Amendment_A01.pdf

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. Name and Title of Signer (Type or Print) 16A. Name and title of Contracting Officer (Type or Print)

James D. Sprandel Contracting Officer

15B. Contractor/Offeror 15C. Date Signed 16B. United States of America

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

16C. Date Signed

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 30-105 STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

PREVIOUS EDITIONS UNUSABLE Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. Contract ID Code Page of Pages N/A 1 10

2. Amendment/Modification No. 3. Effective Date 4. Requisition/Purchase Reqn. No. 5. Project No. (if applicable) A01 02/27/18 2000005122 N/A

6. Issued By Code 7. Administered By (If other than Item 6) Code United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) See Block 6 Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Commodity Procurement Program 1400 Independence Ave SW STOP 0239 Washington, D.C. 20250-0239

8. Name and Address of Contractor (No., Street, County, and Zip Code) (X) 9A. Amendment of Solicitation No.

X 12-3J14-18-S-0096

9B. Date (See Item 11) 02/08/18 10A. Modification of Contract/Order No.

10B. Date (See Item 13)

Code Facility Code

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

X

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended X is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDG- MENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. Accounting and Appropriation Data (if required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACT/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

(x) A. This change order is issued pursuant to: (Specify authority) The changes set forth in item 14 are made in the Contract Order No. in item 10A.

B. The above numbered Contract/Order is modified to reflect the administrative changes (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

Set fourth item 14, pursuant to the authority of FAR 43.103 (b)

C. This supplemental agreement is entered into pursuant to authority of:

D. Other (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return 1 copies to the issuing office.

14. Description of Amendment/Modification (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions received in response to the solicitation identified in Block 9A and make changes to the solicitation as follows:

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A. Questions and Answers

1. Question: Who are the incumbents and what are the current contract numbers?

Answer: The incumbents and their contract numbers are:

Contract Number: AGDPRO-C-13-0016 Contractor: Paris Brothers, Inc., Kansas City, MO States Covered*: AR, IA, KS, LA, MN, MO, NE, ND, OK, SD, TX;

(FDPIR only- MI, MS, NC, NY, WI)

Contract Number: AGDPRO-C-13-0017 Contractor: Americold Logistics, LLC, Syracuse, NY States Covered*: AL, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VI, VT, WI, WV. (CSFP)

Contract Number: AGDPRO-C-13-0018 Contractor: Americold Logistics, LLC, Nampa, ID States Covered*: HI, AK, WA, OR, CA, ID, MT, WY, UT, NV, AZ, NM, CO

*The last award was solicited using this grouping of states and there is no specific award amount available broken down by individual state.

2. Question: Would you consider splitting the warehouse effort and the transportation effort into 2 contracts?

Answer: No.

3. Question: Is there a business specialist at the Department of Agriculture that I can contact in case a prime is looking for a capable HUBZone company for its subcontracting plan?

Answer: No. Vendors interested in subcontracting opportunities should list their company using the “Interested Vendor” tab at the Federal Business Opportunities website under the entry for this solicitation. Prime contractors can access this list if they are looking for subcontracting entities.

4. Question: Could I get a copy of the tabulation of bids that was sent out for the current providers (it would contain who holds the current contract and other companies that bid on the project)?

Answer: When a solicitation is competed using sealed bidding procedures (FAR Part 14), a bid abstract is issued to the public that shows the amount of each sealed bid received. When a solicitation is competed using negotiated procurement procedures (FAR Part 15), the amount of each proposal received is not releasable and only the amounts of the awarded contracts are published. The previous contract was conducted as a negotiated procurement, therefore there is no bid abstract. See information under Question 1.

5. Question: My business is in one of the eligible rural areas. Will this help me in the bidding process?

Answer: This procurement is not being conducted as an Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HubZone) set-aside. However, the price evaluation preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns at FAR 19.1307 might apply. See FAR 19.1303 – Status as a HUBZone Small Business Concern for information on contacting the Small Business Administration (SBA) to get issued a certification to that effect and get your business added to the List of Qualified HUBZone Small Business Concerns. If your business is in a HUBZone, you should state that in your proposal and provide a copy of your HUBZone certificate.

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6. Question: We plan on subcontracting and only have one PPE (Past Performance Evaluation). We were wondering if we could use two PPEs from our sub-contractor, so we can submit the three PPEs required by the solicitation. We are interested in the solicitation in the state of Arizona.

Answer: The only past performance information that will be accepted is that of the company making the offer.

Past performance information is used to determine how the prime contractor has performed under previous contracts – not how a potential subcontractor or individual employees have performed. Past performance information doesn’t have to be for contracts with the Government or for the same type of work as being solicited. If you are a new business and don’t have any experience doing contracts, or have completed less than three contracts, please provide an explanation in your proposal to that effect.

I can’t tell from the statement that indicates “interest in the solicitation in the state of Arizona” whether the source happens to be in Arizona and is interested in the solicitation or if the source is interested in providing services only in Arizona. The solicitation indicates that AMS reserves the right to award more than one contract – this means that AMS might award one or more contracts of sufficient size to recognize savings due to economies of scale. However, awarding a contract for services limited to just one or a few states could be administratively burdensome and wouldn’t allow AMS to realize pricing that would be the best value to the Government.

7. Question: The Pricing Sheet will only let us input one set of warehouse rates and it applies to all states. What if we have different rates by state?

Answer: If the pricing is different per warehouse, then you will need to submit each warehouse as a separate proposal, including all route lanes of service from that warehouse to each destination.

8. Question: Currently, the input for in/out Handling is the same for all temperatures. Can the In/Out Handling be separated out by ambient, cooler, and freezer pallets?

Answer: AMS has determined that warehouse handling procedures for these three temperature classes will not be significantly different for one another. Therefore, AMS is requesting one price for all In/Out handling.

9. Question: Page 7 in the RFP asks for the In/Out Handling price to include 80% case pick. Historically, we do not average 80% case pick, it varies by site; therefore, there is a risk of over inflating the price if we build in 80% case pick. Do you anticipate a change to the scope of work vs. today?

Answer: The average pick rate will vary between the programs and states being serviced. However, upon considering the information presented through this question and further review by AMS, AMS has found that the case pick rate is approximately 50%. The solicitation will be updated with this information.

10. Question: Can the case pick activity be pulled out of the In/Out Handling as a separate charge?

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11. Question: The solicitation says storage is billed twice per month based on a snap shot of inventory on the 1st and 16th of the month. Currently, we charge an initial storage charge with every inbound pallet and then an anniversary storage charge on every 31st day. Can we offer a similar format as today but change the anniversary storage to every 16th day if required?

Answer: This procedure is used within the industry to allow the contractor to assess an initial storage charge immediately to protect themselves against high inventory turnover. For administrative tracking purposes, taking a “snapshot” twice a month and invoicing at the end of the month reduces the number of data points AMS will have to review compared to tracking each specific inbound and outbound inventory date. This is the method that AMS wants under this contract – specifically, the one identified in the solicitation.

12. Question: Can USDA be used as one of the three customer past performance references?

Answer: Yes.

13. Question: If we bid on a state for one of our warehouse locations does that mean we will be shipping to all CSFP sites and FDPIR sites for that state? Example: Today, Zone C warehouse ships to MI CSFP sites and Zone B warehouse ships to MI FDPIR sites.

Answer: At this time, the intention is to award all volume to a given state to one warehouse location. However, AMS reserves the right to award based on best value to the Government, including the cost of administratively managing individual program inventories.

14. Question: Please confirm that the Fuel surcharge is based on the fuel price on the first Monday of the month.

What if the price changes during the month?

Answer: That is correct. If the price of the fuel index, “U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (dollars per gallon)” changes from the price established on the first Monday of the month, it will have no effect on pricing under the contract. See the note in Attachment D.4 – Fuel Related General Rate Adjustment (FRGRA).

15. Question: Can you provide detailed SKU data for case pick profile? i.e. cases/pallet, cases/case picked line, lines/order, cases/order, etc.

Answer: AMS does not have this information in the form indicated. However, it is possible that after award, AMS can work with the successful offeror to organize this information.

16. Question: What is the average pallet height?

Answer: The pallet height for each commodity is specified in the Commodity Specification for each product.

AMS has not determined the average pallet height from among these specifications. These specifications will be made available to the successful offeror after award.

17. Question: Would 2 to 8 degrees Celsius be a suitable range for the cooler storage? Would you please describe the type of food materials that would need to be handled and stored in the 2 to 8-degree Celsius cooler?

Answer: Please refer to Attachment D.6 – Temperature and Humidity Requirements.

18. Question: Are there any risks of insects, mold, bacterial growth, etc. with the incoming materials to be stored in the cooler?

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19. Question: Please describe the packaging of the materials to be stored in the cooler.

Answer: See Attachments D.7 FIDPR Foods Available List and D.8 CSFP Foods Available List. The inbound products are purchased and delivered on a truckload basis on pallets like any other commercial load.

20. Question: Will the pallet that the cooler items arrive on be either heat-treated, plastic, or neither?

Answer: USDA vendors should be supplying product on heat-treated food grade pallets.

21. Question: Monthly recurring storage shows approx. 27.6K dry storage pallets and 4.3K cooler/frozen storage pallets monthly. Do you plan on contracting multiple warehouses to cover such a large need? Is there a minimum storage capacity size of warehouse you have in mind for consideration of award?

Answer: This is our historic volume. The number of warehouses needed will depend on the best value to the Government represented by the submitted proposals – currently the Government is supplying this requirement from three warehouses (see answer to Question 1). Any warehouses being proposed should be able to cover the volume for the state service area(s) it is likely to win.

22. Question: If multiple warehouses are used, will the shipping responsibilities be divided up geographically?

Answer: Offerors are required to propose the warehouse or warehouses from which they will receive product and deliver to each applicable state. The geographic shipping responsibilities should be evident in the offerors proposal.

23. Question: When is the start date of the services? Will there be inventory build-up period prior to the start of shipping services?

Answer: The start date of services will depend on how long it takes AMS to solicit, evaluate, and award contracts. AMS will ensure that the successful contractor has AMS product in inventory prior to requesting the contractor to perform shipping services to AMS recipients.

24. Question: Regarding the 80% pick, are there quantity order minimums? What would an average pallet look like regarding # of products, # of cases?

Answer: In regard to the 80% pick rate, see the answer to Question 9. Picked pallets will vary depending on the needs of the recipient for each delivery.

25. Question: What is the likelihood of the program to be continued to be funded past Sept. 30, 2018?

Answer: Funding for the contracts resulting from this solicitation will be dependent upon Congress allocating funds for each fiscal year. It is extremely likely that funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 will be available through either passage of a FY 2019 budget or a FY 2019 Continuing Resolution.

26. Question: Is there a likelihood of this program expanding or decreasing from the previous year’s figures that were provided in the attachments? Is there available historical information that shows trends in the program's capacity?

Answer: It is unknown at this time whether the requirements under the resulting contracts will increase or decrease, or by how much they might increase or decrease. There is no available information that shows trends in the program’s capacity.

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27. Question: Is there a % estimate of delivery locations that require a liftgate?

Answer: AMS does not have a list of the delivery locations that require a liftgate. The successful offeror will have to determine those locations after award. The number of locations requiring a liftgate is estimated to be extremely small.

28. Question: Please elaborate on wage determinations. Are these binding wages that the contractor must pay to employees involved in the contract?

Answer: The contractor must pay employees working under the resulting contract in the designated wage categories, at least the amount specified in the DOL wage determinations for the geographic area in which the warehouse is located. All proposed pricing shall include payment of these wage rates.

29. Question: In our experience with Missouri state bids/solicitations historical bid price info and past accepted proposals are made publicly available. Are samples of acceptable or accepted proposal submissions or pricing information available for this solicitation?

Answer: No. See the answer to question 4.

30. Question: Will there be additional opportunities to ask questions via phone/email/meeting past the initial teleconference?

Answer: See paragraph E.2(5) – Submission of Questions in the solicitation.

31. Question: Need the offeror have any sort of FDA affiliation to respond?

Answer: No. However, Contractors must meet or exceed all applicable requirements and standards set forth under the Food Safety Improvement Act (FSMA) and FDA regulations if awarded a contract (See Attachment D.2 – PWS, Performance Standard 3.A).

32. Question: Is it possible to use resumes/experience in lieu of past performance:

Answer: No. Past performance information is used to evaluate how a company has performed under previous contracts, not the experience level of employees or owners of a company. See the first paragraph to the answer number six.

33. Question: Is there an estimated amount of damages, due to the amount of product expected to be received and held on behalf of this program for expected damage to product unrelated to warehouse handling?

34. Question: If there is damage to product unrelated to warehouse handling, but due to product deficiency, i.e.

cans exploding, shelf life issues, will the warehouseman be allowed to charge the government for hours worked resolving the issue?

Answer: Issues concerning excessive damaged or the one-off occurance of issues outside of normal operations will have to be resolved on a case-by-case basis by the Contracting Officer. (See PWS 2.B and 3.D)

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35. Question: In Attachment D.3.5, under the Bi-Monthly Storage Invoice Report example, what does the number under the “Month” column represent? Is the month the period month, i.e. Jan=1, Feb =2, etc. Or does it mean the first month in storage =1, the second month in storage=2, etc.?

Answer: The information under the “Month” and “Invoice Periods” columns represent the applicable billing periods described in the schedule under CLINs 0003, 0004, 0005 on page 7 of the solicitation. For example, where the column for “Month” = “1” and the column for “Invoice Periods” = “16th”, it means that the invoice report entry for that line item is from the inventory snapshot related to the January 16th billing cycle.

36. Question: What does the government consider a pallet per commodity? Is there a matrix showing the standard amount of cases per pallet per commodity? (Example: corn flakes, which come slip sheeted but not palletized.

They arrive inbound 2-high but must be palletized 1-high for shipping outbound.)

Answer: AMS does not have a matrix showing the standard amount of cases per pallet per commodity and relies on vendors to use standard commercial practice when palletizing product.

37. Question: For out of range mileage, does the final destination State CLIN rate for out of range mileage apply?

Answer: Out of route mileage will be calculated by subtracting the mileage between the beginning and ending route of service locations from the total miles traveled using PC mileage software. The result is the total out of route miles to be assessed. The Offeror’s proposed out of route mile price for the applicable performance period will be used to calculate the total price.

38. Question: Please confirm that the fuel surcharge applies to the total mileage of the truckload, i.e. if it is a multi-stop then full mileage to the final destination.

39. Question: For a floor loaded truckload inbound does the contractor apply CLIN 1 pricing in addition to CLIN 2 pricing, i.e. if a truckload of product is loaded on the floor and the contractor puts the product on 22 pallets for proper storage, does the contractor charge CLIN 1 at Rate X 22 PLT and CLIN 2 Rate X 1 TL for handling?

40. Question: It is not clear from the RFP how to charge for storage of pallets of mixed product that are staged for outbound on the end of a billing period, please elaborate or provide more report details for this. Please also confirm that mixed palletized product stored in staging areas are charged for storage.

Answer: AMS expects the contractor to propose their normal commercial practice concerning outbound inventories. This issue should be discussed in the contractor’s proposal as well as how the contractor will prevent staged pallets with mixed dry and temperature-controlled inventory being charged at a higher storage rate than warranted. In addition, the contractor should also discuss how they will avoid staged pallets creating instances of pallet positions that would not exist if the inventory had not been picked for shipment.

41. Question: The RFP does not contemplate a charge for stretch wrapping pallets for outbound shipments. Is that something that should be contemplated in the contractor’s in/out handling charges?

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42. Question: The RFP does not contemplate a charge for extra pallets that will be needed for outbound shipments.

Is that something that should be contemplated in the contractor’s prices for in/out handling charges?

43. Question: Is there a minimum square foot required? There is not a Section C. Paragraph 4 in the solicitation.

Answer: No minimum square footage is required. The Contractor’s capability to provide adequate storage space (e.g., the maximum number of pallet positions for each: freezer, cooler, and dry storage) will be evaluated under Tab 3A of their proposal (Capability to Provide Adequate Storage Space).

44. Question: If product comes from the vendor to the warehouse in mixed best if used by dates will the contractor be required to split up each date onto separate pallets?

Answer: See Attachment D.2 – PWS, Performance Standard 2.D. Splitting product by best if used by date will only be required for inbound product where the date spread is greater than 30 days.

45. Question: If the contractor finds hidden damage of product in storage will the contractor be able to charge for the time required to dig out the damage and any extra dumpster charges

Answer: See Answer Number 34.

46. Question: Is there any data to suggest what percentage of product can be stacked double, triple, or not stackable?

Answer: AMS does not possess this data.

47. Question: Does the government have standards of what quantity of cases should be considered a pallet (for purposes of storage) for floor loaded inbounds? Likewise, is there a standard of what is considered a minimum height for purposes of storage pallet?

Answer: See the answers to Question 36 and Question 16 respectively.

48. Question: Is it required to have CSFP and FDPIR included in one report or is it acceptable for each program to have its own report?

Answer: CSFP and FDPIR information should be included in the same reports. Please see the report examples in Attachments D.3.1 through D.3.7.

49. Question: On the storage invoice are we to include the prior months billed for a particular warehouse lot? It appears from the samples that is the case, but it is not clear in the detailed descriptions of report data required

Answer: The storage report is intended to be a running report with new data added at each billing cycle for the sake of audit purposes. AMS prefers that the Offeror has a computerized system that allows history to be easily searched and cross-referenced by USDA. If not, then the template should be followed.

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50. Question: Is it required to bid all the states in the initial bid and then determine which states work best for the area. If we opt out of certain states will our bid be incomplete?

Answer: See paragraph E.2(10) – General Price Proposal Guidance. All offerors must bid on all states. If more than one contract is awarded, the Government will decide which states will comprise each award. If more than one warehouse is proposed and the pricing per warehouse doesn’t change, only one proposal needs to be submitted. If more than one warehouse is proposed and the pricing per warehouse is different, separate proposals for each warehouse must be submitted, with each proposal covering all pricing.

51. Question: When do we expect to start receiving inventory and for shipping to begin?

Answer: See Answer Number 23.

52. Question: Does the Government have a preference if the warehouse has an operational rail siding?

Answer: Not necessarily, since this contract is primarily for truckload shipping to recipients. However, if a contractor warehouse has this advantage for inbound deliveries, they can include it in their proposal and AMS will include this information in their evaluation of the contractor’s proposal.

53. Question: On the past performance questionnaire, how do we change the date to return copy by? It is due to you the same time our bid is due by the 13th, right?

Answer: This document was issued in MS Word with the submittal date in the letter and on the form of “by Month, Day, 2018”. Please insert a specific date that is prior to March 13, 2018 at 1:00 pm CT before you send it to your references. If you sent the letter and form with the incomplete information, ensure your references are aware of this requirement. Any past performance information received after the offer due date may not be considered in the past performance evaluation. When past performance forms are emailed to me from your references, I will send an email confirmation to your email address if I have it on file. If not, you may call me to find out if I’ve received any past performance responses for your firm and give me an email address to send notification of future responses.

B. Changes to the Solicitation and Attachments

1. The sentence describing the average case pick percentage in Section B.1, Schedule of Items, item 0001 is changed from “The average case pick percentage is 80% of case volume” to “The average case pick rate is approximately 50% of case volume”.

2. The reference to Attachment D.10 in the third paragraph under Section B.4.1 -Description of Work on page

9 is changed from “Attachment D.10 Estimated Storage and Shipment Requirements by State” to “Attachment D.10 How Contract CLIN Values Determined”.

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3. The language in the table under Section E.2.14 – Proposal Format and Contents, Part 3, Tab A on page 46 of the solicitation is changed as follows (areas where the language is changed are indicated in bold text):

Capability to Provide Adequate Storage Space - Describe the storage facilities owned by your firm to provide storage space (provide the maximum number of pallet positions for each: freezer, cooler, and dry storage). If you don’t own your own storage facilities, demonstrate that you have an executed agreement regarding leased space throughout the effective period of the contract that will accommodate the maximum number of pallet positions for each: freezer, cooler, and dry storage.

Describe any storage space that you are leasing and the management/ownership of the leased storage space.

Refer to Attachment D.1 - Schedule of Items and Attachment D.10 - How Contract CLIN Values Determined to review estimated yearly requirements. Identify proposed truck receiving/loading capacity per day and inbound active rail connection service and daily rail capacity for USDA under this potential contract. In support of this Tab, include a floor plan/blueprint of proposed warehouse space (including maximum freezer, cooler, and dry pallet positions) (Tab 6I) and any applicable Letters of Commitment for storage space and/or signed and dated leases for space (Tab 6H). (see PWS 3A)

4. Attachment D.6 – Temp Humidity Req is updated as follows:

Blue Cornmeal and Wild Rice are removed from the Cooler Storage section.

Blue Cornmeal and Wild Rice are added to the Freezer Storage section.

An updated Attachment D.6 is attached to this amendment with the areas that are changed indicated in bold font.