N.J. Admin. Code § 19:9-2.13

Current through Register Vol. 57, No. 1, January 6, 2025

Section 19:9-2.13 - Procurement of routine towing services on the Roadway

(a) All contracts between the Authority and qualified contractors for routine towing services on the Turnpike and Parkway shall be procured pursuant to the procedures and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, routine towing services on the Turnpike include towing services and storage services. Road services on the Turnpike shall be provided by a separate third-party contractor. Routine towing services on the Parkway include towing services, storage services, and road services.

(b) The objective of this section is to establish procedures for the award of contracts for routine towing services on the Turnpike and Parkway, to be provided on a rotational basis, 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 issued by the Authority, from time to time. In issuing a request for bids, the Director of Procurement and Materials Management is empowered to procure up to three rotational towers per 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 request for bids. 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 expressly set forth in the request for bids.

(c) Only bids submitted by contractors who have been prequalified 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 prequalification process preceding the issuance of request for bids. 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 request for prequalification: reliability, experience, response time, acceptance of credit cards, and prepaid towing contracts; equipment; location and condition of storage facilities to safeguard the personal property of patrons and their towed and stored vehicles; liability and other insurance coverage; safeguards to protect the personal safety of customers, 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 request for prequalification. 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 contractors on each the Turnpike and Parkway.

(e) A prequalified contractor shall be entitled to submit a bid in response to a request for bids. Each request for bids issued by the Authority shall prescribe specific requirements for the routine towing 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 contractors shall not charge patrons any fees for towing services other than those applicable fees that are expressly set forth at N.J.A.C. 19:9-3.1 and 3.2.

(f) The provisions at 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 Parkway, unless such provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of this section, in which event, the provisions of this subchapter shall govern.

N.J. Admin. Code § 19:9-2.13

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 3236(b), effective 9/18/2017

Amended by 57 N.J.R. 55(c), effective 1/6/2025