Blanket Purchase Agreement 1284LL24A0003

The U.S. Forest Service Coeur d'Alene Nursery awarded a single-award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to Five Star Express LLC, a self-certified small disadvantaged business, to provide dedicated, refrigerated freight services for the delivery of seedlings and other perishable plant materials throughout the Pacific Northwest region. The five-year BPA, valued at up to $250,000, covers transportation services primarily within 500 miles of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho from March through June and September through October annually. The contractor is required to maintain cargo temperatures between 32-36 degrees Fahrenheit and perform an estimated 8,000-15,000 loaded miles of service per year, with 30-35 deliveries occurring in the spring planting season and the remainder in the fall. This BPA was awarded as a result of a total small business set-aside solicitation posted in March 2024, which sought up to three vendors to establish a pool of qualified transportation providers for the Nursery.

The Coeur d'Alene Nursery, operated by the U.S. Forest Service's Region 1, is the primary plant production facility serving federal, tribal, and state lands in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and northern Idaho, as well as clients in neighboring states. The highly perishable seedlings and other plant materials produced at the Nursery require specialized refrigerated transportation and coordination to deliver to remote locations, often with limited infrastructure for unloading. This BPA provides a streamlined contracting mechanism to fulfill these recurring transportation needs over the next five years.