IMAT - Idaho Panhandle National Forests - Nursery Stock Transportation

Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Coeur d Alene Nursery, Kootenai County, Idaho. RFQ AG-0281-S-11-0023. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial service items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 of the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR), as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation RFQ AG-0281-S-11-0023 is issued as a Request for Quotes. The solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-49. The clauses and provisions referenced in this solicitation can be found in full text format at www.arnet.gov/far/. This is a total small business set-aside and the small business size standard is $18.5 million. The North American Industry Classification Code is 484220 - Specialized Freight (except Used Goods) Trucking, Local. DESCRIPTION: A quote is requested to transport perishable Nursery stock in refrigerated vehicles from the Coeur d'Alene Nursery located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to various destinations throughout Idaho and Montana, with possible deliveries to Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and California. SCHEDULE OF LINE ITEMS: LINE ITEM 1 - Small Truck 1A Small Truck - CY2011 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 11,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ 1B Small Truck - CY2012 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 11,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ 1C Small Truck - CY2013 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 11,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ ESTIMATED PRICE** LINE ITEM 1: $_________ LINE ITEM 2 - Large Truck 2A Large Truck - CY2011 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 24,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ 2B Large Truck - CY2012 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 24,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ 2C Large Truck - CY2013 Transportation of Seedlings Unit of Measure: RTM* Estimated Quantity**: 24,000 Price per Mile: $_________ Total Estimated Price**: $_________ ESTIMATED PRICE** LINE ITEM 2: $_________ TOTAL ESTIMATED PRICE** LINE ITEM 1+2: $_________ *RTM = Round Trip Miles ** Estimated Quantities and Estimated Prices are for the purpose of evaluation of prices only. Quantities are not guaranteed. Note: ITEM NO. 1A-C REQUIREMENT - One vehicle required for the period February through October each year. The minimum size of the truck(s) used under this Item must be capable of carrying 175 standard-size boxes. A standard-size box measures 28"L x 14"W x 14"T with an estimated weight of between 25 and 60 pounds. ITEM NO. 2A-C REQUIREMENT - One vehicle required for the period February through October each year. The minimum size of the truck(s) used under this Item must be capable of carrying 550 standard-size boxes. A standard-size box measures 28"L x 14"W x 14"T with an estimated weight of between 25 and 60 pounds. SPECIFICATIONS: A) General Specifications (1) Nature and location of Work a.) The shipments will consist of highly perishable bare root and container tree seedling stock packed in corrugated shipping boxes, bags or 1-gallon pots. b.) Vehicles used to transport nursery stock may be required to travel on all types of roads and in all types of weather to make deliveries. Vehicles should be equipped with good mud and snow rated tires or other traction devices. Delivery vehicles will not be required to travel during weather/ road conditions that drivers consider to be unsafe. Drivers are expected to use their best judgment in accordance with industry standards. (2) Government Furnished Property a. The Government will assign one probe-type thermometer and mount one temperature monitoring recorder in the interior of the refrigerated cargo box for each supplied vehicle. These items will be the responsibility of the Contractor but will remain the property of the Government. The collection of data and maintenance of the data recorder will done by the Government. b. The Government will furnish the Contractor with a set of maps pinpointing delivery locations. A mileage chart based on current information sources (Rand McNally Road Atlas, Google Maps) and a history of past trips will also be provided. The Contractor will be responsible for taking the most efficient route to make the delivery. c. All Nursery stock will be packed in one of the following for shipment: i.) Corrugated shipping boxes measuring 28"L x 14.5" W x 14"H weighing from 25 to 60 pounds each. The bulk of the shipments will be in this box size and is referred to as Standard Boxes. ii.) One gallon pots measuring 4"x 4" x 14" Tall. Pots will be shipped 9 to a plastic case with the dimensions 13" L x13" W x 12" H. Total weight of each case is approximately 30 pounds. iii.) Long Boxes measuring 42"L x 14.5 W x 14" H weighing from 25 to 60 pounds. iv.) Poly bags with 5-year old bare root seedlings measuring 28"L x 14"W x 38"H weighing between 25 and 60 pounds. (3) Contractor Furnished