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MOLO advocates for SME-friendly tenders in pupil and disabled transport.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Mobility and Logistics Association (MOLO) sees in the awarding of corresponding transport services a development that, in its view, is increasingly at the expense of regional transport companies. At the center is the so-called contracted-out traffic. This includes, among other things, pupil transport, kindergarten transport and transport for the disabled, which are regularly tendered by municipalities and other public contracting authorities. In MOLO's view, many of these procurement procedures now hinder participation by smaller and medium-sized enterprises.
The association has therefore published a practical guide intended to provide municipalities, districts and other contracting authorities with recommendations for a more SME-friendly design of tenders.
“We are increasingly noticing that tenders are sometimes so broadly tailored or so strongly oriented toward the lowest price that regionally rooted small and medium-sized transport companies effectively have almost no realistic opportunities to participate,” said MOLO Managing Director Guido Borning.
Regional providers risk being left behind on the route
For taxi-, rental-car and bus companies that have long operated in their regions for years, this is not only about individual contracts. The association fears that the market structure will change in the long term. If tenders are decided mainly by price and large awarding units arise, smaller providers could be increasingly displaced. The consequence would be, from MOLO's perspective, a stronger concentration on a few large companies.
In doing so, Borning points to the role of regional businesses in daily mobility in the local area.
“Indeed, our medium-sized enterprises daily secure mobility in the local area. They possess regional knowledge of the area, short decision-making paths, high flexibility, and a close bond with schools, parents, municipalities and passengers. These structures must not be allowed to disappear gradually,” Borning continued.
The handout thus addresses several points. Among other things, smaller lot sizes in tenders are recommended, stronger qualitative evaluation criteria, as well as plausibility checks for unusually low bids. Also labor and social-law standards as well as price adjustment and cost escalation clauses play a role. They are intended to help ensure that companies do not have to bear rising costs during longer contract durations alone.
For MOLO's managing director Heiko Nagel, the long-term viability of the transport services is paramount.
“Public tenders should not be viewed solely from the perspective of the cheapest bid. What is decisive is to ensure, in the long term, stable, high-quality, and legally compliant transport services. Unsustainable dumping pricing can ultimately lead to quality losses, economic problems, and service gaps.”
The association also points to differing competitive conditions. Concession taxi, hire-car, and bus companies are subject to extensive legal requirements. These requirements differ in part from the framework conditions of other providers in the deregulated transport sector. From MOLO's perspective, this should be given greater consideration in procurement procedures. The discussion thus touches on a fundamental question of public procurement: What weight do criteria such as quality, reliability, or regional value creation have alongside price? For the association, the answer is clear.
“We expressly advocate for fair competition and procurement practices that take into account not only price but also quality, reliability, social standards and regional structures,” say Borning and Nagel.
The handout has meanwhile been distributed to both the association's member companies and to public contracting authorities. At the same time, MOLO calls on the transport companies themselves to get involved early in procurement processes and to seek dialogue with the responsible authorities. For the framework conditions of future tenders, decisions will not be made solely at the desks of the procurement offices, but also by those who organize traffic on a daily basis.
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