New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 19 - OTHER AGENCIES › NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE AUTHORITY › Chapter 9 - NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE AUTHORITY › Subchapter 2 - PURCHASING AND CONTRACTING › Section 19:9-2.13 - Procurement of routine towing services and emergency services on the Roadway

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) All contracts between the Authority and
				  qualified service providers for towing services on the Turnpike (that is,
				  routine towing services and storage services) and for towing and emergency
				  services on the Parkway (that is, routine towing services, storage services and
				  road services) entered into after September 18, 2017, shall be procured
				  pursuant to the procedures and regulations promulgated under this
				  section.
(b) The objective of this
				  section is to establish procedures for the award of contracts for rotational
				  towing services on the Turnpike and towing and emergency services on the
				  Parkway utilizing a competitive bid process open to prequalified bidders.
				  Contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidders as determined
				  pursuant to applicable law, including, but not limited to, this subchapter, and
				  the specific requirements contained in all Requests for Bids (RFB) issued by
				  the Authority, from time to time. In issuing an RFB, the Director of
				  Procurement and Materials Management is empowered to procure up to three
				  rotational towers per service provider location (Zone) on the Turnpike and up
				  to two rotational towers per Zone on the Parkway, or such other number as may
				  be required in any RFB. It is the Authority's intent to solicit bids, as, and
				  when, needed, for specific Zones along the Turnpike and the Parkway. In the
				  case of the Turnpike, the Zones shall be established between specific
				  interchanges, and in the case of the Parkway, the Zones shall be established
				  between specific mileposts, all as more specifically set forth in the
				  RFB.
(c) Only bids submitted by
				  towing services and/or towing and emergency services providers who have first
				  been qualified by the Authority pursuant to a prequalification process shall be
				  considered. At the discretion of the Director of Procurement and Materials
				  Management, the prequalification process may be accomplished through a combined
				  Request for Qualifications/Request for Bids process or by a separate process
				  preceding the issuance of an RFB. Upon award of a contract to the successful
				  bidder(s), the standards governing prequalification shall be of continuing
				  force and effect for the duration of such contract. The failure to maintain the
				  standards of prequalification during the term of any contract awarded to a
				  successful bidder shall be deemed a material breach of the contract.
(d) The criteria to be used by the Authority
				  in determining prequalification shall include the following, the specific
				  requirements of which shall be set forth in the RFB: reliability, experience,
				  response time, acceptance of credit cards, and prepaid towing contracts;
				  equipment; location and condition of storage facilities, including, but not
				  limited to, security safeguards for patrons and for towed and stored vehicles;
				  liability and other insurance coverage; safeguards to protect the personal
				  safety of customers, including, but not limited to, considerations related to
				  the criminal background of employees; and such other factors as the Authority
				  may deem relevant and which shall be specified in the RFB. In recognition of
				  the differences between the physical characteristics (for example, number of
				  access and exit ramps) and operational aspects (for example, classes of
				  permitted vehicles) on the Turnpike and the Parkway, the Director of
				  Procurement and Materials Management may establish different specific criteria
				  for prequalification of service providers on the Turnpike and for
				  prequalification of service providers on the Parkway.
(e) A towing services and/or towing and
				  emergency services provider deemed qualified by the Authority shall thereafter
				  be entitled to submit a bid in response to the RFB for which such provider has
				  prequalified. Each RFB issued by the Authority shall prescribe specific
				  requirements for the towing services and/or towing and emergency services being
				  procured, which may include, at the discretion of the Authority, fixed fees for
				  certain services, and which shall include a provision mandating that towing
				  services and/or towing and emergency services providers shall not charge
				  patrons any fees for towing services and/or towing and emergency services other
				  than those applicable fees that are expressly set forth in
				  19:9-3.1 and 3.2.
(f) The provisions of
				  N.J.A.C.
				  19:9-2.1, 2.2, 2.4, and 2.12 shall be
				  applicable to procurements for towing services on the Turnpike and towing and
				  emergency services on the Parkway, unless such provisions are inconsistent with
				  the provisions of this section, in which event the provisions of this
				  subchapter shall govern.