693JJ925RQ000647 JOTFOC.pdf

Memorandum U.S. Department of Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Date:

From:

To:

Subject:

July 16, 2025

Taryn Rockwell Contracting Officer’s Representative Office of Rulemaking /NCAP, NRM-110

Sherese Gray Contracting Officer Office of Acquisition Management (OAM), NFO-300

Approval of Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOTFOC) for a new contract titled, Vehicle Purchasing, Leasing, and Test Coordination Support Services, with Alpha Technology Associate, Inc.

This document serves as Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition to establish a third bridge contract. This will permit continuation of vehicle purchasing, leasing, and test coordination support services for Agency testing programs, particularly those operated by the New Car Assessment Program, the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, the Office of Vehicle Safety Research, and the Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC).

The Request For Proposal (RFP) for the new vehicle purchasing, leasing, and test coordination support services contract, along with all required supporting documents, was submitted to OAM in April 2024; however, it has not yet cleared small business review, and the current bridge contract is set to expire on September 12, 2025, as the option period has already been exercised.

U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOTFOC)

Vehicle Purchasing, Leasing, and Test Coordination Support Services for the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

1. Identification of Agency:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Office of Acquisition Management (OAM), 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.

2. Description of Action:

Justification and approval to use other than full and open competition procedures to award a sole source contract to an incumbent contractor, Alpha Technology Associate, Inc. (Alpha), to continue vehicle purchasing, leasing, and test coordination support services for Agency consumer information, enforcement, and research testing programs, particularly those operated by the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance (OVSC), the Office of Vehicle Safety Research (NSR), and the Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC).

This will be an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a twelve (12) month period of performance, consisting of a twelve (12) month base period and one optional (1) six (6) month extension period.

3. Description of Services to Meet Agency Needs:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs. The Agency develops, promotes, and implements effective educational, research, and enforcement programs with the goal of ending vehicle crash tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel.

To this end, NHTSA conducts a variety of motor vehicle crash tests including, but not limited to, frontal, side moving deformable barrier (MDB), and side pole impact test modes. The Agency also conducts various crash avoidance tests, static and dynamic rollover tests, and tests to assess compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). In addition, the Agency conducts research to evaluate electric vehicles, child restraint systems, advanced safety technologies, crash test dummies, new crash tests, vehicle defects or anomalies, etc.

The Contractor shall support NHTSA’s consumer information, research, and enforcement testing/assessment efforts by providing services to purchase, lease, and ship vehicles; procure and ship parts; and coordinate testing for several offices within NHTSA including, but not limited to:

• Office of Vehicle Safety Research (NSR) o Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC)

• Office of Enforcement o Vehicle Safety Compliance (OVSC) o Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

• Office of Rulemaking (NRM) o New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)

The purpose of this procurement is to bridge the contractual service of the current bridge contract to provide vehicle purchasing and leasing services to ensure continuity of operations until a new contract can be awarded. A sole source award to Alpha is in the best interest of the Government at this time, as Alpha is currently the only prospective source that can be considered for the services required in this acquisition given the timeframe and their exclusive current and past experience providing vehicle acquisition services for NHTSA. Failure to execute a bridge contract will prevent many of NHTSA’s program areas from fulfilling their mission.

The current estimated value of all services to be performed under this sole source IDIQ contract, including the six (6) month optional extension period, is $9,964,816.

4. Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open

Competition:

The statutory authority for the proposed contract with Alpha is 41 U.S.C.

3304(a)(1), as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements”, in which FAR Part 6.302-1(a)(2) states that an executive agency may use procedures other than competitive procedures only---

(2) “When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source… and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.”

5. Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the

Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited:

