Features Equipment
Apparatus procurement

The nuts and bolts of apparatus procurement are still nuts and bolts — specs, tenders, bids, buys — but the wheels are sure driving in some interesting directions.  

The innovation and engineering housed inside these big red beasts that turn heads faster than a sasquatch sighting has entered pretty epic territory with the accomplishment of made and sold electric fire trucks, idle reduction technology, SAM systems, and a bounty of other customization options. That territory may be bumping up against new environmental realities, namely labour shortages on the mechanical and manufacturing side, parts and delivery delays, and cost increases far past the pale of ordinary inflation, all of this resulting in a current eye towards simplification. 

Rob Anselmi, division chief for mechanical maintenance/equipment and asset management at Toronto Fire Services, writes his own specs and said that if he were to make a prediction in procurement trends, it would be towards more standardization, for example, a rural pumper, a city pumper, etc. In his view, this will be in part driven by the backlog in delivery times and need to consider whether you can live without certain add-ons if it means your truck will get built a heck of a lot faster. A lot of customization also contributes to driving up prices, he noted: “There should be a reason why everything is on the truck, and they have to last about five times as long as your average work truck.” 

In the small Ontario town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fire Chief Jay Plato put forward a similar consensus when looking ahead and seeing cost as his biggest challenge. He’s currently looking at a pumper with a budget of around $900,000 when just a handful of years ago he said that would have been closer to $600,000. 

“It’s a huge cost when trying to balance municipal projects.” 

Custom trucks are very expensive, he said, and it’s necessary to weigh out the pros and cons of custom versus stock models in terms of price and whether the stock model will suit your community. Plato said they typically write their own specs under the desire to create a level of standardization across the fleet, though of course the trucks do not all have to be the same. 

From the perspective of someone who hears from dealers and buyers, Tyler Hannemann, manager of supplier relations at Canoe Procurement Group of Canada, said part of the communication they hear from their supplier side is a desire for Canoe to work with its members, who are the municipalities, on getting a more common spec because they will get the truck and service for it faster. Hannemann is seeing a timeline of three months from tender post to tender award, and then a multi-year wait for trucks. He has seen some vendors on the fire apparatus side extend warranties and recertify pieces to keep the truck insurable and on the road while waiting for a new chassis to come in. There is uncertainty and stress around the timelines on all sides. 

But the service piece is not one to underestimate. Fire is grappling with recruitment and attrition challenges on its member side, while the mechanical trades run a parallel and no less frightening arc toward massive shortage. Anselmi said the division recently advertised for technicians and got about half the responses he normally does, and the pool of candidates included some that weren’t even mechanics or were missing credentials. In Niagara-on-the-Lake, Plato has a contract with an EVT and uses the local heavy truck mechanic as well, but that person is aging, and there isn’t necessarily another in the wings to replace him. 

Dealers undoubtedly want to deliver, but the wildcard pricing, backlog and labour shortage that has been dogging manufacturing since covid persists. In Toronto, this has meant a move away from the three- or four-year deals that would have been preferable in the past, said Anselmi. Now, with vendors shying away from long-term pricing, it’s a “one shot and done.” He recently placed a single order for 30 trucks with Dependable, and the deliveries will then be spread out. 

The short-term pricing also makes the timing process difficult as there can be a mismatch between the pricing terms and time it takes to get a PO issued, he said. The fire department was able to get the funding method for apparatus changed from a specific annual spend to a regular evaluation style of funding that can keep up with the rapid rise in apparatus costs.  

“It all boils down to the same problem,” he said. “It’s hard to make cost projections. Hard to do the timing with your budget. The time it takes for bid responses and getting everything back…vendors take a long time to get answers on things like chassis costs, virtually every time I get an addendum question to extend the deadline.” 

A couple summers ago in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the department spec’d a chassis, received alternative pricing for a different one, decided on the original, but without a timeline for delivery they ended up switching the chassis to the alternative. 

“This was summer 2022,” Plato said. “Not sure if we’ve pulled out of there yet.”

This rugged brush truck is ready for off-roading.

Procurement groups
Cooperative procurement groups have been generating plenty of buzz in Canada, particularly with the advent and expansion of Canoe, a wholly Canadian owned entity that also serves as the lead agency on a Sourcewell contract to assure compliance in Canada. Canoe Procurement Group of Canada launched in 2021, born out of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, a non-profit organization that started in 1936 with the procurement of rat poison, said Hannemann. Canoe is now one of the biggest public sector buying groups in the country, with 11 provinces and territories participating. The adoption of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement in 2017 was significant factor in this expansion. 

“The CFTA meant you had to go to RFP if the aggregate was over their thresholds,” said Hannemann. “On the municipal side, one fire truck is over it.”

Canoe operates an admin-fee model, but not one paid by the end user. Vendors make a submission, and with it is an offer for a percentage on the dollar value of each apparatus sold, said Hannemann. Then, those revenues are split with a local non-profit they work with. Contracts with vendors are termed, usually three to four years. Regionality does not affect the score, he added. 

“You can win a Canoe national award for the provinces you operate in. Just do the best submission you can, be competitive and win it.” 

Canoe creates a standing offer with multiple suppliers under one category in a process of guaranteed compliance. The pricing structure and contract are completed, and you sort out how to spec it and what your budget is, said Hannemann, but the “price is going to be the price.” 

Jesse Patenaude, manager of business development, works with the municipalities. He said the focus belongs in the value-added services from Canoe, rather than a “race to the bottom for price.” It is very time consuming to respond to all of the fire apparatus tenders that come in, so the idea is for Canoe to take the administrative burden away and for the vendor to talk about value rather than price. The programs are not low-cost options, he said, but “total value best in class option, looking at the total cost of ownership and providing the best spend for the rate payer – taxpayers.” 

Insofar as trends in the marketplace go, Hannemann said “social procurement,” as in what companies are doing to be more sustainable and aligned with the the net-zero and diversity and inclusion goals of municipalities, is evolving globally and in Canada.

“The evolution of the GPO has been pretty fun in Canada. There are some unique opportunities that wouldn’t exist before. It’s definitely taken off.”  

The road ahead
Small and big departments are facing similar challenges in terms of cost and delivery when it comes to apparatus procurement. Much has changed, but some things remain the same and one of them is seeking input from others as you work towards a final decision. Plato engages his volunteer members by getting their input into what is and isn’t working on the trucks, helping facilitate a feeling of ownership in their role and the community they serve, and he does so as part of a retention strategy. Toronto’s division division is in the process of reforming the apparatus committee post-covid for design and function consultation, and input comes in via several other channels. Apparatus procurement is a big spend, and often an exciting one to put together. Today’s environment is certainly keeping it interesting, and the road ahead a bit mysterious. 

“In the world of fire trucks, if  you don’t like the weather, give me a minute,” joked Anselmi. “Things are always changing, timelines are always changing, and that makes planning challenging.”