Sea-Land Service, Inc., B-278404.2, February 9, 1998

B-278404.2 Feb 09, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest that request for proposals (RFP) for international ocean and intermodal transportation services improperly fails to set forth evaluation criteria for determining technical acceptability is denied where these criteria are apparent when the RFP is read as a whole. Related argument that RFP should impose fixed minimum requirements for certain evaluation criteria is denied where the criteria. RFP's establishment of a price ceiling for contracts involving specialized services based upon the pricing for contracts involving normal commercial services is unobjectionable where the agency reasonably expects that the rates for the specialized services. The lowest offered rate for each category will be accepted unless the contracting officer determines that it exceeds charges to the public for the carriage of like goods is consistent with the Cargo Preference Act of 1904 and. View Decision Matter of: Sea-Land Service, Inc. File: B-278404.2 Date: February 9, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Sea-Land Service, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. N00033-97-R-6723, issued by the Joint Traffic Management Office (JTMO) of the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC), Department of the Army, [1] to procure ocean and intermodal transportation services on a worldwide basis. Sea-Land contends that numerous solicitation terms are defective for a variety of reasons. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND DOD has an ongoing need to ship military cargo in support of military service personnel and their dependents, as well as defense missions and requirements via ocean and intermodal (ocean in combination with motor/rail/inland water) transportation between the continental United States and numerous worldwide points, as well as between foreign points. This solicitation represents DOD's effort to combine two approaches to procuring these services under one umbrella solicitation. The traditional approach asks operators of commercial U.S. flag vessels to offer rates to provide the services of their choice between the locations of their choice. Container rates are solicited for the ocean transportation portion of a movement and, separately, for the overland (linehaul) transportation portion of a movement. These rates are used in combination--as multifactor rates--to derive rates for transporting cargo between designated origins and destinations. Single factor container rates are also solicited to obtain one rate that includes all segments of the transportation. Breakbulk rates are solicited for port-to-port transportation of noncontainerized items. Finally, ancillary charges and miscellaneous rates are solicited for specific services. Carriers awarded contracts will ship DOD's cargo on their regularly scheduled commercial routes, in the same vessels and at the same time as commercial cargo. These worldwide solicitations may result in the acceptance of more than one carrier's rates to transport cargo between the same points, if it is determined that the services of more than one carrier are necessary to meet DOD transportation requirements on any route. At the conclusion of negotiations, the JTMO publishes the carriers' names and accepted rates. [2] As DOD customers generate individual requirements for ocean transportation, the JTMO books the cargo with the carrier whose accepted rates represent the lowest overall cost to the government and whose sailing schedule meets the cargo's delivery requirements. If that carrier has space available, the JTMO issues a shipping order to that carrier. If that carrier has no more capacity on its vessel at the time of booking, or if its schedule does not meet the required cargo delivery date, the JTMO books the cargo with the next lowest-priced carrier that can meet the cargo's delivery requirements. In 1992, DOD implemented an additional approach to contracting for these transportation services--individual service contracts. Under such contracts, a shipper commits to providing a carrier with a certain minimum quantity of cargo for a fixed period. In exchange, the carrier agrees not only to provide preferred rates but to meet certain service commitments. See The Shipping Act of 1984, 46 U.S.C. App. Sec. 1702(21) (1994). These contracts were initially utilized for individual DOD components with clearly defined and predictable cargo movement needs. This RFP, issued September 10, 1997, incorporates both the traditional method of contracting for multiple carriers of ocean and intermodal transportation services, adding service commitments by the carriers and cargo commitments by the government (the General Contract) for most DOD customers, as well as the customized single carrier service contracts for individual customers with additional special needs (the CSS contracts).