RFI_FY25_Motor Fuel Price Data.docx

Department of Labor - OPLC Request for Information (RFI) Motor Fuel Price Data Subscription Contract for CPI-OPLC-BLS

SPECIAL NOTICE: SOURCES SOUGHT & REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice does not represent a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for information received as a result of this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests to include an invite to further explain/demonstrate aspects of their proposed approach. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Information provided in response to this RFI is submitted voluntarily and is not being requested as part of a solicitation for actual pricing.

PURPOSE OF RFI:

The purpose of this RFI is to gather information about potential subscription services to obtain price data for motor fuel for use in consumer vehicles.

Responses to this RFI will be reviewed by DOL for their applicability to the Government’s need and determined to be “Relevant” or “Irrelevant” to the above problem. Offerors of “Relevant” responses may be requested to demonstrate their approach and/or product to a Government panel of Subject Matter Experts to help DOL determine the best approach.

BACKGROUND:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has an ongoing interest in market data with which to analyze, evaluate, and improve the indexes it produces. CPI-OPLC-BLS requires continuous access to a subscription for daily price data for gasoline, diesel, and alternative motor fuels such as ethanol blends E15 and E85.

BLS is the principle Federal agency responsible for measuring price changes in the economy and constructs indexes using data collected from both households and business establishments. Because of the importance of BLS data, it is critical that the component indexes are accurate, timely, and relevant. To achieve this goal, BLS occasionally purchases price data for analysis. The motor fuel price data purchase is of additional importance as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has transitioned to using these price data in the index.

SCOPE

The primary goal of this acquisition is to obtain a subscription to allow for access to and the ability to download daily deliveries of crowd-sourced motor fuel price data. Data should have significant geographic coverage, including prices from gas stations in all 50 states and major cities. The following specific data elements are required:

· A Station ID or other unique station identifier for the station from which prices were collected

· A daily average price (including weekends and holidays) for each station and fuel type based on all reported prices for that day

· Fuel type, including regular, midgrade, and premium gasoline as well as diesel and ethanol blends E15 and E85

· State, zip code, street address, and latitude/longitude information for the station

· Number of valid reports that the daily average price calculated for each fuel type and station is based on

· An outlier removal process to detect and remove reported prices of questionable validity

RFI QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Company description, discussion of company capabilities, and general summary of approach to accomplishing the requirements listed in the Scope section of this RFI.

1. Historical information (description and length of time providing this service, as well as under which North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) XXXXXXXXX) to the public and other federal agencies.

1. Describe your type of business, (i.e., small, small disadvantaged, woman-owned, HUB Zone, serviced-disabled veteran-owned small business, large business, etc.), under NAICS XXXXXXXXX, which contains a size standard of XXXXXXXXXXX.

1. Does your company possess the capabilities to provide the entire range and scope of these requirements as described in the scope section? If not, please list which requirements your company can provide?

1. Does your company have industry analyst experts available that could be consulted regarding the data elements described in the Scope section of this RFI?

1. Is there a limit to the amount of data available for download per subscription?

1. Is there a limit to the amount of contact with industry analyst experts?

1. Does your company provide technical support if issues arise with access and downloading the data discussed in the Scope?

1. Is the data real time based on up to the minute market movements?

RESPONSES TO RFI

RFI responses shall conform to the format below and provide the following information:

1. Cover Letter – The cover letter must include the following information:

· Company name

· Company point of contact, telephone number and email address

· Date submitted

2. Offerors shall respond to each of the general questions.

3. If the offeror chooses not to respond to a question, indicate “no response.”

4. Submit a capabilities package that include the above considerations that demonstrate capabilities and expertise related to the information outlined. As part of the market research associated with this RFI, we are also seeking pricing information. Any pricing information received is to be Rough Order of Magnitude, and is solely for information-gathering and planning purposes.

5. Marketing and/or reference materials, if included, shall be placed at the end of the response, in an appendix.

6. Responses shall not exceed 30 pages, and should be submitted in Microsoft Word .doc or .docx formats, Times New Roman 11-point or 12-point font, with 1-inch margins minimum all around.

RFI SCHEDULE

Responses to the RFI shall be submitted via email to Daniel Garza at garza.daniel@dol.gov by 12:00PM EST on Tuesday, 04/22/2025.

Rachael Vargas Contracting Officer Email: Vargas.Rachael.N@dol.gov

Questions regarding this RFI shall be e-mailed to the above point of contact by 12:00PM EST on 04/16/2025. Questions and answers shall be posted as an amendment to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to edit any questions as needed to protect the identity of the source, but absent this consideration, the Government intends to quote each submitted question verbatim in its response.

DISCLAIMER

This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for information received in response to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Information provided in response to this RFI will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for determining how to proceed in the acquisition process for an agency-wide asset management system and may lead to the development of a Performance Work Statement for the system. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION, and multiple awards MAY be made.