The proposal by Ruan Transport Corporation out of Iowa received the highest evaluation from the RFPs received.
The Mississippi Department of Revenue (DOR) has selected an operator to submit for approval that will operate Mississippi’s alcohol distribution.
DOR has selected the Ruan Transport Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa proposal which had the highest score, according to the evaluation criteria listed. An official Public Notice of Intent Award has been issued to the operator. They will now submit that recommendation to the Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB) for review.
Ruan, founded in 1932, is one of the largest family-owned transportation management companies in the nation, providing Dedicated Contract Transportation, Managed Transportation, Value-Added Warehousing, and Brokerage Support Services.
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In accordance with Senate Bill 2844, DOR says they will be hiring a third-party operator to manage the Liquor Distribution Center in Gluckstadt.
The PPRB approved for DOR to accept Requests for Proposals (RFP) through November 22, 2022. In that time period, four RFPs were received from different vendors. The DOR was then tasked with evaluating these responses and selecting one to submit for review.
The legislation includes a fund within DOR that can be utilized for a new warehouse. The fund will be filled by a $1 fee per case in warehouse and the location must be within 50 miles of the state Capitol building.
At the time of passage, House Ways and Means Chairman State Rep. Trey Lamar said the current warehouse held roughly 4 million cases last year. Using that estimate, that would bring in $4 million in revenue for the project. With this fee, Lamar said it could potentially impact the cost of the product to the consumer.
Rep. Lamar told Y’all Politics on Wednesday that in conversations with DOR, Ruan Transport provided the lowest bid.
“They were very impressed with all of the applicants. They felt like any could do the job very well, this one was just the best,” said Lamar on Wednesday.
He said ratification from the PPRB will likely happen in February 2023. Prior to the approval, the other three companies that applied can contest the submission.
Once the operator is officially in place, Lamar said they will begin looking for a contractor to assess the warehouse’s needs and determine a course of action on updating the current facility or consider establishing a new location.
The operator is expected to be in place sometime in late spring to early summer.
Read the full notice below:
Public Notice of Intent to Award – 3rd Party Warehouse Op by yallpolitics on Scribd
Sarah Ulmer
