(Q&A's uploaded) Coeur d’Alene Nursery Transportation BPA

(Update) The Q and A's for this solicitation are posted below. The US Forest Service intends to establish multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) to provide the Coeur d’Alene Nursery transportation services. Up to three (3) Blanket Purchase Agreement/s (BPAs) will be awarded in response to this solicitation. A BPA is a simplified method of filling anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing “charge accounts” with qualified sources.

This is a Request for Quotations (RFQ) to establish a pool of vendors who can provide the services outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, vehicles, supervision, and other incidentals necessary to perform transportation and delivery services for the Coeur d’Alene Nursery. These services are typically required between March and June and September and October. Most of the services will be needed during the spring; however, some shipments may occur outside of those months. This BPA consists of a five (5) year ordering period.

Ordering Period 1: March 25th, 2024 THRU March 14th, 2025 Ordering Period 2: March 15th, 2025 THRU March 14th, 2026 Ordering Period 3: March 15th, 2026 THRU March 14th, 2027 Ordering Period 4: March 15th, 2027 THRU March 14th, 2028 Ordering Period 5: March 15th, 2028 THRU March 14th, 2029 Background The Coeur d’Alene Nursery, operated by the Forest Service, is the National Forests and Grasslands' primary plant production facility in region 1 (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and northern Idaho).

The Nursery also serves clients in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, and periodically other states. The Nursery primarily produces conifer tree seedlings for reforestation of federal, tribal, and state lands throughout the Region but also produces non-conifer seedlings, seed mixes, and other plant materials for restoration and revegetation efforts.

These highly perishable and sensitive plant materials are stored in boxes before delivery, typically frozen or chilled, and must be maintained at appropriate temperature and humidity throughout the delivery process. Most plant materials are shipped from the Nursery during the annual planting season from March to June. However, a smaller volume is shipped in the fall planting season (September to October) and periodically throughout the rest of the year.

Typical deliveries are of a volume and nature requiring a semi-truck or large cargo truck with climate control capacity. Deliveries usually consist of 10-20 pallets of boxes (15-25 boxes per pallet; standard boxes are approx. 14” H x 14” W x 28” L). Pallets are industry standard 48” x 48” or 40” x 48”, wrapped with packing materials, and labeled in keeping with industry standards. Average shipping volumes for past years have been 10,000-16,000 boxes annually.

This translates to 35-45 delivery trips annually, with 30-35 occurring in spring and the remainder occurring throughout the rest of the year, primarily in the fall. Total delivery miles are estimated to be 8,000-15,000 loaded miles per year, although a minimum or maximum mileage is not guaranteed. Delivery locations vary greatly in distance and infrastructure. Most delivery locations are within 500 miles of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Some locations are well established on paved roads and will receive a large semi-truck without issue, but some locations are remote and will require travel on gravel, poorly maintained, or steep and winding roads. Some deliveries are to very rural and underdeveloped areas. Delivery locations typically cannot unload trucks at a loading bay or with forklifts, so delivery trucks equipped with liftgates are appropriate.

Some delivery locations are to established addresses and receipt points with forklifts, but some delivery locations are remote and will require special instructions and handtruck/lift-gate unloading. Due to the highly perishable nature of the plant materials and the volume of deliveries being processed during the shipping season, a high degree of communication and coordination is needed between personnel at the Nursery, the shipper, and personnel at receiving locations.

Addenda to Provision 52.212-1 paragraph (b) Submission of Offers: 1) Offerors must have an active entity registration in the System for Award Management in order to submit an offer. https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ 2) Offers submitted in response to this solicitation shall include a technical proposal, a price proposal, and contractor representations and certifications.

a) Technical Proposal – The technical proposal shall address the evaluation factors in 52.212-2. At a minimum, the technical proposal shall include:

i) Experience Questionnaire – attached to this solicitation will be an experience questionnaire. When filling it out, answer the questions based on the requirement or service needed, such as refrigerated transportation. iii) Technical Capability – Provide a narrative on what the capabilities are for your company and how those capabilities will satisfy the services required by the Coeur d’Alene Nursery. iii) Past Performance –The government may use past performance information from any available source.

If a company does not have past performance information available, information may be provided for predecessor companies, key personnel, or subcontractors. If there is no past performance information available, the offeror will receive a neutral rating in this factor.

b) Price Proposal – Since the shipping requirement can vary from transportation order to transportation order, the pricing proposals will be for evaluation only and not indicative of any requirement. Provide two quotes for two shipments highlighted in the items' schedule.

c) Representations and Certifications – Fill in the check boxes for provisions 52.204-24, 52.204-29, 52.212-3, and include a copy with your offer. 3) Submit documentation by emailing to shawn.trout@usda.gov so that it is delivered into this inbox by the due date and time. Emails should contain 3 separate attachments (Technical Proposal, Price Proposal, and Representations and Certifications) in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF format.

4) Address questions about this solicitation to Shawn Trout at Shawn.trout@usda.gov by March 11th, 2024; any questions asked after that time may not be answered. 5) All quotes and documentation for this solicitation will be due on March 15th, 2024, by 3:00PM EST. Please see attached combined solicitation synopsis for the full details.