PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FOR VEHICLE ACCUMULATION SERVICES

PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FOR VEHICLE ACCUMULATION SERVICES

BACKGROUND
Environment Canada's (EC) mandate is to preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment; conserve Canada's renewable resources; conserve and protect Canada's water resources; forecast weather and environmental change; enforce rules relating to boundary waters; and coordinate environmental policies and programs for the federal government.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA),1999 commits EC to "undertake research and development programs for the study of the effect of vehicles, engines or equipment or emissions on air pollution, energy conservation and the environment and for the promotion of measures to control that effect" (Section 158.c). Vehicles and Engines Testing for Emissions Verification section (VETEV) of EC's Transportation Division (TD) administer testing programs to meet this commitment.
As part of its activities of administering the On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations under CEPA 1999 the Vehicle and Engine Testing for Emissions Verification (VETEV) Section, performs conformity verifications of emissions of new and in-use vehicles, engines and motorcycles, representative of products offered for sale in Canada.  The tests are performed at the Emission and Research Measurement Section (ERMS) laboratory on vehicles that have undergone a "break-in" schedule of accumulating a fixed number of kilometers.
Since these vehicles are “test specimens” they are more valuable than their base purchase price. They are specimens that may be used in a court proceeding as evidence. Driving these test specimens on public roads raises the level of responsibilities for the driver. The driver will also need to have vehicle technical knowledge in order to be able to detect and report abnormal performance behavior with the test specimen. Any performance issues may have an influence on the emissions test results.







1. Security:
All resources proposed by the bidder must hold a security accreditation to the level of RELIABILITY at the time of response to this request for proposal. In order to demonstrate this requirement, the resources with clearance must be listed in the proposal, along with their clearance level and the security clearance number or a confirmation letter from the issuing department.
2. Drivers (includes both drivers and motorcycle riders) must at all times during the contract period:
•	be able to deal with the monotony of driving the same designated routes over and over again throughout a long period of time. The average distance that the driver will be driving daily is approximately 400 kilometers.
•	be able to ride a motorcycle in difficult climatic conditions;
•	be able to detect abnormal vehicle/engine behavior and document it;
•	be very diligent about pre-driving inspection which may have to been done multiple times in a given day after a switch of test specimen;
•	be very diligent about following very specific procedures during the break-in period of a new test specimen;
•	be very diligent about the cleanliness of the test specimen;
•	be discreet about compliance issues they may arise with a test specimen in order to protect the integrity of the file on the subject;
•	be discreet about questions from the general public concerning the work they do; 
•	be able to operate electronic tracking devices (GPS); 
•	be familiar with basic computer software in order to enter daily data in the system;
•	respect schedules and routes established by EC;
•	carry an Environment Canada ID/ access card;
•	conduct daily vehicle inspections and the daily accumulation log to be submitted daily; any vehicle concerns must be reported to the Fleet Manager immediately. See Annex “A” for daily Inspection Checklist; 
•	refuel and provide fuel receipts at the end of each day.
•	periodically wash and clean the vehicles. 
•	record and report the daily course and itinerary of the routes they traveled using the GPS system supplied by Environment Canada.
•	are forbidden from using assigned vehicles for personal business or errands.

2.1 Language Requirements:
Drivers must speak, read and write at least one of the two Canadian official languages (French or English).

3. Streams of Work:

3.1 Stream 1 - Professional Driver Services for Vehicle Mileage Accumulation - Light and 
                         Medium Duty Passenger Vehicles

Under the guidance of Environment Canada's test fleet manager, drivers will operate a vehicle assigned to them on a pre-designated route only and solely for the purpose of accumulating kilometers to the required level specified by the test engineer in charge of the program. 

3.2 Stream 2 - Professional Driver/Rider Services for Vehicle Mileage Accumulation –     
                         Motorcycles

Under the guidance of Environment Canada's test fleet manager, the driver/rider will operate a motorcycle assigned to him or her on a pre-designated route only and solely for the purpose of accumulating kilometers to the required level specified by the test engineer in charge of the program. 

In addition to all of the requirements in 2.0 Drivers, motorcycle drivers must:

•	Be able to drive all size and type of motorcycle from scooters to large cruiser with ease
•	Possess and use his or her own proper safety gear and equipment, including a motorcycle jacket with approved shoulder/elbow armor, boots (minimum ankle high), gloves and DOT or SNELL approved helmet.

3.3 Stream 3 - Professional Driver Services for Vehicle Mileage Accumulation – 
 Heavy Duty Vehicles

Under the guidance of Environment Canada's test fleet manager, the driver will operate a vehicle assigned to him or her on a pre-designated route only and solely for the purpose of accumulating kilometers to the required level specified by the test engineer in charge of the program. 

4. Task Authorizations:

The work will proceed on an “as and when requested basis” as per individual task authorizations, issued according to the following instructions:

a.	Purpose of TA: Services to be provided under the Contract on an as-and-when-requested basis will be ordered by Canada using the Task Authorization ("TA") process. 

b.	Process of Issuing a TA: The Task Authorization Form at Appendix “B” should be used for all TAs. If a requirement for a specific task is identified, a draft “statement of task” will be prepared by the Client and sent to the Contractor. Once it receives the statement of task, the Contractor must submit a response to the Departmental Representative identified in the TA detailing the cost and time to complete the task. The Contractor’s response must be based on the rates set out in the Contract. The Contractor will not be paid for providing the response or for providing other information required to prepare and issue the TA. The Contractor must provide any information requested by Canada in relation to the preparation of a TA within three working days of the request, unless otherwise specified. 

c.	Approval Process: If Canada approves the Contractor’s task response, Canada (by its authorized representative, as described in this contract) will issue the TA by forwarding a signed copy of the final TA form to the Contractor. Whether or not to approve or issue a TA is entirely within Canada’s discretion. 

d.	Authority to Issue a TA: All TAs must be issued by the Contracting Authority. 

e.	Contents of a TA : A Task Authorization must contain the following information, if applicable : 
i.	a task number; 
ii.	the details of any financial coding to be used; 
iii.	a statement of work for the task outlining the activities to be performed and identifying any deliverables; 
iv.	the duration of the task is to be carried out (start and end dates); 
v.	milestone dates for deliverables and payments (if applicable); 
vi.	the number of person-days of effort required; 
vii.	the specific work location; 
viii.	the price payable to the Contractor for performing the task, with an indication of whether it is a firm price or a maximum TA price (and, for maximum price task authorizations, the TA must indicate how the final amount payable will be determined; where the TA does not indicate how the final amount payable will be determined, the amount payable is the amount, up to the maximum, that the Contractor demonstrates was actually worked on the project, by submitting time sheets filled in at the time of the work by the individual resources to support the charges); and 
ix.	any other constraints that might affect the completion of the task. 

f.	Charges for Work under a TA : The Contractor must not charge Canada anything more than the price set out in the Task Authorization unless Canada has issued a TA amendment authorizing the increased expenditure. Canada will not pay the Contractor for any design changes, modifications or interpretations of the Work unless they have been approved, in writing, by the Contracting Authority before being incorporated into the Work. 

g.	Consolidation of TAs for Administrative Purposes : The Contract may be amended from time to time to reflect all Task Authorizations issued and approved by the Contracting Authority to date, to document the Work performed under those TAs for administrative purposes. 

5. Intellectual Property

Intellectual property will be generated through the collection of driver log sheets, vehicle verification sheets and global positioning and tracking data (gps). The Crown will own the foreground intellectual property arising from work under this contract in accordance with exception 6.5 of the federal policy on Title to Intellectual Property Arising from Crown Procurement Contracts on the grounds that the foreground material is subject to copyright but is not software or software documentation.

6. Hours of Work

Service is to be provided during working hours specified below from Monday to Friday (Statutory Holidays excluded).

-	Working hours can be chosen from 7h00 and 16h30 Monday to Friday. The per diem rate is based on a 7.5 hour work day.

7. Vehicles

Vehicles from each stream are provided, fuel is paid for by EC but vehicles will be fuelled by drivers. Vehicle maintenance will be the responsibility of Environment Canada.

8. Contingency

Should the need arise, the Contractor must provide alternate drivers, in compliance with the following time frames:

-	Contractor Driver no-show - within 90 minutes of scheduled starting time;

Should the need arise for bidders to propose additional drivers, beyond those originally proposed in the RFP document, the drivers must meet the same mandatory qualification criteria identified in the RFP. Environment Canada reserves the right to accept or reject any additional drivers proposed by the Contractor during the contract period at its sole discretion.

9. Security

Each driver must hold a reliability security clearance. See attached SRCL Annex “C” 


10. Contractor Responsibilities

-	The Contractor and its resources must be in compliance with all pertinent federal, provincial and municipal regulations at all times during the performance of the contract.
-	The Contractor shall be responsible for any charges assessed as a result of breach of such regulations and by-laws.
-	The Contractor shall name a company contact for problem reporting, inquiries or other contract related issues.
-	The Contractor must notify the Departmental Representative immediately of any problems with drivers or other issues relating to the contract.
-	The Contractor shall be available to attend a service review meeting when requested by EC
-	The Contractor must coordinate/arrange for pre-qualify replacement drivers assuring no disruptions toward accumulation services, at Contractor’s cost.

11. Crown Responsibilities

Environment Canada shall be responsible for the safety of Contractor personnel while on departmental premises.

12. Insurance

Contractor must, for the duration of the contract, comply with all of the below:

Carry a Commercial General Liability Insurance of $5,000,000.00.

1.	Liability provision - the contractor assumes liability for all damage caused by the acts and omissions of its drivers;
2.	Indemnity provision - the contractor indemnifies the Crown for all claims arising from damage caused by the acts and omissions of its drivers;
3.	Insurance - the contractor is required to obtain and provide proof of insurance for the purpose of covering the liability and indemnity provisions, to the levels specified in the contract.

Insurance Policy must include:
-	Personal injury and advertising injury limits
-	Non-owned automobile liability
-	Complete operations liability
-	Broad form property damage endorsement
-	Occurrence property damage endorsement
-	Tenant's legal liability

The Contractor must maintain the required insurance coverage for the duration of the Contract. Compliance with the insurance requirements does not release the Contractor from or reduce its liability under the Contract.

The Contractor is responsible for deciding if additional insurance coverage is necessary to fulfill its obligation under the Contract and to ensure compliance with any applicable law. Any additional insurance coverage is at the Contractor's expense, and for its own benefit and protection.

Coverage must be placed with an Insurer licensed to carry out business in Canada. The Contractor must, if requested by the Contracting Authority, forward to EC a certified true copy of all applicable insurance policies.



13. Project Duration

The duration of this Contract is for four (4) years with Environment Canada reserving the right to exercise one (1) additional one-year option period it its sole discretion. 

A notice of Environment Canada’s intention to exercise options will be given to the contractor at least 10 days before the termination date of the contract.