The city’s push to cut its snow removal costs will cause layoffs and prompt some trucking firms to fold, an industry representative says.
The fracas will come to the fore Wednesday evening during the first of two planned city-vendor meetings to discuss a standing offer solicitation, which was published Tuesday and closes Aug. 23. The two-year solicitation would take effect Oct. 1.
“I have gotten dozens and dozens and dozens of calls. People are very pissed off,” said Ron Barr, general manager of the Greater Ottawa Truckers Association.
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“I have not had one person that wants this changed, and we are going to go meet with the city tonight with their presentation and tell them we’re vehemently opposed this change.”
The city currently sets a standard price for snow removal. Roughly 350 businesses are registered with the city to remove snow, Mr. Barr said. They currently receive work on a “wheel” basis, meaning that the city goes down a list sequentially to pick vendors until it reaches the end, and then starts again at the top. A typical company will get 11 to 12 shifts a winter under this arrangement, Mr. Barr said.
The new proposal would change that, Mr. Barr said, saying his reading of the documents is that the city will pick a handful of their preferred dump truck and tractor-trailer operators every snowfall.
The tender documents say the city will phone the highest ranked vendor, which is determined by price and snow removal experience in Ottawa. The city would only move down its list if the operator turns down the work.
“They can call first one and get 15 trucks for him, call another to get 25, and call another and get 55 from him. We’re going to have a tremendous amount of unemployment,” Mr. Barr said, adding that 320 of the vendors could potentially be out of work for most of the winter.
The city will maintain two lists, a primary list and a secondary list, based on prices, with secondary ones being called upon “only in extreme necessity,” according to the documents. The city could also bypass vendors if it requires “a specific capacity” to finish the job.
The new proposal, Mr. Barr said, will change an agreement for snow removal that has existed since before the amalgamation of the City of Ottawa in 2001. City officials were not immediately available to comment on Mr. Barr’s interpretation of the proposal when contacted Wednesday afternoon.
The city is seeking cheaper options for snow removal after a 2012 report by the auditor general, Alain Lalonde, said the city could improve on the current $87.90 per hour of service it pays.
Mr. Lalonde referenced in his report an unnamed municipality with similar snowfall levels as Ottawa that pays only $72.82 an hour.
“We’re certainly willing to negotiate a fair and reasonable price,” Mr. Barr said, but added the rate is that high because the city “always allowed the increase to be half of the previous years’ cost of living.” Mr. Barr added that he had asked the city for a larger increase when he took over the association a few years ago, but was told the city would stick to its automatic increases.
“It was them that put it on the table, and they’re making it sound like it us,” he said.
Mr. Barr’s concern is that companies from Quebec could afford to undercut Ottawa truckers because they pay lower fees in their home province.
If the situation isn’t resolved soon, Mr. Barr said this could threaten LRT construction in the coming few years because companies may go out of business, or sell trucks to cut costs.
“There could be a tremendous shortage of dump trucks next year to the point where it can cripple the economy.”
