to write the specifications, the RFP, and to fairly announce the RFP to qualified bidders. We think this practice is shameful. It may be illegal, thus if you or your department had the manufacturer or dealer write the specs of the bid, had proprietary (only they own the item) as a component that must be there and cannot be substituted or omitted, then got the bid, and ultimately financed your bid; you may be able to recover some of the money you spent. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, you may be able to recover treble (3 times) damages under the Sherman Antitrust Act, if this has occurred within the past five (5) years. If this has occurred and you are the victim, then those who did something like this to you may face other appropriate actions as well. According to the DOJ's web site: "Violation of the Sherman Act is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10 million for corporations, and a fine of up to $350,000 or 3 years imprisonment (or both) for individuals. In addition, collusion among competitors may constitute violations of the mail or wire fraud statute, the false statements statute, or other federal felony statutes, all of which the Antitrust Division prosecutes. In addition to receiving a criminal sentence, a corporation or individual convicted of a Sherman Act violation may be ordered to make restitution to the victims for all overcharges. Victims of bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies also may seek civil recovery of up to three times the amount of damages suffered." If a representative from the bidding company writes the RFP, this creates the opportunity for a situation to occur that the DOJ declares to be a warning sign of a potential violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act: "The probability of collusion increases if other products cannot easily be substituted for the product in question or if there are restrictive specifications for the product being procured." What you can do: If this describes your situation, then you may wish to contact your fire/EMS department's attorney, the city attorney, your county's district attorney's office, the U.S. Attorney's office, or generally the Antitrust Division of the DOJ for appropriate action. We cannot help you with this. We are not attorneys. We're firefighters and administrators, who care about the services rendered to our fellow firefighters, who provide their communities with excellent service. We would be amiss, if we didn't advise you of this situation, which it appears and we've been advised is an industry-wide dirty little secret. How we can help you now is by perhaps refinancing your loan/lease at much more favorable rates and in the future is by working with you to define your needs and helping you write your bid requests. This way you will know that all dealers and manufacturers are giving you the best service, the best prices, the best equipment and the best bids. You can do this for apparatus you are looking to buy now or in the future by sending us a simple e-mail, or by filling out what information you can using our bid request form. After this is completed, then we will contact you for more information to help you to write the specifications you truly need, contact the manufacturers and dealers with the specs, so that they can send you and us a copy of their bids. We will then work with you also by shopping around for the best possible financing terms available and let you decide what is the best alternative for you. We will get you several financing bids, but you are free to find your own, however, you'll find they and your local bank won't offer rates as low as we will find. Another important way to insure that you get the apparatus you pay for, it is in working order and ready to roll out of the bay and that that is it delivered on time is to put a performance bond requirement into your RFP. Reliable dealers and manufacturers won't have any difficulties obtaining these performance bonds and they will not significantly increase the price of the apparatus. Others will pay higher rates for this, if they can get a performance bond at all. If the dealer/manufacturer writes the specs for your RFP, chances are they are not going to want to put a performance bond into it. Here again this is why you either need to learn to write your own RFP specs, or to have someone other than a dealer or manufacturer to do so. We also may be able to help you today if your payments and interest rates are too high by refinancing the loan/lease you already have, to get better terms and lower payments. Here again, just contact us and give us some more information. We make the same amount of low fees, no matter who the manufacturer, the dealer, or the ultimate funding source may be. Therefore, we can be absolutely objective in our attempt to help you get the best fire truck you can, the best financing available, and the best overall deal available. There are those manufacturers, dealers and funding sources who like working with us, just as the fire departments, because we are this open, honest and ethical. And yes, as we're doing this per exposing what appears to be unethical bidding and financing practices, we will make (and apparently have already made) some enemies as well. We figure they don't like us anyway now and we're already a threat to them, so they'll not like us any the more so because of this . . . but that's tough and we don't care if they like us or not and why this may be so. If someone doesn't like us, because unlike them we're open, honest, ethical and hardworking, we consider that a compliment from them and then we'll send your bid request and requirements to someone who cares about you, their product and service as much as we do. We are not seeing this RFP writing, bidding, and financing with used fire apparatus. Only the new apparatus. This doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that it has not occurred. If we find a used fire truck dealer or funding source that does this, they'll not get any business or recommendations from us. Therefore, if you see a new or used fire truck listed with us, then you can be assured we work closely and we trust that manufacturer or dealer. They also work with us to get you the best possible price and help us to find you the best financing rates and terms available. Most of these dealers, certainly the used fire truck dealers, are like us . . . they're fellow firefighters. So contact us at VFD-Funding today or fill out our convenient on-line feedback form, give us your wish list and tell us a little about your organization and then let's see what all we may be able to do for you and your volunteer fire department, rescue squad or EMS service. REMEMBER, there are NO up front costs or fees required. Last modified: January 13, 2008
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