Alpha is currently the Contractor performing vehicle purchasing, leasing, and test coordination support services for NHTSA’s program offices and has served in this role for approximately twelve (12) years. During this time, Alpha has proven that it has the financial means to procure up to 100 vehicles in three (3) months and up to ten (10) vehicles per week, and lease more than 7 vehicles per month for NHTSA testing. The company has also shown that it has a sophisticated dealer network across the continental United States, which has resulted from years of procurement inquiries, vehicle purchases, and vehicle leases. This network allows the company to obtain multiple competitive quotes from dealerships near NHTSA test labs and procure vehicles immediately after they become available for purchase in the marketplace. Alpha’s extensive network and due diligence in obtaining multiple quotes has ensured not only that the Government has received the best price for procured vehicles, but also that NHTSA program offices are able to test vehicles in a timely manner to fulfill their needs, such as conducting research to assess the performance of the latest vehicle technology, conducting investigations into concerning vehicle or restraint designs, and posting vehicle ratings for consumer information purposes. The company has also been able to locate and source vehicle models having extremely low sales volume, and vehicles such as motorcycles, motorcoaches, mopeds, school buses, etc. that cannot be obtained through traditional consumer means. Alpha has also successfully procured numerous vehicles falling within specified VIN ranges to aid in NHTSA investigations into vehicle defects or anomalies. The Agency is not currently aware of any other company with the financial means, dealer network, and understanding of NHTSA program office needs with respect to vehicle purchasing, let alone a company that would be readily available to assume this task in the last quarter of the 2025 fiscal year.

6. Efforts Made To Obtain Competition, and Whether a Notice Was or Will Be

Publicized as Required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, If Not, Which Exception Under FAR 5.202 Applies:

A Sources Sought Notice for engineering services, including vehicle purchasing and leasing, was published in 2019 in the Government Wide Point of Entry (GPE) current at that time, FedBizOps.gov, in accordance with FAR 5.201. One corporate capabilities statement from the current contractor, Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., was received in response.

Subsequently, an 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) competitive set-aside RFP soliciting only vehicle purchasing and leasing support services was published on October 29, 2021 in the Government Wide Point of Entry (GPE) at https://sam.gov. At that time, Alpha had graduated from the 8(a) program. A single proposal was received from Mettle Ops. The sole proposal was reviewed by a technical evaluation committee and was deemed technically unacceptable on March 30, 2022, leading to the need to establish a sole source bridge IDIQ contract with Alpha Tech to continue services so that a new acquisition strategy could be considered, a new RFP could be published, and new proposals could be evaluated for award. This bridge contract was issued on September 1, 2022 with a potential period of performance of thirty (30) months.

https://sam.gov/

NHTSA then posted a Sources Sough Notice (693JJ924RQ000262) on SAM.gov on March 14, 2024 to identify other potential 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Businesses. This effort resulted in two responses, of which only one was 8(a) certified. The single 8(a) certified vendor did not appear to meet the qualification requirements outlined in the SOW, based on their capability statement.

As this time, Alpha Tech is currently the only prospective source that can be considered for the services required in this acquisition given the timeframe and their exclusive current and past experience providing vehicle acquisition services for NHTSA.

7. A Determination by the Contracting Officer That the Anticipated Cost to the

Government Will Be Fair and Reasonable:

The cost proposal submitted by the requested sole source vendor, Alpha, will be reviewed for a detailed cost and price analysis prior to initiating any negotiation.

The NHTSA Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will compare Alpha’s cost proposal to historical data for the Agency’s vehicle purchasing and leasing services and to cost estimates based on NHTSA knowledge of the effort required to perform the required tasks. In the event the analysis of the proposal reveals unanticipated or excessive costs, or reflects a cost that is inconsistent with the anticipated level of effort, negotiated adjustments will be made before the contract is issued. Additionally, invoices submitted by the Contractor under a contract that is executed will be reviewed and subject to scrutiny to ensure the expenses are allowable, allocable, and reasonable in accordance with FAR Part 31. These procedures will ensure that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable.

8. A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results or a Statement of the Reason That Market Research Was Not Conducted:

Market research for this solicitation (which originally included engineering and administrative services, vehicle purchasing, and other technical services) was conducted from February 2019 through December 2019.

At that time, a thorough search of the GSA Federal Supply Schedules, Government-wide Contracts, and DOT shared services vehicles yielded no firms that have expertise and experience to handle the complexity of the types of requirements included in the original acquisition. The COR was also unable to identify any awarded “shared-services” contracts in support of Category Management listed either under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Acquisition Gateway and/or the DOT-Transportation All Acquisition Portal (TAAP) that would satisfy the requirements. The Office of Acquisition Management also determined that none of the contractual resources listed were suitable for this procurement.

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Subsequently, OAM used internet searches and requests for information (specifically, the associated purchase request (693JJ919RQ000115) for the subject project titled, “Engineering, Technical, Administrative, and Vehicle Purchasing and Leasing Support Services”) posted on Government Points of Entry (GPE) sites to identify potential small businesses capable of satisfying this requirement. A Sources Sought Notice posted on beta.SAM.gov resulted in one

(1) Corporate Capability Statement received in response from the current contractor, Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., which is a member of the small business community.

