PO Box 75498 Tampa, FL 33675 | 813-622-8252

Update May 18, 2015: TBLC recently issued an RFP to select a vendor for the Florida Statewide Delivery Service and Dynamex, the current provider, was found to have done the best job of addressing the RFP criteria.

Download the RFP: 2015 Delivery RFP-website

Inquiries for clarification of the 2015 Florida Statewide Delivery RFP
Any questions concerning this RFP must be directed to the email address
frostv@tblc.org All prospective respondents are hereby instructed not to contact staff
members individually at Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC), regarding this RFP
or their replies prior to the posting of a recommendation of award. Any such contact
may be cause for disqualification. Contact unrelated to this RFP process is
permitted without restriction.

Deadline and Contact Information
Submit Electronic Replies to:
Vickie Frost
Florida Library Delivery Service
Tampa Bay Library Consortium
1202 Tech Blvd Suite 202
Tampa, Florida 33619
Phone: (813) 622-8252 ext. 224
Fax: (813) 628-4425
frostv@tblc.org

Deadline
April 30, 2015 5:00 P.M. ET

Question and Answer from potential vendors

Question: Anne Mackinlay FLX Courier Systems Inc.

Vickie,
I think this question will be one that all participants will need clarified. The data shows that there were 439,898 pouches sent last year, and 435,222 bags received. In looking at the data, most libraries have a sharp contrast as to what they’ve sent and received, therefore we wonder if when TBLC refers to the word “Sent” would that reflect the requests from other libraries for those items, and the word “Received” reflect the items that a library requests from other libraries? Or does “Received” reflect the bags that are being received back to the library of origin? This is significant because if 439,898 items are sent out, that same number of items should also come back to those libraries. Likewise, if 435,222 bags are received, they should also be sent back to the library of origin. If the return of items are not reflected in then the total number of movements of items would be 1,750,240 as opposed to 875, 120. Please clarify.

Thank you,  Anne Mackinlay

Answer:

Anne,
Thank you for your question.

We posted the correct number of bags sent and received through the service. The number reflects the bags handled by the drivers statewide.

Not all items sent to libraries are returnables.

The number of bags sent will always be larger than the number of bags received.

Thank you,
Vickie Frost

Question: Laura Long at Courier Express

Can you please provide the location list including the zip codes?

Answer:

Laura,
Thank you for your question.
The library zip codes can be located on our website list of library stops at https://tblc.org/delivery/search.new.php

Thank you,
Vickie Frost

Question: Kevin Meyer at AllPoints Trucking & Courier Service

In addition I am requesting a copy of the previous award in full in accordance with the freedom of information act. Please forward to me asap.

thank you again..

Kevin Meyer
AllPoints Trucking & Courier Service
Thruway Direct Courier & Messenger Service
VP East Coast Sales
Kevin@Thruwaydirect.com
800-633-3867
C-845-222-2963
WWW.THRUWAYDIRECT.COM

Answer: Here is a copy of the 2011 Velocity Express contract.

Vickie Frost

Question: Anne Mackinlay of FLX Courier Systems, Inc.

We would like to observe some of the deliveries to the Pinellas branches. First of all, would this be permissible, and secondly, is there a schedule of delivery times for those branches? If we would be allowed to observe the deliveries, could we be apprised of the approximate times that the deliveries are being made?

Answer:  Thank you for your question.

We have scheduled a time for interested vendors to view the PPLC library delivery process at the Dunedin Public Library located at 223 Douglas Ave. Dunedin, FL 34698​ on ​Monday, April 20, 2015​. The driver is expected to arrive between 1:30pm-2:00pm. EST. ​This will give you an opportunity to observe how the driver handles the pick-up and delivery process for a PPLC member library.
Thank you,
Vickie

Question: Anne MacKinlay of FLX Courier Systems, Inc.

We understand from reading the RFP that the deliveries are to be done between 8:30AM and 5:30PM; however we also understand that some libraries have different hours of operation. As an example, the Emily Taber Library in MacClenny is open from 12:00-5:00PM Monday and Friday, and 10:30AM-5:00PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Nassau County Library is open from 8:00AM- 8:00PM Monday- Thursday, but only 8:00-12:00 on Fridays. And, Pasco County Library System is closed on Mondays. Since the RFP states that deliveries can be done between 8:30AM and 5:30PM, can we assume that despite the hours of operation of each library, couriers would be able to deliver and pickup during those hours even if the library is closed to the public?Answer: Thank you for your question.The 8:30 – 5:30 delivery timeline is the general rule of thumb. Driver schedules are tweaked to service the libraries when they are closed to the public but open to receive deliveries.
Thank you,
Vickie Frost

Question: Barrett Cook of Blue Streak Couriers

Thank you for your question.

