B-400345, Frontier Transportation, Inc., September 9, 2008

B-400345 Sep 09, 2008 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Frontier Transportation, Inc. protests the rejection of its quotation under request for quotations (RFQ) No. AG-0343-S-08-9004, issued by the Department of Agriculture for mobile refrigerated trailer units for use on incident assignments in the Northern Rockies geographic area. Frontier argues that the agency improperly rejected its quotation on the basis of unreasonable price. We deny the protest. View Decision B-400345, Frontier Transportation, Inc., September 9, 2008 Decision Matter of: Frontier Transportation, Inc. File: B-400345 Date: September 9, 2008 Romona Doty, Frontier Transportation, Inc., for the protester. Heather M. Self, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Linda C. Glass, Esq., and Ralph O. White, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency improperly rejected protester's quotation after unreasonably concluding that its price was too high is denied where the record shows that protester's price was significantly higher than the government estimate and significantly higher than the prices received from other small businesses during the competition. DECISION Frontier Transportation, Inc. protests the rejection of its quotation under request for quotations (RFQ) No. AG-0343-S-08-9004, issued by the Department of Agriculture for mobile refrigerated trailer units for use on incident assignments in the Northern Rockies geographic area. Frontier argues that the agency improperly rejected its quotation on the basis of unreasonable price. We deny the protest. This solicitation was posted on the federal business opportunities (FedBizOpps) internet website on February 29, 2008. The RFQ was issued as a small business set-aside, simplified commercial acquisition. The RFP provided that the quotations would be used to establish emergency equipment rental agreements, which the agency terms a form of blanket purchase agreement (BPA), against which orders could be placed for mobile refrigerated trailer units. RFQ para.B. The RFQ contemplated the award of BPAs to all vendors submitting reasonably priced, technically acceptable quotations. RFQ para.E.2. The RFQ also contained a clause entitled, –Method of Award-Cascading Set-Aside Procedure.— RFQ at 5. The relevant portions of this clause advised that: 1. Multiple awards of Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) resulting from this solicitation will be made using the following cascading set-aside order of preference: a. In accordance with FAR [Federal Acquisition Regulation] Subpart 19.13, awards will be made on a competitive basis first to responsible, eligible HUBZone small business concerns. b. Secondly, additional awards will be made on a competitive basis in accordance with FAR Subpart 19.14, to responsible, eligible Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns. c. Thirdly, additional awards will be made on a competitive basis in accordance with FAR Subpart 19.5, to responsible small business concerns. The RFQ provided that quoted prices would be evaluated for reasonableness and that price was not the determining factor for award, but rather, a factor for consideration. RFQ at 67. Eight quotations were received. Frontier was the only HUBZone vendor to submit a quote. There were no quotations received from SDVOSB vendors. Contracting Officer's (CO) Statement at 3. The agency reports that the quotations ranged in price from $125 to $450 daily and that the independent government estimate (IGE) was $250 per day. Three quotes exceeded the IGE--the quotes submitted by Frontier and two of the small business vendors. The agency determined that the five quotations priced below the government estimate were reasonably priced, but might not be sufficient to satisfy the government's needs during the upcoming season and decided that it would instead prefer to award to all eight vendors. Id.As a result, all three vendors that exceeded the IGE, including the protester, were contacted and each was given an opportunity to revise its quotation by June 25. Frontier was contacted by the agency on June 17, 2008. Frontier attempted to explain that its prices should be deemed reasonable, in part because the agency had paid this price in the past. The CO gave Frontier until June 25 to submit a revised quote. According to the CO, Frontier advised, during a telephone conversation on June 18, that it would not re-submit a quotation but would instead seek to be listed as a potential source with the Missoula, Montana regional office of the U.S. Forest Service. Only one of the small business vendors submitted a revised quotation by the June 25 deadline. The CO awarded six agreements with the following daily equipment rates: $125, $165, $170, $200, $200 and $250.