The in basket: When I read that delivery of the street light equipment for the new Silverdale roundabout had been delayed by a couple of weeks, it sounded familiar. It seems that a variety of traffic signal and roundabout projects in various jurisdictions have suffered from late delivery of the illumination gear over the years. I asked Kitsap County Public Works if there is some inherit difficulty that keeps jurisdictions from ordering them on time.
The out basket: Doug Bear of public works replied, “The streetlights are ordered in time, and the manufacturer assures us they can meet the delivery date. Then they are unable to do so and adjust it. It is a problem shared with many other jurisdictions, and I’m not sure what we can do differently to ensure delivery as the manufacturer promises.”
It sounds like there needs to be more competition in producing street light and traffic signal supports.
Hmmm. I wonder if the same supplier is always used? If so, that may be the problem. That supplier knows there is no real reason to honor the contract, if there is one. I’ll bet if there was a stipulation that if the products were not delivered as promised (on time, correct configuration, color, etc.), there would be a penalty, perhaps the products would be delivered as promised. But then, the purchaser would have to enforce it, and I’ll bet that rarely happens. If it did, there would not be an issue.
when a project starts order them and if they get delivered early…. store them somwhere I am sure the is a place things like that can sit until needed.