Tenders in logistics and transport

What buyers ask for

• Zero-emission zonesSince 1 January 2025, Dutch municipalities can set up a zero-emission zone for city logistics, covering at least vans and trucks. Transition rules apply per emission class, and from 1 January 2030 all vans and trucks in such a zone must be zero-emission. A contract of a few years therefore often runs across one of those dates.
• The Community licenceFor professional road haulage within the EU with a vehicle of more than 500 kg payload or more than 2,500 kg maximum permitted mass, a Dutch carrier needs a Community licence (eurovergunning) from NIWO. That requires, among other things, a qualified transport manager and sufficient financial standing.
• Agreements on delivery timesAgreements on punctuality, delivery times and availability are often set in a service level agreement with performance indicators, sometimes with a penalty or deduction when you miss them. Work out in advance what a missed target costs, and write how you meet it during a peak or a disruption.
• SustainabilityBuyers ask about your emissions, your fleet and your planning, for example through the CO2 Performance Ladder or vehicle requirements. Read sustainability as an award criterion.

In a private tender

A shipper that outsources transport looks at reliability and cost per shipment. The logistics manager wants to know what happens during a peak or a disruption, and procurement wants a rate card it can compare. Read about price and negotiation and the incumbent supplier.

Read how Atvalio helps with private tenders

How Atvalio helps

Atvalio reads the documents, knows your company and helps you write. You decide and you submit. In this sector that looks like this:

1. 1UnderstandArea, term, licences, performance indicators and penalties in one list, with the page.
2. 2DecideA recommendation that sets the term and the area against your fleet and your capacity.
3. 3AskA question for the clarification round when volumes, time windows or the calculation of a deduction are unclear.
4. 4WriteYour approach from your profile: your planning, your fleet and your references with similar flows.
5. 5CheckA simulated committee reads along, and Atvalio checks that every requested part and declaration is attached.

What often goes wrong

• Fictional exampleA fleet that can no longer enter the city halfway throughA carrier bids on a five-year contract to supply a city centre, with the vans it has now. Halfway through the term, those vans may no longer enter the zone. The switch to zero-emission vehicles was not in the price. Atvalio sets the term against the fleet in your profile and asks whether the zone requirements are in your price.

Read on

• Sustainability as an award criterion: how to score points with it
• Price indexation: how to stop your margin disappearing over the contract term
• Framework agreements: bidding when the volume is not fixed
• Price and negotiation in a private tender: hold on to your margin
• Cost of a bid calculator