Assessing and Predicting the Health of Commercial Transportation Providers

United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is seeking non-federal partners ("Collaborators") in industry and/or academia to consider for entry into Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), described in 15 USC 3710a, with the Government to produce collaborative studies. This is not a solicitation for a procurement contract, nor should this announcement be construed as implying any future solicitation by USTRANSCOM or any other Government agency in this area. Potential Topics: A. Business intelligence processes and industry best practices, applicable to commercial transportation providers, to continuously provide risk assessment and monitor their ability to perform their contracted movement requirements. B. Identification of advanced indicators of logistics/transportation providers' corporate health to anticipate impacts on fulfillment capability. C. Categories of data needed and existing sources of data which can be used to track carrier health and performance and predict availability of delivery capacity. D. Methods to predict when business and global factors (buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory changes, corporate financial health changes, bankruptcies, competing marketplace demands for service, conflicts, elections, changes in alliances and regional partnerships, etc.) will adversely impact fulfillment of contractual requirements. E. Skillsets, software tools, and trainimng requirements for Government members to access and utilize predictive analytics capabilities for decision support in this area. F. How integrating the logistics, transportation and supply chain management industries' best practices can aid USTRANSCOM in providing high reliability service to its customers (e.g., the other Combatant Commands, military Services, etc.) . G. Instances of successful use of such indicators in Government or businesses with similar missions as USTRANSCOM (e.g. third- or fourth-party logistics providers). H. Strategies for contracting with commercial transportation providers which can provide sutiable metrics in this area. I. How engagement by USTRANSCOM may influence future ability to utilize commercial capability. J. Factors to consider when determining whether to establish redundancy and/or increased resiliency within the network. K. Other topics recommended by the Collaborator. USTRANSCOM will provide: 1. Current transportation workload data, analysis and releasable information on DoD transportation projections. 2. Strategic transportation plans (releasable) and other unclassified information usable for prediction of representative future DoD transportation needs. 3. Access to Government/Contractor subject matter expers (SMEs). 4. Other information and access as negotiated by the CRADA parties. 5. Contributions to and review of the deliverables (reports) of the reports. Small Businesses are encouraged to respond to this announcement. Potential Collaborators may team with other qualified non-federal parties. Specific study outputs and any development and demonstration goals will be determined during discussions with Collaborators prior to CRADA signatures, and refined as necessary during the life of the CRADAs. Multiple federal agencies may participate on behalf of or in partnership with USTRANSCOM, including but not limited to agencies of Surface Deployment an Distributinon Command (SDDC, U.S. Army), Military Sealift Command (MSC, U.S. Navy), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), other Federal Laboratories, and other agencies of the U.S. Government, as the U.S. Government deems appropriate. Supporting information, discusssions, demonstrations, and other collaborative activies should remain at the UNCLASSIFIED level. If CLASSIFIED information exchange is proposed by the Collaborator, Collaborator personnelmust be appropriately cleared at the outset of the CRADA, at no cost to the Government. CRADAs are defined in 15 USC 3710a(d), in part, "as any agreement between one or more federal laboratories and one or more non-federal parties under which the Government, through its laboratories, provides personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property or other resources with or without reimbursement (but not funds to non-Federal parties) and the non-Federal parties provide funds, personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property, or other resources toward the conduct of specified research or development efforts which are consistent with the missions of the laboratory; except that such term does not include a procurement contract..." More info on USTRANSCOM's use of CRADAs and a model USTRANSCOM CRADA, are found at http://www.ustranscom.mil/dbw/orta.cfm CRADAs resulting from this announcement are forecast to be in effect for approximately a two year period, although duration can be tailored to suit the parties' needs before or after work begins, by mutual agreement. USTRANSCOM and other designated Government agencies selected by USTRANSCOM will evaluate potential Collaborators' white papers (submittal instructions follow). Based on response to the RFI's requested response elements and Government interest and capacity to enter into such agreements, USTRANSCOM will choose one, multiple, or zero which papers as basis for additional discussion, and so notify the respondents. Initial selection of white papers and subsequent discussion do not guarantee selection of any Collaborator by USTRANSCOM to actually enter into a CRADA. After initial white paper selction, the Government will conduct discussions separately with each selected Collaborator, seeking to reach mutual agreement between USTRANSCOM and the Collaborator, seeking to reach mutual agreement between USTRANSCOM and the Collaborator(s) on objectives, duration, intellectual property, and resources to be applied by the parties in the proposed CRADA(s). USTRANSCOM may request a visit to pertinent facilities for a tour of Collaborator capabilities prior to final selections. No funding is available from the Government to cover white paper preparation or submittal costs, or to cover discussions, facility visits or any other Collaborator costs of preparation for or participation in a CRADA. The USTRANSCOM template CRADA is attached to this RFI so potential Collaborators may understand its terms. The Collaborator(s)and USTRANSCOM will draft and seek to finalize specific CRADA objectives and language collaboratively via discussions/mutual agreement after white paper selection. Interested parties may respond with white papers by 2 June 2017 (12:00 midnight, U.S. central time) by unclassified e-mail to transcom.scott.tcj5j4.mbx.orta@mail.milby submitting an UNCLASSIFIED written white paper in following format. Hard copy submittal is not allowed. Please use the following format: - Microsoft Word or .pdf format of not more than 10 pages in length, on standard 8 1/2 X 11 inch page, with one inch margins at top, bottom, left, and right, in Times New Roman font of not less than 12 point size, with not more than six lines per inch. - Pages numbered sequentially in the bottom footer including company name and identification of proprietary information as appropriate on each page. Proprietary information or trade secrets do not have to be disclosed in this response, if the general techniques can be otherwise described. - Clearly marked/identifed proprietary information, photos, or diagrams. - Include the following elements (withing the 10 page limit): -- Title (no separate title page needed). -- Company name and state/nation of incorporation, and incorporation of any parent entity. Companies with foreign ownership or parentage must identify the nation of incorporation of the non-U.S. entity. -- Company's experience in employee hiring and retention for transportation, logistics, and supply chain management -- Description of your approach to collaboration on topics A. through K. above; brief description of what information your company is willing to provide to USTRANSCOM for each topic. -- Resources to be supplied by the Collaboratorduring the CRADA (examples: access to facilities, personnel expertise, information systems, proprietary techniques, hardware, software, materials, prototypes, etc). -- Resources requested from USTRANSCOM (examples: personnel skill-sets, data access to selected environments, access to facilities including test/demo facilities, etc.; no DoD-provided funding is permitted). - Identify all proprietary information with appropriate markings or citations - Include points of contact (name, point of contact, address, e-mail, and phone) for notification of selection.non-selection and follow-on discussions/visits (if chosen) USTRANSCOM and other Government entities participating in white paper review and actual collaborative work under CRADAs may include in-house support contractors and members of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). Non-disclosure agreements will be signed as required by the Parties to incorporate these participants. The USTRANSCOM Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) technical advisor (coordinator of USTRANSCOM Technology Transfer activities) is a member of the MITRE National Security Engineering Center, a FFRDC. Proposals not selected for further discussion will be archived by the Government and appropriately protected.