State bid vehicles

[npfd801]

There's a lot of knowledge on this part of the forums, so perhaps someone can help...

We're looking at acquiring a new command vehicle in the upcoming months, and moving the current command vehicle into a station to become a manpower unit/accountability/duty officer type vehicle. Hard to explain, but we have plans to start using MSA's new accountability program that will be built into our SCBAs, as well as installing some other items that the chief isn't comfortable with sitting outside in his vehicle all night while parked at his house. Someone has already stolen the gas out of his tank, so a laptop and expensive electronic bits don't need to be sitting outside.

So while we aren't entirely sure what the replacement will be, we'd like to see what is available from the state bid program, but we're having trouble finding where to get this info. We saved a ton of money buying our last truck chassis through state bid, so I'd expect we'd see similar savings from a state bid Impala or Tahoe, etc.

Anyone have an idea of a link where to get this info at? Even a contact number?

[WVREIS]

I would try contacting your local police or sheriff's department, they should know where to get the information for state bid, as they would be doing more purchasing of those types of vehicle's than a fire department. If I bump into the deputy who is responsible for vehicle purchases here I will see what information I can get, but I would start with contacting your local until then.

[jboczek]

Look at the state web site, I use www.state.il.us then go to the state agencies and look at central management services. You may get some information there, maybe a phone number or something.

[jaybird210]

Npfd-

You need to go to Central Management Services (CMS).

http://www.purchase.state.il.us

[BARNY750]

OK npfd

If you are looking for Chevrolet, Miles Chevrolet out of Decatur has the State Contracts. Call 217-872-2070, ask for Rich Bobbitt and tell him what you want. He will send you a price sheet for the Impala and Tahoe.

While I am here and have the paperwork in front of me I will give you the base prices.

2005 Impala Police Intercetor base price is $16,443.32. There are quite a few options available.

2005 Tahoe Police Interceptor (2wd) base price is $24,748.88.
2005 Tahoe Special Service Upgrade (4wd), add $3,868 to base price.

If you want Ford, The dealer is out of Springfield. I dont know the name off hand and I dont know prices. We are a Chevy Town.

Hope this helps

[npfd801]

Thanks everyone for the info. We still have no idea what to purchase, chief currently drives a Suburban 2500, though I think a Tahoe is more than adequate. The Suburban once ran as an EMS unit, so it needed a bit more capacity.

State bid is a good thing.

[npfd801]

Dragging this back from the dead. How about F-550 chassis? Is the state bid vendor for Fords still Finsh Line Ford?

[tower19]

thomas dodge in orland has good prices on durangos and chargers and rams i belive they are dodgepolicecars.com

[Pelican631]

I guess I'll drag this up again...I've heard of departments getting a commercial chassis through the State Bid program and then having an apparatus manufacturer put a tank on it for use as a tanker (tender? ). I've been looking all over the CMS web site, but the only truck contracts I can find are for light duty trucks (pickups and vans) and for dump (plow) trucks. Has anyone had any luck getting a commercial chassis from this program? Any info would be great.

Thanks,

Andy

[rfd599]

Pelican:

The state bid chassis is an International, e-mail me at dinges88@hotmail.com tomorrow offline as a reminder and I will make a phone call. One of our customers just purchased a chassis off state bid and we (Toyne) are building the body for the pumper.

State bid for commercial chassis are not intended to be available to fire departments, however, the contract holder has been willing to make exceptions. Two years ago, the department my father is on purchased a pair of chassis on state bid with no problems.

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[jboczek]

Pelican, we got one last year for our 2,000 tanker that US Tanker built. Worked good for us. E-mail me and I'll give you the contact information. The WILL NOT deal with truck builders so it's up to you to get what you need for a chassis.
We looked at a Toyne but they didn't want to bid it.

[npfd801]

The rig in my avatar is a state bid IH. We got a smokin' deal going this route. The only mistake we made was somehow not getting an AM/FM radio in the specs, which we were sure we had in there.

Any decent builder will tell you exactly what you need in the chassis specs, so you should be okay there.

When we bought ours Prairie International had the state bid. Not sure who has it now.

[Weruj1]

so what did you buy for a vehicle that started the thread ?

[jboczek]

If you're interested, Josh, we got a 2007 IH 4400, 2 dr., 36K chassis, DT570 engine, 330 HP, 6 sp. Allison, single rear axle and Viper Red in color. If you want red, Viper Red is RED.

US Tanker matched it perfectly. Really looks good with the polished stainless steel tank. Did I mention that I really like our new tanker...err tender.

[rfd599]

My father's department used U.S. Tanker also when they purchased their two tankers. U.S. Tanker did a great job with both trucks.

Joel, am I not correct that the state bid is not intended for fire department purchase.

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[npfd801]

so what did you buy for a vehicle that started the thread ?

An Expedition is the new chief's vehicle. In my opinion, we could have done better, but the process was rather hurried along and wasn't done by a committee. We should have at least looked at the longer Expedition that's available, and I think - my opinion only - the newer Tahoe/Suburban is a nicer package than what Ford is offering. The trim level we have just plain feels "cheap."

And anyone who wants a real red vehicle, you can get at least a GM vehicle painted in the red color you wish. Its less than $300 (at least it was), and then you aren't stuck with an ugly maroon red color. Don't know if that's available with Ford, again - the rush to get the vehicle pushed us out of a custom color. LA has a bunch of the new 3/4-ton Suburbans painted in the normal fire truck red color.

We didn't even go with a state bid - a dealership out of Madison, WI was ridiculously cheap, don't know if we somehow latched on to a state of Wisconsin fleet program, but they were low by a wide margin.

Nick - I don't know if the fleet program is not really meant for fire departments. Probably in the sense that the base spec you work with is really intended for a dump truck, but even with the extra we paid to add the options we desired to our chassis, it was well worth the extra work involved. Then there was that little problem a year or two ago where they basically shut the state bid program down because of some *ahem* mismanagement by some folks involved. I know allegations were made, not sure if any were valid.

I wonder if the jump could be made to the lighter IH chassis from the 7400 to the 4300 if you didn't need that heavy a chassis? It sounds like everyone here has the heavier chassis.

**EDIT - rereading Jack's post above indicates that yes, you don't have to stay in the 7000 series chassis to go with the state program... If only I could read.

On a different note, anyone seen this yet? New IH rig

Looks a lot more practical than the CXT monster, and with 2 tons of payload, could allow some interesting possibilities if they made the interior a working interior instead of a luxury one.

[rfd599]

Joel:

If you put a few more ladder trucks on the street, that might be your new sales vehicle from Pete.

Any idea on the price tag?

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[npfd801]

Joel:

If you put a few more ladder trucks on the street, that might be your new sales vehicle from Pete.

Any idea on the price tag?

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

Two are on order actually. Really.

I also sold a dozen aerials yesterday.

[rfd599]

According to CMS, fire departments are not eligible for state bid IH trucks. The CMS truck under the state bid is a 4400 IH 2-Door. Supposedly, you cannot get a 7400 4-Door IH, however, the IH dealer is giving great pricing calling it a state bid truck. Anyone with more info, please share.

Thanks,

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[firefighterox]

Nick,

this is a bit off topic but what do you know about sublette's used ambulance that they are selling. I guess we are looking heavily into buying it and im in the dark and im afraid of the dark.