RFI_FRB-19-001.pdf

THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FRB-19-001

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This request is issued solely for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to obtain information for planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Board to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.

OBJECTIVE

The Banknote Issuance and Cash Operations (BICO) section of the Board conducts about 1,800 currency shipments each year of Federal Reserve Notes (Notes), the official currency of the United States of America, from Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) facilities to Federal Reserve Facilities (FRF). BICO also conducts about 1,300 currency shipments each year of Notes from FRF to FRF. This information is approximated on actual shipments during calendar year 2018 and is subject to some amount of variance each year. A listing of FRF locations and BEP locations is provided as Attachment 1 to this RFI. Additionally, the total number of currency shipments, by denomination, from BEP facilities to FRF during calendar year 2018 is provided as Attachment 2. The total number of currency shipments, by denomination, from FRF to FRF during calendar year 2018 is provided as Attachment 3.

The Board is interested in identifying armored carriers (carriers) capable of providing services to securely transport currency shipments.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Interested vendors are requested to include, at a minimum, the following:

1) Name of vendor, cage code/DUNS, name of primary point of contact, telephone number, street and email addresses for the primary point of contact.

2) Description of vendor’s capabilities with regard to the specifications outlined below.

3) Completion of the attached price table (Attachment 4). The attached price table provides shipment routes that are contemplated. Please provide estimated pricing for these routes and insert any necessary columns to specify that pricing (i.e. per brick, per mile, etc.) or to define any quantity discounts.

4) The following questions are related to the transportation of pallets of currency. A pallet holds approximately forty (40) cash packs, a cash pack is 16,000 Notes sealed in a plastic-wrapped package, weighing approximately thirty-five (35) pounds, and is approximately 5.5” high, 17.5” long and 13” wide:

a. For over- the-road shipments (defined below), what is the maximum number of pallets of currency that can be transported?

b. For direct surface shipments (defined below), what is the maximum number of pallets of currency that can be transported?

c. For direct air shipments (defined below), what is the maximum number of pallets of currency that can be transported?

5) Do you have the capability to provide a combination of direct surface, over-the-road and/or direct air shipments?

6) For direct air shipments, commercial flights are utilized, do you have the capability to charter flights? If so, please provide estimated pricing for a chartered flight for a shipment from the BEP facility in Forth Worth, Texas to the FRF in East Rutherford, New Jersey with 480 bricks (a brick is 4,000 Notes wrapped together) of $100 Notes.

7) Do you have a continuity of operations plan? If so, provide a description of that plan.

8) Provide a description of the general principles your operation follows to ensure public safety during its operations.

9) The maximum currency shipment amount has been provided under the Shipment Specifications section below, based on the type of shipment and route. Do you have the ability to transport and obtain insurance coverage for an amount greater than the maximum specified?

10) The currency shipments, at times, include the return of empty pallets and containers to BEP facilities and FRF as outlined in the General Specifications for efficiency. Do you have an alternate method of shipping the pallets and containers specified?

11) Are there alternative modes/types of shipments (other than direct air, direct surface and over-the-road shipments) that can be provided for our anticipated routes? Additionally, please describe if the currency shipments can be supported in a framework other than the per route (BEP to FRF or FRF to FRF) framework provided.

12) What arms (pistols, rifles, etc.) would personnel use who protect these shipments? What training standards are required for these personnel to meet who carry weapons? What standards and/or best practices do you follow to comply with local, state and federal requirements for carrying weapons?

13) What materials (body armor, ballistic glass, etc.) are used for your armored vehicles and how have these proven to be sufficient?

14) What guidelines, standards, and/or best practices do you use to ensure that personnel protect the shipment and secure the perimeter around vehicles (air or ground) during transport? What are the number, and use, of guards during transport – both in vehicles, planes or for other modes of transport?

15) What standards and/or best practices do you use in defining a suitable vault for storage, when needed, for these shipments?

