Towing, Recovery, Secure Storage, and Non-Passenger Vehicle Disposal Services

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is soliciting proposals through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process for comprehensive towing, recovery, secure storage, and non-passenger vehicle disposal services. The procuring jurisdiction is San Mateo County, California, with services required to support Sheriff's Office law enforcement operations statewide, both within and outside county boundaries. The contractor must provide 24 hours per day, 7 days per week service coverage including towing of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles; emergency roadside assistance such as jump-starts, lockout services, fuel delivery, and tire changes; accident and non-accident vehicle recovery; temporary and secure evidence vehicle storage with chain-of-custody procedures; and removal and disposal of non-passenger vehicles including recreational vehicles, trailers, boats, and abandoned structures. The contractor must maintain a properly equipped fleet with specialized equipment, meet guaranteed response times of 30 minutes for emergency calls (90 percent monthly compliance) and 60 minutes for non-emergency calls (95 percent monthly compliance), and designate a qualified Account Manager as the primary point of contact. Minimum qualifications include three years of experience in towing and recovery services, 24/7 availability, a secure vehicle storage facility, proper licensing and insurance, trained personnel, and environmental compliance capabilities. Proposals will be evaluated on project approach (25 points), firm qualifications (25 points), team qualifications (10 points), and price (30 points). The RFP was released on April 17, 2026, with a deadline for submitting questions on April 24, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., and proposals are due on May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. via the eProcurement portal; the anticipated contract award date is May 15, 2026.

The contract includes local preference provisions under the County's Local Business ordinance, offering five percent additional evaluation points to Local Businesses or Local Non-Profits, eight percent total points (including the base five percent) for Small Businesses or Small Non-Profits, and ten percent total points for Micro Businesses or Micro Non-Profits. No pre-submission registration or proposal fees are required beyond standard eProcurement portal registration, and no pre-proposal conference or site visit is scheduled. The initial contract term is three years with two optional extensions of up to two years each, exercisable at the County's sole discretion with 30 days' written notice, creating a potential five-year service agreement. The cost breakdown template indicates a base years structure (Years 1-3) with option years (Years 4-5), and contractors must submit detailed unit, hourly, daily, monthly, or per-vehicle pricing across five primary service categories: towing services, roadside assistance, storage services, equipment rental, and disposal services. While no specific budget range is disclosed in the RFP materials, the contract structure accommodates pricing flexibility through multiple rate-type options, and the standard contract template for agreements exceeding $200,000 is referenced, suggesting the potential contract value may exceed that threshold. The County makes no guarantee regarding actual quantities of services to be requested and reserves the right to reject any or all proposals; all submitted proposals become public record and County property.