Appeal process

Engineering Services recognizes that its branch evaluations can significantly affect the annual amount of payment service providers receive from the City. The department wants to ensure that trucking/hauling service providers are treated fairly, that they have the opportunity to understand the reason for their ranking through assessments, and to bring forward their concerns through the following appeal process.

First appeal

The first appeal should be through the branch you provide services for Equipment Superintendent. The branch has prepared the assessments, and it has the best day to day knowledge of your work performance. They should be able to provide a satisfactory response to your questions.

Second appeal

If you are not satisfied with the response to your first appeal or feel you are being treated unfairly, please summit a brief written explanation of your concerns to the Engineering Yards Manager. The Engineering Yards Manager is familiar with the trucking /haulage services process but is not associated with the day to day operation of individual branches. The Yards Manager can provide an independent review that will determine if the assessment process has been followed properly and your specific concerns have been investigated. Your letter, with your concerns, should be addressed to:

Final appeal

If the second appeal does not resolve concerns to your satisfaction, a final appeal is through the City’s Office of Director of Supply Chain Management. This office is completely independent from Engineering Services and deals with the majority of supply contracts with the City. This will ensure your treatment is consistent with the manner in which all other service suppliers are treated by the City. Your concerns should be made in writing and addressed to:

Day to day practices

The above appeal process is intended to provide you with the specific information and independent review needed to ensure that your treatment in providing service to the City is fair and consistent.

In day to day practice, it is generally intended that the hiring of trucking/haulage service providers be based on performance shown by the established branch rankings. Due to the nature of our work, there will be occasions when some hiring or job assignments may occur out of order due to the needs of a branch on a particular day but in most cases we will follow the selection process. Over time, payments are generally in line with a branch’s ranking. However, if owner/operators are aware of any hiring activities that are not consistent with the approved process, they should contact the Branch Equipment Superintendent or the Engineering Yards Manager.

The Payments and hiring summary demonstrates that, over time, payments are generally in line with a branch’s ranking. However, if owner/operators are aware of any hiring activities that are not consistent with the approved process, they should contact the Branch Equipment Superintendent or the Engineering Yards Manager through the appeal process noted above.

Please note: all complaints are investigated thoroughly and it takes a considerable amount of our time. For this reason, we are expecting to hear about significant infractions or a misuse of the system on an on-going basis. If the investigation of a complaint results in no evidence supporting the claim or the complaint is of minimal importance, the complaining owner/operator will be contacted about what we consider to be a reasonable request. We want to make it clear that important complaints will be investigated but repeated petty or unfounded complaints may result in the City invoicing the complainant for the time used investigating the complaint.