Employee transportation RFP: the questions to ask vendors before you sign

Before you write the RFP: the data vendors will need

A vendor can only quote as well as the data you give them. Loose inputs produce padded quotes, because the operator prices the uncertainty. Assemble the following before drafting:

• Headcount by shift, including how it varies across the week and month, and any planned changes in the next twelve months.
• Home-location clusters, at pin-code level. Names are not needed. This decides the routing and therefore most of the cost.
• Pickup and drop windows per shift, and how much variance is acceptable at either end.
• Your occupancy expectation. A vehicle that runs 60% full costs almost the same as one that runs 90% full.
• Site constraints: gate timings, parking bays, security check-in requirements, and whether vehicles can wait on site.
• Legal obligations you carry: for example, night-shift transport rules for women employees under your state's Shops and Establishments Act or factory rules.
• Current pain points, honestly stated. If your current vendor's drivers skip pickups, say so; the new vendor needs to design against it.

Operations questions

1. 1How will you design the routes, and will you share the route plan with occupancy assumptions before go-live?
2. 2What is your reporting-time standard at the first pickup, and how is it measured?
3. 3What happens when a vehicle breaks down mid-route? State the replacement time and how passengers are informed.
4. 4How do you handle a no-show employee: wait time, and whether the route proceeds?
5. 5Can routes be rebalanced monthly as headcount and home clusters change, and is there a charge for that?
6. 6Who is on site or on call during shift changes, and what is their authority to deploy a backup?
7. 7How do you manage driver rostering so that the same drivers serve the same routes, and what is your driver attrition rate?

Safety and compliance questions

1. 1Which verification checks do you complete before a driver is deployed, and how often are they refreshed?
2. 2Which vehicle documents will be shared for every vehicle on the contract: registration, permit, fitness, insurance with passenger cover, pollution certificate?
3. 3Is every vehicle GPS-tracked, and can our security team see live positions?
4. 4How does a passenger raise an alarm during a trip, and who responds?
5. 5What is your policy for women travelling alone on the first pickup or last drop?
6. 6How are speed and driving behaviour monitored, and what action follows a violation?
7. 7What is your accident and incident reporting process, and within what time will we be informed?

Commercial questions

1. 1Is the quote per seat, per vehicle-trip, per vehicle-month or per kilometre? Ask for the same routes quoted two ways so you can see where the risk sits.
2. 2What is included in the rate: fuel, driver, tolls, parking, permits, night allowance?
3. 3How does the rate move with fuel prices? Ask for the exact formula and the reference index.
4. 4Is there a minimum monthly commitment or a minimum kilometre rule per vehicle?
5. 5What is the charge for a vehicle held on standby during a shift?
6. 6How are additional ad hoc trips priced, and who can authorise them?
7. 7What are the payment terms, and is there an early-payment discount or a late-payment interest clause?
8. 8Which GST rate will you charge, and will you invoice on forward charge? See our GST guide for why this changes your effective cost.

Reporting and governance questions

1. 1Which reports will we receive, at what cadence: on-time performance, occupancy, no-shows, incidents, cost per employee?
2. 2Will trip data be available as an export we can load into our own systems?
3. 3Who is the named account owner, and how often will we have a service review?
4. 4What are the service credits when an SLA is missed, and how are they applied to the invoice?
5. 5What is the transition plan from our current vendor, including any overlap period?
6. 6What is the notice period and exit assistance if either side terminates?

A simple weighted scoring matrix

Score every bidder on the same criteria before you look at price. A common split for employee transport, which you should adjust to your own risk profile:

Mistakes we see in employee transport RFPs

• Sending the RFP without home-cluster data, then wondering why quotes vary by 40% between bidders.
• Comparing a per-seat quote against a per-vehicle quote as if they carried the same risk.
• Awarding on price and discovering the winning bidder's fleet is entirely subcontracted with no backup clause.
• Skipping the pilot. Two weeks on the two hardest routes will show you more than any presentation.
• Not writing the exit clause. It is far easier to negotiate on day one than on the day you need it.

Frequently asked questions