Locomotive and Railway Car Annual Inspections, General Maintenance and Repair

1.0 Description The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), Cambridge, MA, is requesting information as part of its market research to identify companies that perform 92-day and annual inspections of locomotives, railway car mechanical and safety inspections, and general maintenance throughout the US Regions. This Sources Sought does not constitute a solicitation and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for any effort expended in responding to this notice. 2.0 Background The Volpe Center is supporting the U.S Army's Rail Modernization Program by providing engineering, testing, quality assurance, risk management, acquisition support, manufacturing oversight and assisting with the training, shipping and documentation requirements, engineering and rail equipment acquisition support to address critical transportation issues in the U.S. Army's Rail Modernization Program. The U.S. Army's locomotive fleet and railway cars are in need of inspection and technical support to continue the efficiency and safety of operators and cargo transported by railroad on U.S. Army installations. 3.0 Scope The Volpe Center is releasing this Sources Sought to identify interested parties and solicit information to include but not be limited to the following items: similar previous work experiences, estimated schedules, anticipated number of mechanic teams to complete the work on schedule, estimated costs, and general information on the below subject matter that demonstrates capabilities. Interested parties may respond to one or more of the following items. 1.Perform locomotive 49CFR regulated mechanical and safety inspections: a.Provide information for performing annual locomotive inspections per 49CFR for the General Motors (GM) Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) and General Electric (GE) locomotives identified in Table 1, please see attached pdf document. This shall include all necessary air brake tests and mechanical/safety inspections once per locomotive per year. This work also includes general maintenance parts replacement for deficiencies and shortcomings discovered during the inspections. 2.Perform emergency trips to installations for diagnosis and repair of locomotives: a.Provide information for performing emergency trips to installations to diagnose and repair inoperable GM EMD and GE locomotives identified in Table 1, please see attached pdf document. Emergency site visits are defined as being on site within 5 business days. 3.Perform railway car mechanical and safety inspections: a.Provide information for recurring annual safety and mechanical inspections on the railway cars in Table 2, please see attached pdf document. This should include all necessary air brake tests and mechanical/safety inspections once per railway car per year, and include general maintenance parts replacement for deficiencies and shortcomings discovered during the inspections. Additional Information: All locomotives and railway cars in this Sources Sought are captive use only and do not operate in AAR interchange service. 4.0 Submission Instructions Interested Contractors shall submit a written Statement of Capabilities of sufficient detail demonstrating their understanding, technical capabilities, knowledge and expertise of the Section 3.0 description of requirements (above) and a rough order of magnitude for the described tasks. The Contractor shall describe capabilities, knowledge and expertise to perform the above tasks. Additionally, the Contractor shall describe how the services relate to the Contractor's relevant past performance three (3) previous or current experiences in the past five (5) years. Capability information for the three (3) previous or current past performance experiences shall include: Contract number; Customer (Government agency, private industry); Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) name, telephone and fax numbers; contract value and type of contract; period of performance; and description of product/services. Information provided shall be detailed and shall show technical capabilities, knowledge, and expertise so the Government can assess the ability to provide the described services in each of the above stated work areas. All of the requested information should be conveyed in no more than eight (8) pages. Page size is set at 8.5" X 11" and text should be no smaller than 11 point and double spaced. Each response must reference the Sources Sought title. Ensure to provide the Contractor's name and the following Contractor information: 1) Point of Contact (along with telephone and email address); 2) DUNS Number and CAGE Code; 3) Contractor Address; and 4) NAICS code as registered in the System for Award Management. Interested small businesses shall indicate their socio-economic small business size status (Total Small Business, 8(a) business development, historically underutilized business zone, service disabled veteran owned, small disadvantaged, or woman-owned) in the appropriate North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. As a result of recent changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19, small business concerns must ensure that their status certifications are up to date. Interested parties must respond to this announcement in writing by October 18, 2019 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time. Telephone requests will not be honored. All responses must be submitted via e-mail to Rachelle Faiteau, contact@example.gov 5.0 Information Availability THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL AND NO FORMAL SOLICIATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. This notice is for information and planning purposes only, and is a market research tool to determine the availability and adequacy of potential business sources prior to determining the method of acquisition and possible issuance of a Request for Proposal. The notice does not constitute a solicitation for bids, quotations, and proposals, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit for or award a competitive contract. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of response to this Sources Sought notice. The Government will not pay for any materials provided in response to this synopsis and submittals will not be returned to the sender. Submissions must be disclosable to the public or the submitter should provide a summary statement that can be disclosed to the public with fuller supporting information that is clearly marked as restricted. The Government will use customary means to safeguard proprietary information, but only when such information is (1) clearly marked as proprietary; (2) is, in fact, information that could not have been obtained from another party or source; and (3) is otherwise deserving of such treatment under standards and processes described in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Executive Order 12600