16) What standards and/or best practices do you follow with regard to the use of escort vehicles and how have these been shown to be effective?

17) Will a shipment be stopped for a period of time during transport of a multiple day shipment, such as an over-the-road shipment described below? If so, what guidelines or best practices do you follow to protect the shipment when stopped?

It is requested that the above information be provided no later than 12:00 PM EST, on March 27, 2019. Responses should be emailed to Danielle Calderone, Senior Contract Specialist, at danielle.n.calderone@frb.gov.

RESPONSES AND INQUIRIES

Respondents are advised to clearly identify which portions of their response are proprietary.

Respondents seeking confidential treatment of proprietary information must comply with the Board’s confidential treatment regulations at 12 C.F.R. 261.15. The confidentiality of each vendor’s response will be maintained to the maximum extent possible by law.

The Board will not reimburse any expenditure incurred in preparing responses.

In the event that a response is not sufficiently clear, the Board may or may not follow up with respondents for additional information at its sole discretion.

Questions regarding this RFI shall be submitted in writing by email to Danielle Calderone at danielle.n.calderone@frb.gov. Verbal questions will not be accepted. Questions must be received by March 27, 2019. Responses to questions received by the deadline will be electronically posted and made available on FedBizOpps.

BACKGROUND

It is the responsibility of the Board to put Notes into circulation. In order to accomplish this, currency shipments must be scheduled and carried out dependent upon the needs of the Board and the Federal Reserve System. Currency shipments are transported by a combination of:

• armored vehicles for short-distance, same-day, shipments (direct surface shipments),

• armored tractor trailers for longer distance, multiple days to complete, shipments (over-the-road shipments),

• and airplane for longer distance shipments (direct air shipments).

mailto:danielle.n.calderone@frb.gov

These are the current modes/types of shipments utilized. Even though the Board currently utilizes the shipping methods above, it is open to exploring alternative modes/types of shipments that may be provided.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

The following information is being provided to describe the Board’s current practice in overseeing currency shipments. It is being offered for informational purposes only and should not be understood to define future requirements.

1. Shipments are arranged at least one week in advance of the shipping date.

2. For all shipments described herein, no other cargo may be transported with the Board’s shipments. If multiple Board shipments are transported together for efficiency, the carrier shall ensure it has sufficient insurance coverage in place.

3. No person shall be used as a guard, crew member, escort vehicle crew member, or common carrier courier unless his/her background has been established through a local police check and a comprehensive background investigation, including a fingerprint report from the FBI. The carrier shall maintain the background investigation on file and provide written certification to the Board that each of the carrier’s personnel transporting shipments has passed the background investigation. This certification must be provided on an annual basis.

4. The carrier shall obtain and maintain BEP background investigations for all of its personnel involved in transporting shipments from and to the BEP. These investigations are in addition to the background investigation referenced in section 3. Carrier personnel cannot enter BEP premises if they do not have a current investigation.

5. All personnel involved in transporting the shipments must have identification credentials acceptable to the BEP and the FRF.

6. The BEP and FRF must have, in advance, the names of carrier personnel involved in the shipment occurring at their facility.

7. All information pertaining to shipments shall be held and used in strict confidence, adhering to the Board’s Information Security Program and Policies, except for necessary communications with the shipping and receiving facilities, air and ground carriers, and properly identified Board and FRS personnel.

8. For the air segment of the direct air shipments:

a. Guards must remain at the airport a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes after the airplane has taken off to verify a safe departure from the airport. Guards shall arrive at the destination airport a minimum of thirty (30) minutes prior to the scheduled arrival in order to clear security in the event the aircraft arrives early.

b. It is expected that the security requirements for each airport is known by the carrier.

The carrier must be authorized from both the departure and destination airport to provide the direct air shipment services specified herein.

