Matson Navigation Company, Inc.

B-416976.2,B-416976.3,B-416976.4 Jan 24, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Matson Navigation Company, Inc., of Honolulu, Hawaii, protests the award of a contract to International Auto Logistics, LLC (IAL), of Saint Simons Island, Georgia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. HTC711-18-R-R-001, issued by the Department of the Air Force, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) for global transportation and storage services for Department of Defense (DoD) sponsored shipments of privately owned vehicles (POVs) belonging to military service members and DoD civilian employees. Matson challenges the agency's evaluation of Matsons and IAL's past performance, failure to consider a possible Procurement Integrity Act violation, evaluation of IAL's price proposal, and best-value tradeoff decision. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Matson Navigation Company, Inc. File: B-416976.2; B-416976.3; B-416976.4 Date: January 24, 2019 Joseph D. West, Esq., Lindsay M. Paulin, Esq., Ryan Comer, Esq., and Crystal L. Weeks., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, for the protester. Jon D. Levin, Esq., and W. Brad English, Esq., Maynard Cooper & Gale, PC, for the intervenor. Colonel C. Taylor Smith, Isabelle P. Cutting, Esq., Erika L. Whelan Retta, Esq., Todd Federici, Esq., and Robert D. Bowers, Esq., Department of the Air Force, United States Transportation Command, for the agencies. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency unreasonably evaluated protester's past performance is denied where agency considered the relevancy of the past performance examples provided by the protester. 2. Protest that in evaluating awardee's past performance, agency failed to consider information in a Department of Defense Inspector General report is denied where the information was included in a contractor performance assessment report considered by the agency. 3. Protest that agency failed to consider a potential Procurement Integrity Act violation is dismissed where protester did not report the alleged violation to the procuring agency within 14 days of when the protester first became aware of it. 4. Protest that agency failed to consider whether awardee's price was unbalanced is denied where agency determined that awardee's low proposed prices for certain line items did not present an unacceptable risk to the government. 5. Protest that agency made an unreasonable best-value tradeoff is denied where agency considered that awardee's superior past performance was worth the price premium. DECISION Matson Navigation Company, Inc., of Honolulu, Hawaii, protests the award of a contract to International Auto Logistics, LLC (IAL), of Saint Simons Island, Georgia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. HTC711-18-R-R-001, issued by the Department of the Air Force, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) for global transportation and storage services for Department of Defense (DoD) sponsored shipments of privately owned vehicles (POVs) belonging to military service members and DoD civilian employees. Matson challenges the agency's evaluation of Matson's and IAL's past performance, failure to consider a possible Procurement Integrity Act violation, evaluation of IAL's price proposal, and best-value tradeoff decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on March 6, 2018, provided for the award of a contract on a best-value tradeoff basis considering past performance and price, among offerors that were rated acceptable under business proposal and technical capability factors. Agency Report (AR), Tab 17, RFP, at 34.1 Past performance and price were considered to be approximately equal. Id. Following the submission and evaluation of initial proposals, multiple rounds of discussions, and the submission and evaluation of final proposal revisions, the agency rated IAL and Matson as follows: Offeror Business Technical Past Performance Price IAL Acceptable Acceptable Substantial Confidence $973,403,573 Matson Acceptable Acceptable Satisfactory Confidence $879,477,631 AR, Tab 119, Source Selection Evaluation Board Report (SSEBR), at 11. The agency conducted a best-value tradeoff and selected IAL for award. This protest followed. DISCUSSION Matson protests that the agency unreasonably evaluated its past performance on a multitude of bases and that in evaluating IAL's past performance, it failed to take into account negative past performance information. Matson also asserts that the agency failed to consider a possible Procurement Integrity Act violation, and challenges the agency's evaluation of IAL's price proposal and the best-value tradeoff decision.