When starting a new project, you want an RFP that creates competition for vendors to meet your needs and keep costs down. To accomplish this, be sure to define your specific project needs, and detail those needs in a checklist for your project. This guide will help you build a vendor requirements solicitation that ensures you are future-proofing your company.
RFP Feature Checklist
Below is a list of GPS features to help you challenge your division stakeholders. Do you have these features, and are the ones you are providing, the best return on your investment? If not, you may need to add these to your next RFP!
| Canadian data residency | Safety analytics | Service and maintenance reporting |
| Winter maintenance features | Active management of driving behaviour with KPI benchmarking | Safety monitoring |
| Snow removal and spreader integration | Waste and recycling management support | Safety form creation and management |
| Road temperature monitoring | OEM integrations | Report subscriptions and alerting |
| Road maintenance tools | Fuel management and fuel efficiency monitoring | GIS management tools |
| Road deficiency tracking | Fuel receipt tracking | Work instructions |
| Public link | Pre- and post-trip inspections | |
| Dash cameras | Hours of Service management (Electronic Logging Device) |
How to Write an RFP that Will Get a Response
Think of your RFP as a draft, to start. It will contain a solicitation due to the start-up of a new company-related project, such as when Peace River School Division in Alberta needed a solution for keeping up with their bus fleet.
This solution needed to track about 2,500 students on 106 school buses across 72 routes. It also needs to:
- Be user-friendly
- Let users record digital fuel receipts
- Share documents
- Have a compliant hours of service solution (ELD)
- Keep track of pre-trip inspections
- Have Canadian data residency
With an RFP detailing these needs, Titan GPS responded with a proposal, that met all these expectations and more, as schools were also able to send links to parents notifying them of a late bus, with bus locations.
Titan GPS serves fleets for public works and services, parks and recreation, and emergency services. We also offer multiple products and plans, including GPS tracking and winter maintenance, digital form solutions, municipal fleet maintenance, hours of service, and more.
An RFP will include specifications on what is needed from outsourcers or vendors. Bidders who view this solicitation will review the document and provide feedback regarding the logistics of the products and services asked for. After implementing this feedback, you can submit your final RFP, to which bidders will reply with their proposals – hopefully, ones that MEET your needs.
Crafting a Request to Proposal to Fulfill Your Needs
Develop a request for proposal that keeps your current financial objectives in mind and combines them with departmental strategies that align with your municipality’s goals.
Take time to investigate multiple providers, and don’t only select your AVL provider based on price. Reach out to their most recently onboarded customers and spend time aligning and discussing similar business challenges to find out how they have successfully resolved those processes with others.
Remember: Make the best decisions for your municipality in the long run, not just your wallet! Want to take this information with you?
Download The Beginner’s Guide to a Request for Proposal (PDF)
