Work through a realistic tender — Transport & logistics

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to defend a bid decision and prepare a consistent submission.

Common to all countries

Make a decision that survives delivery

A bid review has three separate gates: admissibility, a credible route to a competitive score, and the ability to deliver at an acceptable return. A high score cannot cure an inadmissible offer; a technically possible offer can still be commercially unsound. Give each unresolved issue an owner and a decision deadline before the submission cut-off.

Assemble the final response from the controlled requirements and evidence registers. Check names, totals, document versions, signatures, portal fields and uploaded files. Use an independent read-through to find contradictions between the method, staffing and price. After a permitted test of the submission workflow, allow time for the actual upload and retain the receipt. A finished PDF on your computer is not a submitted offer.

Worked example — Run a scheduled inter-site delivery service

This is a fictional teaching case. Quantities, prices and contractual conditions below are assumptions for the exercise, not legal requirements or market benchmarks.

A public organisation needs scheduled document and equipment deliveries between six sites, with traceable handovers. Route reliability and appropriate handling matter as much as vehicle availability. Passenger transport and dangerous goods would require separate scope and compliance analysis.

Review position. The team can deliver the base requirement, but one clarification remains open and the extra cost below is not included in its original price. Submission is five working days away; this is a case assumption.

The brief specifies maximum parcel weight but not total daily volume or loading responsibility. Ask for both before selecting vehicles and crew; carrying capacity and time capacity are different constraints.

A vehicle breakdown removes half the planned daily capacity. Price a reserve solution that can actually reach the route, and model fuel variation only under the contract’s permitted price-adjustment mechanism.

Item	Cost (currency units)
Drivers and dispatch	36,000
Vehicles and fuel	18,000
Maintenance and administration	6,000
Total	60,000

Total cost is 60,000. To retain 20% of the selling price as profit, price is 60,000 ÷ 0.80 = 75,000. If “Reserve vehicle arrangement” adds 6,000 to cost without a price increase, profit becomes 9,000, or 12% of price. Preserving 20% would require 82,500, only where the procurement permits that price. A cost increase does not automatically entitle the supplier to a contract price increase.

Country specific — what to verify

Check operator and driver requirements, working and driving time, vehicle standards, insurance and local access restrictions. If goods have a regulated classification, use the applicable transport regime and competent specialist review; never infer it from a generic logistics label.

Local fleet documents and route specifications. Use the destination-country module and the actual tender pack. The sources below are references with their own scope; they do not form a single worldwide regime. For the general method, revisit the foundations.

Put it into practice

Prepare a final review with four decisions: admissibility, clarification, return and submission. State the conditions for a yes and the conditions requiring a no. Produce three response headings linked to requirements.

Model answer

Model decision: conditional bid, not immediate approval. Obtain the official clarification, confirm evidence and resources, then decide the price or withdraw before submission. Do not conceal non-compliance in a prohibited qualification. The three response sections are understanding the need, method and resources, then controls and acceptance. Record delivery time, recipient and exceptions using the agreed evidence method. Define the denominator for on-time delivery and distinguish a late arrival from a failed handover. Investigate recurring delay causes before changing the promise.

Keep this worksheet in your working file. The quiz below checks the lesson’s decisions; passing it is neither a professional qualification nor a guarantee of an award.