9. When a transfer of a shipment occurs between vehicles, planes, and/or between carrier personnel and BEP or FRS employees, each cash pack or skid (a skid is 640,000 Notes stacked and wrapped together on a BEP provided pallet, weighs approximately 1,500 pounds and is approximately 43” long, 35” wide and 42” high) shall be examined, and if damaged, shall be accounted for by the identifying number shown on the shipping manifest.

a. It shall be noted the point where the damage was incurred, cause of damage, extent of damage, and the corrective action taken to secure the cash pack or skid.

b. The shipping manifest shall be signed by the responsible custodian before effecting transfers. The receiving facility shall be instructed not to accept damaged shipments without completed documentation on the shipping manifest or other mutually acceptable documentation.

c. The receiving facility’s acceptance of any damaged shipments not accompanied by the required documentation of damage must be approved by the Board before the transfer is completed.

10. If any of the services specified herein are not able to be performed as specified for such reasons as an airplane landing at an alternate airport, late departures affecting arrival time, and so forth, the circumstances must be communicated to the Board and the direction given by the Board shall be followed. If such communication is not possible, the shipment will be transported to a vault for safekeeping or other actions taken to appropriately safeguard the shipment pending its delivery to the designated destination.

No additional charges incurred due to such actions taken are chargeable to the Board.

11. The carrier shall provide vaults, sufficiently sized to hold any shipment that may be required to be stored under this contract, in all cities for which these services are required.

12. Full responsibility for the Notes is taken from acceptance of the shipment at the point of origin (BEP or FRF) until acceptance of the shipment by the authorized receiving facility’s representative. Notes that are lost, stolen, mutilated (as defined by the BEP), or destroyed while being transported shall be reimbursed to the Board within ten (10) business days at the face value of the Notes that are lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed.

13. Pallets provided by the BEP for currency shipments shall remain at the FRF to which the Notes are delivered so that they can be returned to the BEP as an over-the-road shipment as requested by the Board.

14. The plastic or acrylic containers used by the FRF for currency shipments shall remain at the FRF to which the Notes are delivered. They will be returned to a FRF as an over-the-road shipment as requested by the Board.

15. Insurance

a. A carrier shall assume responsibility for all damage or injury to persons or property

(other than the Notes and pallets transported) occasioned through the use and operation of vehicles by, or the action of, the carrier. The FRS, BEP, and their members, officers, directors or employees, and the United States, shall in no event be liable or responsible for damage or injury to any person or property occasioned through the use or operation of any vehicle by, or the action of, a carrier performing this work.

b. The carrier shall be responsible for loss or damage, due to the fault, neglect, or dishonesty of the carrier, its Agents, its Subcontractors, or employees, to the FRS or any other agency of the U.S. Government.

c. The carrier shall defend, hold harmless and indemnify the FRS, the BEP, and the United States against any and all liability, claims, and costs of whatsoever kind and nature for injury to or death of any person or persons and for loss or damage to any property of the FRS, BEP, or the United States occurring in connection with or in any way incident to or arising out of the use, service, operations, or performance of this work, resulting in whole or in part from the negligent acts, fault, or omissions of the carrier, or any employees, Agents, or representatives of the carrier or any Subcontractor.

d. Any pallet, fixture or equipment furnished by the BEP or the FRS shall be fully examined and the carrier shall become familiar with its condition and manner or operation prior to use. If the carrier claims there are any defects in any such pallet, fixture or equipment, written notice shall be given to the organization that owns the pallet, fixture or equipment prior to the carrier taking custody of the shipment.

Failure to give such notice shall be construed as a waiver of claims of such conditions or defect. The carrier shall be solely liable for all damages arising out of personal injury and/or damages to property that may result from its use of the BEP or the FRS furnished pallet, fixture or equipment.

e. Attachment 5 provides insurance requirements for this work. All such insurance shall be underwritten with companies approved by the Board and the insurance policies shall be in form and substance satisfactory to the Board.

SHIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS

The following information is being provided to describe the Board’s current practice in

Type: Direct Surface Shipments Route: BEP to FRF Requirements:

1. A maximum of $200 million per direct surface shipment shall be transported unless the Board chooses a route with additional insurance coverage as identified in Attachment 4.

In that case, the maximum shipment amount may be valued at up to the insurance limit for that route.

2. Shipments shall be picked up and delivered within the same day, and shipments shall be delivered by 3 p.m. destination time. Up to five (5) shipments a day may need to be accommodated for shipment from BEP (Washington, D.C.) to FRF (East Rutherford, NJ).

3. The maximum height for armored vehicles is 12’6” for the BEP facility in Washington, D.C.

Type: Direct Surface Shipments Route: FRF to FRF Requirements:

1. A maximum of 480 bricks (a brick is four bundles, a bundle being 1,000 notes wrapped together as one package), or $100 million, shall be transported unless the Board chooses a route with additional insurance coverage as identified in Attachment 4. In that case, the maximum shipment amount may be valued at up to the insurance limit for that route.

2. Shipments shall be picked up and delivered within the same day, and shipments shall be delivered by 3 p.m. destination time.

Type: Over-the-Road Shipments

Requirements:

1. A maximum of $100 million per over-the-road shipment shall be transported unless the Board chooses a route with additional insurance coverage as identified in Attachment 4.

In that case, the maximum shipment amount may be valued at up to the insurance limit for that route.

2. The shipment shall arrive by 3 p.m. destination time (2:00 p.m. in St. Louis) within three

(3) consecutive calendar days.

3. For shipments made to Philadelphia there is a height restriction of 12’6” and for shipments made to Chicago there is a height restriction of 11’. Additionally, the maximum height for armored tractor trailers is 12’6” for the BEP facility in Washington, D.C.

Type: Over-the-Road Shipments

1. A maximum of $100 million per over-the-road shipment shall be transported.

2. The shipment shall arrive by 3 p.m. destination time (2:00 p.m. in St. Louis) within three

(3) consecutive calendar days.

3. For shipments made to Philadelphia there is a height restriction of 12’6” and for shipments made to Chicago there is a height restriction of 11’.

Type: Direct Air Shipments

1. For direct air shipments, a combination of direct surface shipments and an airplane shall be used to transport the shipment. A direct surface shipment shall be used to transport the shipment to the airport for the shipment to be transported by airplane to a destination for transport by direct surface shipment to the final destination.

2. A maximum of 480 bricks (a brick is comprised of four bundles, a bundle being 1,000 Notes wrapped together as one package) or $100 million per shipment may be transported unless the Board chooses a route with additional insurance coverage as identified in Attachment 4. In that case, the maximum shipment amount may be valued at up to the insurance limit for that route. The maximum amount conveyed on one airplane at any one time is $200 million.

3. For shipments to the FRF at Helena, Montana, a maximum of 160 bricks may be transported.

4. A common carrier courier will be the guard who flies on the airplane with the direct air shipment. A round-trip airline ticket shall be purchased from the point of shipment to the point of destination for the common carrier courier. One of the guards or the driver for the direct surface shipment of the direct air shipment may function as the common carrier courier.

5. Delivery must occur within the same day, by 3:00 p.m. destination time, for all destination cities except St. Louis, where delivery must occur by 2:00 p.m. destination time. An exception applies for shipments to the FRF in Seattle, Washington, for which next day shipment delivery by 3:00 p.m. is required.

6. Up to three (3) shipments a day between BEP (Washington, D.C.) and the FRF in Miami, Florida shall be accommodated.

7. Up to five (5) shipments a day between BEP (Fort Worth, Texas) and the FRF in East Rutherford, New Jersey shall be accommodated.

8. Up to three (3) shipments per day between BEP (Fort Worth, Texas) and the FRF in Miami, Florida shall be accommodated.

Type: Direct Air Shipment

Requirement:

1. For direct air shipments, a combination of direct surface shipments and an airplane shall be used to transport the shipment. A direct surface shipment shall be used to transport the shipment to the airport for the shipment to be transported by airplane to a destination for transport by direct surface shipment to the final destination.

