NHTSA Hotline

Background The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Vehicle Safety Hotline (“Hotline”) is the primary point of contact for the public to request and report safety defect information including passenger vehicles, heavy trucks, and RVs, or report problems with motor vehicle equipment (e.g., air bags, motorcycle helmets, brakes, or child safety seats) that could affect safety. The information gathered from the Hotline and other sources is evaluated by NHTSA to determine if serious safety problems exist. The Vehicle Safety Hotline has undergone a major transformation from an operation that merely recorded vehicle-related defects to a one-stop customer-oriented operation that accepts many types of calls related to motor vehicle safety. The major actions undertaken to transform hotline operations include: (1) establishing the Hotline as the agency’s single point of public contact for safety information; (2) developing, publishing, and monitoring customer service standards (courtesy, timeliness, and accuracy) as performance measurements; (3) publicizing the Hotline number during all NHTSA events; (4) promoting vehicle safety through information dissemination; and (5) expanding the Hotline’s infrastructure to handle additional calls in English and Spanish. This process is a series of tasks that depend on electronic and human resources to provide service to anyone seeking information about motor vehicles, highway safety, and the agency; or to report problems with vehicle equipment (e.g., air bags, brakes or child safety seats). The Hotline provides a toll-free number that consumers can call to talk to a Hotline representative between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), Monday through Friday, or to leave a recorded message at times Hotline representatives are unavailable. The Hotline can also be contacted by e-mail by going to the NHTSA Web site at www.safercars,gov and www.nhtsa.gov. Based on the type of request, responses to calls are instantaneous or typically mailed the next business day. Intent This procurement will be an 8(a) set-aside competitive procurement. This procurement is anticipated to result in a Time and Materials (T&M) contract. The NAICS Code and Size Standard is 541519. The period of performance is estimated at 5 years. NHTSA intends to release the Solicitation on or about the end of September 2008.