Can You Sell Vehicles On the GSA MAS Program?

As the largest government commercial acquisition program, the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program connects government buyers with vendors from a wide variety of industries. However, not every good or service can be sold through the MAS Program. Here at Winvale, we get a lot of questions about whether certain items, such as vehicles, can be sold through the Multiple Award Schedule.

If you sell vehicles commercially and are wondering whether you can sell them to the government through the MAS Program, the answer is: yes, you certainly can! Whether you sell trucks, cars, or boats, there are opportunities to sell them through the Multiple Award Schedule. In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of selling vehicles through the MAS Program, including a recap of what the MAS Program is, how vehicles are categorized in the MAS Program, what types of vehicles you can offer, and some pointers for preparing a MAS proposal for vehicles.

What is GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule Program?

As a brief refresher, the Multiple Award Schedule Program is a government contracting vehicle run by GSA that gives government buyers access to goods and services at pre-negotiated, discounted rates. Federal, state, and local government entities can purchase off the GSA Schedule from pre-vetted vendors who have successfully acquired a Schedule contract.

Contracts awarded through the MAS Program are Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts consisting of a five-year base period and three five-year option periods, up to a possible 20 years in length. The benefits of holding a Multiple Award Schedule contract are numerous, including increased access to government contracting opportunities and a streamlined buying and selling process.

How are Vehicles Categorized in the MAS Program?

We mentioned earlier that the MAS Program encompasses a wide range of goods and services, so where do vehicles fit in? To start with, the MAS Program is made up of 12 Large Categories, from Information Technology to Furniture and Furnishings. Offerors applying for a MAS contract need to determine which Large Category their offering best fits under. Large Category K, Transportation and Logistics Services, is the best fit for most types of vehicle offerings (we’ll cover the exceptions later).

Large Category K contains five subcategories that further break down the transportation and logistics offerings by type. These subcategories include:

• Automotive Body Maintenance and Repair
• Motor Vehicles (Non-Combat)
• Package Delivery
• Packaging Services
• Transportation of Things

As you can guess, most vehicles will fall under the Motor Vehicles (Non-Combat) subcategory.

From there, you’ll further classify your vehicle offering by which Special Item Number (SIN) it falls under. Special Item Numbers are GSA-specific identifiers, similar but not identical to NAICS codes, and your MAS proposal can include vehicles under one or more SINs. Examples of Vehicle SINs include: 336211 Tank Trucks, 3361V Vocational Vehicles, and 336991 Wheel and Track Vehicles.

It’s important to choose the right SIN for your offering, since that SIN will determine which government task orders you can compete for as a MAS contractor – plus, choosing a SIN that’s not a good fit could result in rejection of your MAS offer.

Which Types of Vehicles Can I Offer through the MAS Program?

To find out which vehicles you can offer through the MAS Program, the best starting place is the MAS SIN Lookup Table. If a SIN exists for your vehicle type, you can offer it on the MAS Program (assuming you can meet MAS requirements, as we’ll discuss). Filtering the lookup table by vehicle search terms can help you identify SIN options.

To save you some time, we’ve put together a list of SINs that cover vehicle purchasing or leasing. We’ll begin with those in the Transportation and Logistics Services Large Category:

Under the Motor Vehicles (Non-Combat) Subcategory:

• 3361 Law Enforcement and Fire Fighting Vehicles and Attachments
• 3361E Electric and Autonomous Vehicles and Accessories
• 3361V Vocational Vehicles
• 33611 Purchase or Lease of Gas or Electric Low Speed Vehicles
• 336211 Tank Trucks
• 336212 Trailers and Attachments
• 336612 Marine Craft
• 336612R Recreational Watercraft
• 336991 Wheel and Track Vehicles
• 532112 Leasing of Passenger Cars, SUVs, Vans, and Light Trucks
• 532120 Leased Heavy Duty Vehicles

Under the Transportation of Things Subcategory:

• 532111 Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing, Rental Supplemental Vehicle Program

A few SINs outside Large Category K also cover vehicle purchasing:

• 333924 Utility Trucks and Tractors (Industrial Products and Services Large Category)
• 336992 Non-tactical Armored Vehicles and Vehicle Armoring Services (Security and Protection Products and Services Large Category)

Keep in mind that the list above focuses on vehicle purchasing and leasing, so it doesn’t include the SINs in the Transportation and Logistics Services Large Category that cover vehicle repair, maintenance, and components. Other SINs in that Large Category that are adjacent to vehicle purchasing and leasing include SIN 481211B Air Charter Services – Brokers, SIN 481211O Air Charter Services – Owner Operated, and SIN 485 Ground Transportation.

When determining which SINs are the best fit for your vehicles, make sure to review the complete SIN descriptions for more details on the vehicles that SIN covers. For example, the Tank Trucks SIN description mentions that any tank trucks offered need to be NFPA compliant and provides some examples:

“Fuel and petroleum tank trucks that are NFPA 385 407 compliant including but not limited to: bulk fuel haulers, ground fuel servicing trucks (single and multiple product), aircraft refueling and de-fueling tank trucks. Potable and non-potable water trucks, street flushers, dust control spray trucks, and trailers. Related equipment and accessories and related equipment.”

All vehicle SIN descriptions are available in GSA’s SIN lookup table.

What Should I Know When Proposing Vehicles on the MAS Program?

So, you’ve determined that your vehicles fit under one or more SINs in the MAS Program and decided to pursue a MAS contract – what’s next?

Assuming that your business is a good fit for the MAS Program, you should review the MAS offer requirements to ensure you can provide all required documentation. In addition to these general requirements, some vehicle SINs have their own special requirements that you need to be aware of when submitting an MAS offer for vehicles.

A good place to find these vehicle-specific requirements is the Large Category Solicitation Attachment for your vehicle SIN, which you can find on GSA’s eOffer site. The Large Category Attachment contains each SIN description in that Large Category, followed by any SIN-specific requirements. Below is an example of the SIN-specific requirements for SIN 3361V Vocational Vehicles:

• A complete commercial description of each vehicle offered
• Detailed drawings of each vehicle offered, if available
• Photos of the vehicles offered, if available
• Offerors under this SIN should also certify that any Mobile Waste, Recyclable Materials Collection, Transportation, and Compaction Equipment is ANSI Z245.1 compliant, and any Utility & Telecom Construction Equipment and Attachments are ANSI A92.2 compliant.

Several vehicle SINs, like 532112 Leasing of Passenger Cars, SUVs, Vans, and Light Trucks, or vehicle-adjacent SINs, like the two Air Charter Services SINs, also require specific templates that differ from the usual offer templates. These can be found on the MAS Templates page. As with any of GSA’s offer templates, these templates can be tricky to fill out, so make sure to read them thoroughly and consider bringing in a GSA Schedule consultant if necessary.

Preparing a Successful MAS Offer for Vehicles

We’ve covered the basics of how to determine whether your vehicles can be sold through the Multiple Award Schedule and where to find vehicle-specific offer requirements, but a lot more goes into the preparation of a successful MAS offer.

Winvale’s comprehensive guide to offer preparation is a good place to start. And if you’re looking for more individualized assistance with preparing a MAS offer for vehicles, reach out to our team of consultants. We’ve helped numerous vehicle offerors secure MAS contracts and are here to answer any questions you may have.