Overview
This section outlines the requirements for contracting officers to integrate transportation factors into the acquisition process, ensuring that solicitations and contracts include the necessary provisions to achieve the lowest overall cost to the Government. It establishes a framework for collecting logistical data from offerors, evaluating delivery terms (f.o.b. origin and destination), and managing the complexities of both domestic and international shipments.
Key Rules
- Mandatory Coordination: Contracting officers must coordinate transportation factors with the transportation office during the planning, solicitation, and award phases.
- Data Collection: Solicitations must require offerors to provide specific shipping data, including modes of transportation, guaranteed maximum shipping weights, dimensions, and packaging types.
- Evaluation Basis: Offers are typically evaluated on the "lowest overall cost," which combines the item price with the Government's estimated transportation expenses.
- F.o.b. Origin Requirements: For f.o.b. origin offers, contractors must specify actual shipping points and indicate if those points have private railroad sidings to facilitate accurate routing and cost evaluation.
- Destination Unknown: If the final destination is unknown at the time of solicitation, the Government generally must solicit on an f.o.b. origin basis and may use tentative destinations for evaluation purposes.
- Export and International Shipments: Specific clauses (e.g., FAR 52.247-51 and 52.247-52) must be used for shipments moving through U.S. ports or via the Defense Transportation System (DTS), ensuring compliance with the Cargo Preference and Fly America Acts.
- Transit Privileges: The Government may leverage a contractor’s existing "transit credits" or privileges (stopping shipments en route for processing/storage) to reduce through-rates for transportation.
- Loading and Shipping: Contractors are responsible for loading, blocking, and bracing rail shipments according to industry standards, and the Government reserves the right to change modes or destinations via the Changes clause.
Practical Implications
- Logistical Strategy: Contractors must be prepared to provide highly detailed shipping characteristics (weight, cube, and location) because these factors directly affect their price competitiveness during the evaluation of f.o.b. origin solicitations.
- Operational Efficiency: The regulations emphasize reducing "crosshauling" and "backhauling" while encouraging the consolidation of small shipments, meaning contractors may see delivery schedules adjusted to maximize carload or truckload rates.
- Risk of Nonresponsiveness: If a solicitation specifies a single delivery basis (e.g., f.o.b. destination only), any offer submitted on a different basis must be rejected as nonresponsive.