2. A maximum of 480 bricks (a brick is comprised of four bundles, a bundle being 1,000 Notes wrapped together as one package) or $100 million per shipment may be transported unless the Board chooses a route with additional insurance coverage as identified in Attachment 4. In that case, the maximum shipment amount may be valued at up to the insurance limit for that route. The maximum amount conveyed on one airplane at any one time is $200 million.

3. For shipments to the FRF at Helena, Montana, a maximum of 160 bricks may be transported.

4. A common carrier courier will be the guard who flies on the airplane with the direct air shipment. A round-trip airline ticket shall be purchased from the point of shipment to the point of destination for the common carrier courier. One of the guards or the driver for the direct surface shipment of the direct air shipment may function as the common carrier courier.

5. Delivery must occur the day after the shipment is picked up for transport, by 3:00 p.m.

destination time, for all destination cities except St. Louis, where delivery must occur by 2:00 p.m. destination time.

PICK UP AND DELIVERY SPECIFICATIONS

The following information is being provided to describe the Board’s current practice in

Type: All shipments

1. The carrier shall coordinate acceptable pickup and delivery hours with the shipping and receiving departments at the BEP and the FRF.

2. Pickups are made Monday through Friday. Dock time for pickup at the BEP facilities is from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time at the Washington, D.C., facility, and from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Central Time at the Fort Worth, Texas facility or as mutually agreed.

3. Direct air shipments will have priority over all other shipments. The carrier must notify BEP personnel by telephone if it will be more than fifteen (15) minutes late for a scheduled dock time.

4. BEP staff will bring the cash packs to the loading area. After the carrier's physical inspection and acceptance of each cash pack, the carrier shall then place the cash packs into its armored vehicle or armored tractor trailer (as applicable) unless the BEP determines that BEP staff will provide assistance due to loading dock area restrictions.

5. BEP staff will bring the skids to the loading dock area. After the carrier's physical inspection and acceptance of each Skid, the carrier shall load the skids with the use of a hydraulic floor lift for transfer into the armored vehicle or armored tractor trailer (as applicable) unless the BEP determines that BEP staff will provide assistance due to loading dock area restrictions.

6. The carrier is responsible for providing the necessary shoring to protect the shipment during transport.

7. The carrier shall transport the shipment to the FRF and unload the shipment to the immediate secure receiving area at the FRF as directed by the authorized representative of the receiving FRF.

8. The receiving FRF will not remove the shipment from the immediate receiving area prior to official acceptance of the shipment. If necessary, the carrier shall accompany the shipment a short distance within the receiving FRF premises.

Type: All shipments

1. The carrier shall coordinate acceptable pickup and delivery hours with the shipping and receiving departments at the FRF designated.

2. Pickups are made Monday through Friday.

3. FRS staff will bring the cash packs to the loading area. After the carrier's physical inspection and acceptance of the shipment, the carrier shall then place the shipment into its armored vehicle or armored tractor trailer (as applicable) unless the FRS staff determines that FRS staff will provide assistance due to loading dock area restrictions.

4. FRS staff will bring the skids to the loading dock area. After the carrier's physical inspection and acceptance of each skid, the carrier shall load the skids with the use of a hydraulic floor lift for transfer into the armored vehicle or armored tractor trailer (as applicable) unless it is determines that FRS staff will provide assistance due to loading dock area restrictions.

5. The carrier is responsible for providing the necessary shoring to protect the shipment during transport.

6. The carrier shall transport the shipment to the designated FRF and unload the shipment to the immediate secure receiving area at the FRF as directed by the authorized representative of the receiving FRF.

7. The receiving FRF will not remove the shipment from the immediate receiving area prior to official acceptance of the shipment. If necessary, the carrier shall accompany the shipment a short distance within the receiving FRF premises.