The SBS also checked the acquisition history regarding past efforts to acquire these or similar services for the agency. This review resulted in identifying no past historical data that these services were successfully acquired as a small business set-aside.

Around that time, however, several scope changes were made to implement Category Management policies that led to the removal of the engineering and administrative functions. It was determined that engineering services and administrative functions would be procured through a departmental Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), and the resulting procurement would focus solely on the vehicle purchasing and leasing services.

In light of these changes, the COR conducted research on the current marketplace.

Nine (9) potential vendors were either identified during this research, or responded to the original Sources Sought notice. Based upon this research, the capabilities of potential vendors in meeting the Government’s requirements were considered and it was determined that NHTSA should receive proposals from at least two qualified small businesses based on past awards under the 8(a) program.

As such the SBS recommended that this procedure be competed under the 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) program for competition among qualified 8(a) firms under NAICS code 44110, “Automobile Dealers, New and Used”.

Subsequently, an 8(a) SDB competitive set-aside RFP soliciting only vehicle purchasing and leasing support services was published on October 29, 2021 in the Government Wide Point of Entry (GPE) at https://sam.gov. By that time, Alpha had graduated from the 8(a) program. A single proposal was received from Mettle Ops. The sole proposal was reviewed by a technical evaluation committee and was deemed technically unacceptable on March 30, 2022.

Accordingly, OAM determined that more time would be needed for the procurement than originally anticipated. As a result, NHTSA issued a bridge contract on September 1, 2022 to Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., the incumbent contractor, given the ongoing necessity of purchasing and leasing vehicles for Agency enforcement and research testing programs, and the critical nature of vehicle purchasing/leasing to the success of the Agency’s consumer-https://sam.gov/ centric ratings program, NCAP. The date to exercise the option period for the bridge contract, which was to begin on September 1, 2023, was inadvertently missed, leading to the urgent need to establish another, shorter bridge contract spanning the remaining period of performance for the original bridge contract.

This second bridge contract, 693JJ924D000012, was issued on March 12, 2024 and had an initial period of performance of twelve months, and a six-month option period. This option period was recently exercised such that the current bridge contract is set to expire on September 12, 2025.

In preparation for the future award of the new 5-year IDIQ contract, extensive new market research was conducted utilizing the same “shared-services” vehicles discussed previously. This market research included, but was not limited to, the following sources and methods: Federal Government databases and lists including GSA, TAAP, OASIS, AbilityOne, UNICOR, HCaTS, and SWES; a review of previous market research attempts for this requirement, and general web searches;

review of past NHTSA contracts; and discussions with colleagues and stakeholders within both the federal government (including GSA) and the automotive industry. Unfortunately, no new contractual resources were identified.

NHTSA then requested Market Research As a Service (MRAS) through the GSA.

Through extensive communication with GSA personnel, it was determined that no MAS program or non-MAS GSA Fleet solutions are capable of providing the desired services. Given the scope and complexity of the requirements, the program office concluded that the Agency’s needs could not be fully satisfied with the available commercial items/services. However, review of past NHTSA contracts and discussions with colleagues and stakeholders within the federal government did reveal some possible 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Businesses which may be capable of meeting the requirements.

Given this, NHTSA posted a Sources Sought Notice (693JJ924RQ000262) on

Disadvantaged Businesses. This effort resulted in two responses, of which only one was 8(a) certified. The single 8(a) certified vendor did not appear to meet the qualification requirements outlined in the SOW, based on their capability statement.

NHTSA then requested additional market research assistance from SBA to identify qualified small business set-aside contractors under the 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) category. Thus far, the SBA has been unsuccessful in identifying qualified 8(a) SDB vendors for this acquisition.

