NOTE: Seller has collected the simplified sellers use tax on taxable transactions delivered into Alabama and the tax will be remitted on the customer's behalf to the Alabama Department of Revenue.
Seller's program account number is SSU-R011433306.
Getting Started Guide
Sourcewell (formerly NJPA) is a cooperate purchasing agreement that solicits bids from a number of established suppliers to make purchasing easier for the purchasing agent. The entire process from public notice, to RFP's is managed by Sourcewell.
Another popular national purchasing cooperative is the Houston-Galveston Area Council Buy Board. Like Sourcewell, the municipality submits a little paperwork to HGAC, and the rest is fairly simple. HGAC has a little more paper work than Sourcewell, but also has a slightly lower fee.
Many states have their own purchasing boards. We prefer the national cooperatives, but we also tend to use some others in Texas, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Most established manufacturers in the sewer cleaning industry have already went to bid with the national cooperatives, and some have gone to bid with state contracts. That means they've already solicited all the pricing so you don't have to.
Next Steps
Once you've got an idea of what product class you're looking at, and how you'd like to purchase it, you can begin to figure out what specific product you're going to by. That involves choosing the features, as well as the manufacturer. We recommend setting up demos with different manufacturers. We also recommend including any operators and mechanics in the demos, and taking their input seriously.
A Final Thought: Purchasing sewer cleaning equipment is a extremely serious investment, both at the time of purchase and over the 10-15 years you'll have to product. Take the time to talk to customers of different manufacturers to see how the product is working after 5, 10, and 15 years and beyond.