NIGP 96289: Vehicle Transporting Services

NIGP 96289 Vehicle Transporting Services, an Item code, encompasses towing, recovery, and emergency transport services that state and local governments procure to move inoperable or wrecked vehicles, off-road equipment, shipping containers, and individuals requiring behavioral health or emergency detention transport. Recent solicitations show counties and cities buying 24/7 towing fleets with flat-fee or hourly pricing for on-demand recovery of stuck or overturned equipment, transport of stationary assets across jurisdictional boundaries, and specialized emergency medical transport. Issuing bodies include county governments (Pinellas County, Florida; Boulder County, Colorado) procuring equipment towing and recovery, municipal police departments (City of Madison) contracting emergency patient transport, and community redevelopment agencies (Orlando CRA) managing on-demand electric shuttle services. The work typically requires dedicated fleet ownership, qualified operators, comprehensive insurance including commercial general liability and garage liability coverage, 24/7 availability, and prohibition on brokered or subcontracted services. Vendors compete on response time, equipment capability, insurance compliance, and pricing structure—whether flat rates per call, hourly rates, or fixed monthly retainers.

Geographic activity clusters in Florida (Pinellas County issued two successive ITQs for equipment towing in March and April 2026; the City of DeBary issued an irrigation systems bid in April) and Colorado (Boulder County Housing Authority solicited towing services in January 2026). The City of Madison, Wisconsin posted an emergency transport RFP in January 2026 with a $150,000 contract value through December 2026, evaluating proposals on technical merit (65%), cost (30%), and local vendor preference (5%), with responses due February 27, 2026. Pinellas County's most recent ITQ (260487) for Equipment Towing, Transport and Recovery Services closed April 16, 2026, offering a 36-month term with optional 12-month extensions, 24/7 service for vehicles up to and exceeding 19,500 lbs GVWR, and SBE preference with priority to small businesses submitting within the first five business days. The City of Orlando CRA's RFP26-0251 for on-demand electric shuttle services (responses due March 26, 2026) required a minimum five-vehicle fleet with fixed hourly rates scaled to ten vehicles and monthly remittance of all fare revenue. An earlier Pinellas County ITQ (260376) named Robfletch Inc. DBA Professional Towing as the incumbent, with documented billings of approximately $405,772 across 1,489 transactions from October 2021 through February 2026, suggesting annual expenditures in the $80,000 to $100,000 range.