Committee approves Ascendance (International) chassis bids for county trucks

The Dunn County Highway Committee approved procurement of new truck chassis from Ascendance Trucks (International) at its Aug. 12 meeting. Staff reported the low tri-axle chassis bid from Ascendance (International) at $162,007.91 and quoted an International quad-axle/HX model at $198,006.43; the committee approved a motion to accept Ascendance's bids for both tri- and quad-axle chassis.

Staff recommended proceeding without extended warranties and not accepting the dealer trade-in offers — instead planning to sell older units at auction for better value. "The low bid was from Ascendance, for the International of $162,007.91," the agency official said of the tri-axle chassis, and later explained the International HX model had features that increase resale value though some options could be removed to lower cost. Committee members and staff discussed maintenance ease, resale value and whether the HX options were necessary for county purposes. Staff noted additional costs for bodies and hydraulics are not included in the chassis price and estimated upfitting might add roughly $40,000 per unit.