Property a. The contractor furnished vehicles must be capable of holding air temperature at 30-35 degrees Fahrenheit when transporting a mixture of thawed and frozen stock and 28-32 degrees Fahrenheit when transporting frozen stock, whether the vehicle is partially or fully loaded and regardless of outside temperature. Inside ambient temperature of the vehicles must be maintained between these temperatures when loading and transporting nursery stock. An accurate thermometer shall be mounted on each supplied vehicle in such a way that inside air temperature can be checked without opening the cargo box doors. B) Technical Specifications 1). Shipping Requirements a. The contractor shall make shipments of trees seedlings in vehicles equipped with refrigeration units capable of carrying a minimum of 175 standard boxes for Item 1 and a minimum of 550 boxes for Item 2. b. The Contractors supplied refrigerated vehicles shall be clean of any contaminates, including but not limited to petroleum products. c. Maintaining inside air temperature range listed above is critical while transporting stock. d. All interior surfaces of the refrigerated vehicles shall be smooth to eliminate physical damage to shipping boxes and poly bags. e. Each refrigerated vehicle shall have the capability to provide platform storage inside the cargo box. Platform storage must provide 2 inches of free air space between each platform when seedling boxes are stacked two levels high. Seedling boxes shall not be stacked more than 2 levels high. f. Shipments of seedling stock may include bundles of burlap, grass seed and tree seed in appropriate containers. g. The Contractor may be required to back haul other Government property such as recycled seedling boxes, wax seedling boxes for reuse, shipping pallets and conifer cone collections in burlap sacks. No return hauls shall be accepted by the Contractor unless the haul has been approved in advance by the COR. i. When hauling cone collections to the Nursery the Contractor shall not stack cone sacks more than 2 layers deep and shall provide 2" of air space between each platform. The cones shall be unloaded upon return to the Nursery and not allowed to sit over night in the back of the Contractor's vehicle. h. Nothing else shall be carried in vehicles while the Contractor is hauling nursery stock or any other Government material, except for articles related to the operation of the vehicle. (2) Location and Method of Loading and Unloading a. All loading of tree shipments shall normally be done between the hours of 5:00 AM and 4:00 PM local time. All unloading of deliveries shall be done during regular local business hours unless otherwise mutually agreed to in advance by the receiving unit and the Contractor. b. Scheduled tree seedling shipments will be staged at the loading dock located at the South side of the tree cold storage building. c. When requested by the Contractor and when feasible the Government may provide a Forest Service operator and forklift to deliver stock into the truck from the loading dock. The Government shall not assume liability for the loss, damage or destruction of the Contractor's equipment or personal injury to the Contractor's personnel except for those damages/injuries resulting from negligent or wrongful acts of Government employees while acting within the scope of their employment. d. The Contractor shall be at the loading dock and ready to accept delivery at the time scheduled for the load. If the Contractor is unable to meet the scheduled loading time the Contractor shall notify the COR in advance. If the Contractor misses the scheduled loading time by more than one hour and fails to notify the COR the contractor will be liable for expenses incurred by the Government. e. The Contractor shall provide the COR with an estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the delivery destination once loading is complete. The Government will notify the receiving unit of the ETA. f. If the Contractor fails to meet the ETA by more than one hour without notifying the COR the Contractor may be liable for Government expenses incurred. g. Nursery stock, or any other material covered by this contract shall not be loaded or unloaded without a Forest Service inspector or receiving officer present onsite. The Contractor may be required to wait for up to one hour at each location before being allowed to commence loading or unloading. If the Contractor is required to wait to load or unload at any location for more than one hour, the Government will compensate the Contractor at a fixed rate of $50.00 demurrage per hour for each hour or portion thereof over and above the first hour. h. The Contractor shall provide the necessary labor and equipment to load the vehicle within one hour from the time loading starts. When unloading the shipment at the receiving point the Contractor will bring stock to the rear of the vehicle where receiving personnel will unload it. For return haul loads Government personnel will bring material to the back of the vehicle. i. All material shipped shall be handled in a manner to