While it was expected that the second bridge contract would allow the Agency sufficient time to complete the small business review for a new 5-year contract, publish the associated RFP, and evaluate the resulting proposals for award, this javascript:__doPostBack('ctl00$ctl00$body$homebody$RecentDocuments$C$RecentDocumentsControl$RecentDocumentResults$ctl09$DocumentNumberLink','') https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsam.gov%2Fopp%2Fa013b101102e430e98d68eff63637537%2Fview&data=05%7C02%7CTaryn.Rockwell%40dot.gov%7C250c0b24a89d4bd2118c08dc4d00b300%7Cc4cd245b44f04395a1aa3848d258f78b%7C0%7C0%7C638469914467044833%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=51xaFkVxIVU%2FvEgGGNNYSjrZLO4QEG9fJ6gYbTnoLPQ%3D&reserved=0 has unfortunately not been the case. As of the drafting of this memo, the RFP for the new 5-year contract has not yet cleared small business review due to the issues the program office has encountered when doing market research.

Alpha Tech is currently the only prospective source that can be considered for the services required in this acquisition given the timeframe and their exclusive current and past experience providing vehicle acquisition services for NHTSA.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:

The current 6-month option period has been exercised such that the current bridge contract, 693JJ924D000012, is set to expire on September 12, 2025. As that time, the Agency will not be able to issue any new delivery orders for vehicle purchasing for future testing. Although the acquisition process for the new 5-year IDIQ contract is underway, it has not yet cleared small business review, and therefore may take up to an additional twelve months to award.

Only the incumbent Contractor, Alpha, has the required experience, dealer network, and financial capability to continue to perform the necessary procurement services without risk of encountering an unacceptable break in service. Awarding a third, sole source bridge IDIQ contract to Alpha at this time will allow the Agency the time necessary to complete the acquisition process and award the new 5-year IDIQ contract.

Proceeding with a bridge contract with Alpha will mitigate the risk that NHTSA offices will be unable to fulfill the mission bestowed upon them. For NCAP, this would mean not posting ratings for consumers to use to make informed decisions about vehicles they intend to purchase. For Enforcement offices, this would mean not being able to assess new vehicles for compliance with safety standards and investigate critical safety failures, defects, and/or test anomalies. For NSR, this would mean not being able to stay abreast of the newest vehicle features and technologies, and to conduct research to support rulemakings, such as those required by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if any, that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition:

NHTSA posted a Sources Sought Notice on www.beta.SAM.gov in 2019, which yielded one (1) Corporate Capability Statement from the current contractor, Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., which, at the time, was a member of the small business community.

An RFP soliciting vehicle purchasing and leasing support services was subsequently published on August 18, 2021 and a single proposal was received from Mettle Ops. The sole proposal was reviewed by a technical evaluation committed and was deemed technically unacceptable.

javascript:__doPostBack('ctl00$ctl00$body$homebody$RecentDocuments$C$RecentDocumentsControl$RecentDocumentResults$ctl09$DocumentNumberLink','') http://www.beta.sam.gov/

NHTSA also posted a Sources Sought Notice (693JJ924RQ000262) on

Disadvantaged Businesses. This effort resulted in two responses, of which only one was 8(a) certified. The single 8(a) certified vendor did not appear to meet the qualification requirements outlined in the SOW, based on their capability statement.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take To Remove or

Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition For These Services:

Actions anticipated at this time that the Agency may undertake to eliminate or overcome barriers to competition in subsequent acquisitions include the following: considering NAICS codes other than 441110, such as 561110, and consider opening future solicitations to all small businesses instead of restricting input to 8(a) small businesses.

12. Contracting Officer Certification That the Justification Is Accurate and Complete

To the Best of the Contracting Officer’s Knowledge and Belief:

As confirmed by the signature below, the Contracting Officer hereby certifies that the facts and representations included in this justification are accurate and complete to the best of her knowledge and belief.

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SIGNATURE PAGE

CERTIFICATION – REQUIRING ACTIVITY/PROGRAM OFFICE

In accordance with FAR 6.303-2(c), the supporting data which form the basis for this justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical personnel:

Taryn Rockwell Date Contracting Officer’s Representative

CERTIFICATION – CONTRACTING OFFICER

Based on the foregoing justification, the use of Other than Full and Open Competition procedures is hereby considered appropriate for the proposed contract to Alpha Technology Associate, Inc. pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.303-2(b)(12).

Gregory Benjamin Date Contracting Officer Office of Acquisition Management

CERTIFICATION – ADVOCATE FOR COMPETITION

Based on the foregoing justification, the use of Other than Full and Open Competition procedures is hereby considered appropriate for the proposed contract to Alpha Technology Associate, Inc. pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.304(a)(2).

Sean Clayton Date NHTSA Competition Advocate