Answers: are provided below

1. I understand it’s the vendor’s responsibility to visit each scheduled stop on the designated day of delivery and pick-up pre-addressed pouches. In doing so, the vendor would utilize its physical locations throughout the state as a place to bring items back, sort and prepare for delivery to the final destination. These vendor locations is what the RFP is calling depots – correct? Yes

a. Are the pre-addressed pouches the “Orange Bags” referenced in the statistics? Yes

2. Are there scenarios in which pre-addressed pouches would be picked up in the panhandle (i.e. Pensacola) and necessitate delivery to south Florida (i.e. Ft. Lauderdale)? If yes, please confirm the delivery expectation is where I read, “within 3 working days”? Yes, 3 working days

3. Are the totes referenced in the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative section of the RFP specific to that area of the state? Or are totes also used in the normal transfer statewide? The totes are specific to thePinellas County Public libraries.

a. For example, is the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative schedule sort of like a sub-set of the overall bid? Yes

4. Is the vendor responsible for procuring/supplying the pouches, orange/red/blue bags or totes? Or are those provided by the Tampa Bay Library Consortium? Tampa Bay Library Consortium supplies orange bags statewide. PPLC supplies red/blue bags and totes for the Pinellas County Libraries.

5. Who is the current vendor for this work? Dynamex

6. Is the previous bid listed in the Florida Public Records, and if so, how am I able to access that? It is located on our website. https://tblc.org/archives/7517

Question: from Anne Mackinlay of FLX Courier Systems

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to observe the Pinellas Library Service today. It was well worth my time as I had a chance to speak with Cheryl Morales and their in house courier who used to do the truck deliveries himself.

I was surprised that none of the other courier companies showed up to view how this service was being done. And, now, if they bid it by just using the information on the RFP they will underestimate what the cost should be. The RFP states that “Each tote measures approximately 17X22X12 and contains an address label with the name of the borrowing library on the top of each tote/bin.” Vickie, the totes or bins are not labeled. The bags inside the bins are labeled, but they’re mixed, so all of the totes need to be emptied and the bags sorted. If someone reads the RFP, they may think that they can just transfer the totes from one truck to another, and that could probably be accomplished in 30 minutes or less. But that’s not what happens. All of the totes must be off loaded—that’s 100-200 totes per truck, then the totes have to be emptied and the bags sorted. I’m guessing that a sorter could sort 1 bag in 10+ seconds or 5 a minute, so it would amount to about 3 hours of sort time. Plus 30 minutes for each truck to unload, and reload—that would amount to a difference of 4 hours versus 30 minutes if they just were switching out the totes.

I find I disheartening that these other companies aren’t doing the due diligence necessary to understand the service they are bidding on. Nevertheless, I would hate to see a company win your bid, and then come back and claim that they’d need to charge an additional fee because the RFP says they’d only need to sort the totes. In order to safeguard TBLC, it would probably be best to either have me write a question for you to answer or for you to make a correction to the bid specifications. I hate it that the effort that I have made will end up helping the other companies, but in the same respect, I wouldn’t want TBLC or the Pinellas Library System to be hurt financially if I could help prevent it by speaking up about this.
(There’s a good possibility that these other companies aren’t even reading the questions on the website, but at least if you’ve provided this answer, no one can complain later on.)

Here is the question you could use to help resolve this issue: Please clarify exactly what is sorted for Pinellas Public Library Cooperative Service. It is our understanding that the totes are not labeled, but there are bags inside the totes which are labeled for the borrowing libraries and that the bags inside the totes are mixed, therefore they all need to be emptied and sorted. Is this correct?

Answer: Thank you for your question.

In reference to the service for Pinellas Public Library Cooperative, the driver picks up red totes from each library. Each tote contains 4-6 red or blue or orange bags addressed to various Pinellas County libraries. The driver takes the totes to a central location and sorts the bags for each Pinellas library, then re-packs them in the totes for delivery the next day.

The red totes and bags have been handled this way for several years and the process works. However, we welcome suggestions pertaining to the workload and delivery of the red totes.

Thank you,

Vickie

2015 Florida Statewide Delivery RFP
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