prevent damage or crushing to individual shipping boxes, pots, bags or conifer cones. DELIVERIES AND PERFORMANCE (a) This contract will be a three year contract which will begin in March 2011 and run through October 2013. Total delivery miles are estimated to be 28,000 - 31,000 miles per year. The Offer shall base their quote on Round Trip Miles (RTM), defined as miles driven beginning with the pickup of shipments at the Coeur d'Alene Nursery, delivery to the designated shipping point(s) and return to the Coeur d'Alene Nursery. (b) For deliveries of 175 standard shipping boxes or less, the smaller truck will be ordered; for larger deliveries the large truck will be ordered. (c) A minimum of two refrigerated trucks is required for this contract. (d) There may be instances where both trucks will be dispatched to delivery points in the same day. The Contractor will be required to have drivers for both vehicles to meet this need. (e) The delivery schedule will be relayed to the Contractor by phone and followed up in writing. Every effort will be made to consolidate deliveries to Ranger Districts on the same Forest or adjacent Forests when feasible. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE REQUIREMENTS (a) Inspection. The following shall be the criteria for inspection at loading and receiving for bare root and container seedling stock. (1) Loading. (a)A Forest Service inspector will check and record the ambient air temperature of the cargo box prior to opening the doors and loading the truck. (b) Nursery personnel will make a random temperature check of at least 3 shipping boxes and record these on the shipping ticket at the time of loading. (2) Delivery. (a)The receiving Unit shall record the ambient air temperature of the cargo box on the Nursery's copy of the shipping ticket prior to opening the truck doors. (b) For thawed stock the receiving unit will sample a minimum of three shipping boxes with a probe thermometer and record the temperatures on the shipping ticket. The receiving unit may not accept bareroot stock with product temperatures exceeding 36 degrees Fahrenheit. Probe Thermometer temperature readings are not necessary for frozen, summer or fall delivered stock. (c) The receiving unit will note any other deficiencies found while unloading including damage to shipping boxes, Tree Improvement stock, incorrect box counts or incorrect lot numbers. (d) The receiving unit will count the number of boxes, bags or pots delivered and record that amount on the Nursery's copy of the shipping ticket. (e) The receiving unit should notify the Nursery immediately if there are discrepancies with the delivery. (b) The Contractor will be responsible for securing a receipt signature at the delivery location on the Nursery's copy of the shipping ticket after the receiving unit has verified the number of boxes received, the temperature of the product, the temperature of the refrigeration unit and any damages or discrepancies. (c) If any vehicle supplied for this contract becomes inoperative or does not meet contract specifications, the Contractor will be notified in writing to correct the deficiencies or furnish replacement equipment meeting specifications within 24 hours. CLAUSES AND QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS The FAR provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. In addition to the information requested in the Instructions to Offerors, offers shall include price and technical quote which shall at a minimum contain the following information: 1) The Offerors plan to meet the required shipping schedule, 2) Experience of the Offeror related to this type of work, 3) Relevant past performance, 4) List of the type of equipment to be used (including capability to meet refrigeration/temperature requirements), 5) Completed Schedule of Line Items for all items. The Government anticipates making one Requirements Indefinite-delivery Indefinite-quantity contract award to the Offeror offering the best value considering technical capability, past performance, experience and price. The FAR clause 52.222-41, Service Contract Act of 1965, as Amended will apply to this acquisition. The applicable wage determination is 2005-2160 Revision No.12,dated 07/30/2010. Offerors will include with their quote a completed copy of the FAR 52.212-3, Offer Representations and Certifications Commercial Items or a current copy of their Online Representations and Certifications (ORCA website: https://www.orca.bpn.gov). The FAR clauses 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items, and 52.212-5,Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. Quotes must be received by February 18, 2011; 4:30 P.M.,PST, at the Idaho Panhandle National Forests Supervisors Office, Attn: Ivory Carr, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d Alene, ID 83815. Faxed offers will be accepted at +1 (555) 000-0000 (It is the Offerors responsibility to confirm receipt of faxed transmittals). For additional information regarding this solicitation, please contact Ivory Carr,+1 (555) 000-0000,or Aram Eramian,+1 (555) 000-0000.