Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al., B-277241.20; B-277241.21,

Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al., B-277241.20; B-277241.21, BNUMBER: B-277241.20; B-277241.21 DATE: July 1, 1998 TITLE: Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al., B-277241.20; B-277241.21, July 1, 1998 ********************************************************************** Matter of:Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al. File: B-277241.20; B-277241.21 Date:July 1, 1998 Alan F. Wohlstetter, Esq., and Stanley I. Goldman, Esq., Denning & Wohlstetter, and Thomas M. Auchincloss, Jr., Esq., and Brian L. Troiano, Esq., Rea, Cross & Auchincloss, for the protesters. G. Jerry Shaw, Esq., and Susan E. Shaw, Esq., Shaw, Bransford & O'Rourke, for Cendant Mobility Services Corporation, an intervenor. Maj. Jonathan C. Guden and Ramon Morales, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. David R. Kohler, Esq., and Timothy C. Treanor, Esq., for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Adam Vodraska, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST In a solicitation implementing a pilot program to reengineer the Department of Defense's current interstate and international program for the shipment and storage of the personal property of military service members and civilian employees, the contracting officer's decision to set aside 17 of 53 traffic channels in their entirety for exclusive small business participation is unobjectionable. DECISION Aalco Forwarding, Inc. and 98 other self-certified small business concerns protest the sufficiency of the small business set-aside in request for proposals (RFP) No. DAMT01-97-R-3001, issued by the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC), Department of the Army, for a pilot program reengineering the Department of Defense's (DOD) current interstate and international program for shipping and storing the personal property of its military service members and civilian employees.[1] We deny the protests. These protests arose from the contracting agency's implementation of our recommendation in Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al., B-277241.16, Mar. 11, 1998, 98-1 CPD para. 75, in which we sustained protests by most of these protesters of the solicitation's partial small business set-aside.[2] The RFP, issued March 14, 1997, calls for the contractor(s) to provide all personnel, equipment, materials, supervision, and other items necessary to provide transportation and transportation-related services for 50 percent of the eligible DOD and U.S. Coast Guard sponsored personal property shipments from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, to any or all of 13 destination regions in the continental United States and/or any or all of 5 destination regions in Europe. RFP schedule at 2; RFP performance work statement (PWS) at 3, 7, and attachments 1 and 2. Award will be made to one or more contractors for each origin state to destination region "traffic channel." RFP at 36. There are 53 traffic channels included in this RFP. RFP schedule; PWS attachments 1 and 2. The RFP provides that offers may be submitted on any or all traffic channels from any one or all of the origin states to any one or all destination regions, or any combination thereof. PWS at 3 and attachment 2. Offerors are to list in their proposals for each traffic channel for which they submit an offer the daily capacity (in pounds) that they are committing to each of the various personal property shipping offices in an origin state for the base year and each option year. RFP attachment 3; PWS at 19. The committed daily capacities will be used by MTMC to determine the number of contracts to be awarded for each traffic channel and to obligate the contractors to provide requested services up to their committed daily capacities. PWS at 19. Although a minimum committed daily capacity is not specified, the RFP states that committed daily capacities must be reasonable, based on historical tonnage data. Id. An attachment to the RFP provides historical monthly/yearly tonnage data and numbers of shipments for each traffic channel (from each personal property shipping office) for fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996. RFP attachment 4. In an amendment issued May 14, MTMC set aside 12 percent of the traffic volume of 27 designated high traffic volume channels for exclusive small business participation.