J&A.docx

SUBJECT: Justification and Approval (J&A) for Brand Name Procurement of Goodyear pursuit rated tires for safety reasons.

Reference: FAR 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and no Other Supplies of Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements (Brand Name)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1 the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rational required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

(1) Agency and Contracting Activity. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, DFTD proposes to enter into a contract on a basis other than full and open competition for Brand Name, Goodyear Tires.

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved. FLETC Artesia has a requirement for brand name only Goodyear pursuit rated tires for all of our training fleet. At Driver Training Branch we have had experience with several different brands of pursuit rated tires and our experience has shown that the Goodyear pursuit rated tire performs to the standard.

(3) Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement is to provide:

Goodyear Eagle RS-A Product Code, P-235-55R/17quantity of 250 tires.

(4) Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(1) implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-1 entitled “Only One Responsible Source and no Other Supplies of Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements”.

(5) Demonstration that the Nature of the Acquisition Requires use of the Authority Cited. The basis for this request from Drivers Training Branch, FLETC, Artesia to purchase Goodyear Pursuit Rated Tires. FLETC Artesia Driver Training Branch is experiencing a significant and provable safety concern using other brands pursuit rated tires of similar specifications. Further the FLETC Artesia Driver Training branch has past experience with the pursuit rated Goodyear Eagle GT Radial Tires (which have been discontinued) and the Goodyear Eagle RS-A - P225/60R16 97V which perform well above standard and are a safe tire for our purposes.

Training vehicles are driven at times between 70 – 90 mph while doing laps and pursuits, with curves taken between 30 – 50 mph. Some agencies are conducting PIT Precision Immobilization Training as well. This training requires the vehicle to have an extremely stable position at moderate speeds in order to strike and impact the car they are pursuing, causing the suspect car to spin out and off of the roadway. The lives of students and instructors could be lost in the event of a catastrophic tire failure.

Some of the other brands of tires which were on several vehicles experienced tread chipping. We have photos of these tires on file of the tread chipping on these tires. Tread chipping is not normal wear and is especially not normal wear on high performance tires.

(6) Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable. A Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) notice will be published to allow other vendors the opportunity to submit a quote.

(7) Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable. The contracting officer will conduct a price analysis from the quotes received to establish fair and reasonableness determination for this procurement.

(8) Description of Market Research. Market research is accomplished periodically by the FLETC Artesia Subject Matter Experts to determine the availability of equipment that will meet the training needs. There are many vendors available for the purchase of Goodyear tires.

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

FLETC utilized the Michigan State Police Tire Testing Report at http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/article_archive/results/details?id=1047 in its market research to support the use of Other than Full and Open Competition.

See information in paragraphs (5) and (8) from the report above and please consider the following information.

Goodyear. During Michigan State Police testing, the Goodyear turned in slightly better lap times. However, the major factor was the tire wear. No one is saying the tire wear during this kind of abusive track testing is comparable to the tire wear under normal patrol conditions. However, it may be worth noting that the Goodyear had less wear during the various test stages than the other tested tires.

In the wet braking stage, the other brand name tires had an advantage over the Goodyear when new. The Goodyear turned the tables for an advantage when tested worn in the wet. The same reversal happened during the wet brake-and-turn stage. The other brand name tires started off with a solid advantage when new. When worn, the Goodyear took over the same solid advantage.

Worn and wet are the worse of the conditions in which Goodyear outperformed the other brand name tires. That is important to note.

The key to understanding the new versus worn comparisons is remaining tread depth, and its effect of performance. Remember, the tires had the same test track miles on them, but in some cases very different tread wear. For example, the entire testing process wore an average of 60 percent of the other brand name tire away, but only 32 percent of the Goodyear.

Goodyear again prevails by almost 50% over the other brand name tire.

That means that performance not related to tread depth (dry braking, dry cornering) would not change much. It also means performance directly related to tread depth (wet braking, wet brake and turn) could change a great deal. The other brand name tires gave up a lot of wet braking performance as it wore because it was more worn as-tested. The Goodyear changed much less in performance, new versus worn, simply because it wore less on the Charger and Crown Victoria Police Interceptor during the track testing.

The “take-away” lesson from this Michigan State Police test stage is that tire wear affects wet braking and wet braking while turning.

XXXX Brand Tires. These, did well on the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. It performed midway between the other brand name tire and the Goodyear in nearly every test phase. On the other hand, this tire is a much more expensive tire than the comparable police tire from the other brand tire and Goodyear, and arguably less available.

YYYY Brand Tires, for example, were run on three different police sedans – and they were disqualified in each case. They simply could not complete the test sequence. They wore past the trend blocks on the Impala and wore all the way into the cords on the Charger and CVPI Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The YYYY Brand tires may be available in a size that fits the police vehicle, but it failed the tests that more police-oriented tires easily passed.

Another consideration in these tests is that the one of the other tire brands were not even considered in the Michigan State Police Testing, nor was it considered in any other police tire testing that I could find on the internet. That is a very important consideration.

Tires from other manufacturers may have the same specifications on paper as the Goodyear Eagle GT Radial Tire, however, specifications on paper have proven to not be ground truth as far as use when we put the tires on the ground and actually used them. In other words, the other tires with similar specifications failed in safety and performance.

The only tire so far that we have quantifiable historical success in safety and performance is the Goodyear pursuit rated tires.

Two examples where specifications on paper have not proven when the tire was actually used in training are:

On the tires referenced in our file photographs, you can clearly see the tread chipping on multiple tires and multiple vehicles, which is a major safety hazard. Secondly we have had the other brand tire break bead and lose 2/3s of its air pressure and reseal as the car slowed down quickly. This is not an acceptable risk

(10) A Listing of the Sources, if Any, That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition. No sources have expressed interest at this time.

(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 Supplies or Services Required.

FLETC will continue to monitor and review tire testing sources and reports to overcome barriers to competition before subsequent acquisition.

(12) Contracting Officer’s Certification. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Filipita Dennis Date 9/07/2018 Contracting Officer