Contract vehicle
Also called: vehicle, acquisition vehicle, procurement vehicle, getting on a vehicle
A contract vehicle is any pre-competed contract, such as a GSA schedule, an IDIQ, a GWAC or a BPA, that an agency can order from instead of running a full open-market competition for each need.
The phrase is industry shorthand, not a FAR term. Buyers like vehicles because the base competition already satisfied the competition rules in FAR Part 6 and orders move under FAR 8.4 or 16.505 in weeks instead of months. Sellers like them because the field of competitors is limited to the holders. For a new firm the lesson is that a growing share of federal spend, especially in IT and professional services, never appears as an open solicitation on SAM.gov; it moves as orders under vehicles.
What to check: which vehicles your target agencies use for your service (the FPDS award record names the referenced IDV), when each vehicle next opens for new offers, which holders take subcontractors, and whether a set-aside pool exists that you qualify for. Open-market buys under the simplified acquisition threshold remain the way in for most first awards.
What it is not: a guarantee of orders. Holding a vehicle with no orders is common and costs money in compliance.
See also: GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), FPDS and USAspending
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