Courier Services - Mail and Pharmaceuticals

The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, the state-designated Local Mental Health Authority and Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority serving Harris County, Texas, is soliciting responses for courier services through a Request for Proposal posted April 14, 2026, with responses due by May 6, 2026. The procurement encompasses interoffice mail and pharmaceutical delivery services from the Harris Center's primary location at 9401 Southwest Freeway to 24 distinct drop-off and pick-up locations throughout Harris County, with service required Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., excluding official holidays. The selected vendor must transport approximately two mail buckets or boxes and 3+ parcels daily, with average daily pharmaceutical deliveries valued at $100,000, utilizing insured and enclosed vehicles with locked containers for pharmaceutical transport and completing all deliveries within the same business day with no overnight storage permitted. Key requirements include HIPAA and Protected Health Information (PHI) compliance with staff training, reliable package tracking systems with return receipt capabilities, surety bond procurement as required by the State of Texas for pharmaceutical transportation, and comprehensive insurance coverage including Commercial General Liability with $2,000,000 general aggregate and $1,000,000 per occurrence limits, Professional Liability with $3,000,000 general aggregate and $1,000,000 per occurrence limits, and Business Automobile Liability with $1,000,000 combined single limits. Proposals will be evaluated on pricing (20 percent), overall program concept (25 percent), past performance with governmental entities (25 percent), financial condition (10 percent), personnel qualifications (10 percent), and references (10 percent), with award recommendations anticipated within 90 days of the May 6, 2026 due date, and all submitted responses become property of The Harris Center and shall not be returned.

The solicitation does not identify any specific set-asides or restrictions limiting responses to particular types of organizations, though vendors are required to comply with non-discrimination policies and Immigration Reform and Control Act requirements. No incumbent vendor or current contractor information is referenced in the available solicitation documents. Qualified proposers should provide at least three business references preferably from similar not-for-profit entities in Texas, audited financial statements, and evidence of experience with comparable projects, with preferred qualifications including membership in cooperative purchasing networks such as TCPN, Buy Board, TXMAS, TPASS, TIP, or existing State of Texas Contracts. The contract will run from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027, with four optional renewal periods available for successive one-year terms extending through August 31, 2031, and monthly invoicing based on services rendered in the prior month with payment due within 45 days of receipt. While specific budget or award values are not disclosed in the solicitation documents, the pricing sheet indicates vendors must provide separate line-item costs for mail-only services, pharmaceutical-only services, and combined mail and pharmaceutical services across the initial contract period and all four optional renewal years. The Harris Center retains discretion to award the contract to a single vendor or distribute awards among multiple vendors and reserves the right to reject any and all responses.