The Ocala City Council will consider a three-year contract that could potentially be worth up to $1.34 million for engine and transmission replacement services for SunTran buses that serve the city.
On Tuesday, July 15, council members will review and vote on a contract with Cummins Inc., (d/b/a Cummins Sales and Service), for engine and transmission replacement services for SunTran buses on an as-needed basis.
According to the city, once a vehicle has exceeded 40 percent of its useful life, it is necessary to rebuild or replace the engine, transmission, and related components. The Federal Transit Administration defines the “useful life” as 12 years or 500,000 miles, setting 40% at nearly 5 years and 200,000 miles. The city says the preventative maintenance helps ensure that vehicles reach their full useful life.
On May 1, the city issued an invitation to bid for the provision of these services and received responses from two vendors: Cummins and Reliable Transmission Service.
While Cummins offered a bid amount of $1,340,270 for the three-year contract, Reliable submitted a bid for the cost to purchase one transmission (i.e., $12,100). The bid from Cummins shows that the cost to purchase one transmission from that company is $6,250.
Cummins’ bid estimates that the cost for a new or reconditioned replacement engine would be approximately $66,100, without the additional components. With the additional components, the cost per engine comes out to $117,852.
Over the course of the proposed three-year contract, a maximum of 10 engines could be replaced or reconditioned, equating to a maximum cost of $1,178,520 for that portion of the contract.
The total amount of the entire contract ($1,340,270) is the maximum potential spend if the city were to have Cummins install 10 engines and 10 transmission over a three-year period, according to city staff.
The Ocala City Council next meets at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15, at Ocala City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue).