Second set of questions.pdf

PR No.: V3352101 Solicitation No.: 6913G21Q300005 Railway Car Spotters

The following second set of questions were asked by prospective offerors regarding this solicitation. The Government Offers the following answers to all offerors.

1. Due to the potential interruption of the supply chains resulting from the 2020 Pandemic, would Volpe consider extending the delivery window to 150 days from contract award?

Answer: No. The Government’s need is to have the car spotters, including complete tools, parts, and publications/manuals, delivered by February 1, 2021.

2. Please clarify, what is the penalty for delay if a bidder submits a quotation for this solicitation and misses the delivery date due to events beyond their control? Please include all details pertaining to late delivery penalties, delivery leeway, and/or contract termination due to delivery issues.

Answer: The Government’s need is to have the car spotters, including complete tools, parts, and publications/manuals, delivered by February 1, 2021.

If the Contractor fails to deliver on time or delivers with a defective product or a combination of both, they would be in default and the Government may end the contract under the default clause FAR 52.249-

8. In this clause, there are penalties and compensation that would be used to compensate the Government for replacement and loss.

If there is a delay due to causes beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of the Contractor, the Contractor must bring forth the detailed information in a letter, and the Government would be able to modify the contract under 52.249-14 Excusable Delays. If the Contracting Officer determines that any failure to perform results from an excusable delay, the delivery schedule may be revised, subject to the rights of the Government under the termination clause of the contract.

3. The attached document “Federal Railroad Administration Announcement” brings to light that OSHA oversees the general safety and health regulation for railroad operations. The document “Federal Register DOT 2020-00425” from the Department of Transportation discusses a Risk Reduction Program which is a program implemented to draw attention to identifying and analyzing applicable hazards and then coming up with a plan to mitigate or eliminate that risk. As pointed out in a study by the U.S. DOT “An Examination of Railroad Yard Worker Safety” on page 43, section 4.3.4, Train and Engine (T&E) crews suffered the most injuries (61 percent) …..and also suffered the most severe injuries. Table 17 on page 46 indicates that Head/Face injuries accounted for 10.1% of total injuries. With that in mind and based on the clearance requirements at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, there is a significant risk of injury to railcar mover operators who have to extend their head outside of the railcar mover in order to have clear vision of the operating area. Will Volpe be proactive and help protect operators by amending the specification to mitigate or eliminate the risk of injury to operators of railcar movers by specifying center mount forward facing cab designs that utilize cameras which would eliminate the significant risk of head/face injuries to operators by not allowing them extend their heads out of open windows during normal operations?

Answer: The SOW includes the requirement that the car spotters be equipped with visibility cameras and cab-mounted monitor. Cameras shall provide a clear view (to the operator in the cab) of the front and rear

PR No.: V3352101 Solicitation No.: 6913G21Q300005 Railway Car Spotters of the railcar spotter, couplings, and clear view of the movement of the track wheels as they engage and disengage the rail.

4. Manufacturers typically test equipment before shipment to end users, with that in mind, how many engine hours can the equipment have to still be considered new, under 30 hours?

Answer: The engine shall be considered new as delivered from the manufacturer. Hours associated with the manufacturer testing of the engine are acceptable. The engine shall not have been used in any other piece of equipment or used as a demonstrator prior to being installed in the car spotter.