SafeSpect Product Support FSS Justification posting.pdf

FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE (FSS) SOLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

Reference: SafeSpect Product Support Sole Source Justification

Upon the basis of the following justification, prepared in accordance with the ordering instructions at GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b) and 8.401(b), 538.7104-3(b)(2), I approve this sole source acquisition.

(i) Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "FSS Sole Source Justification."

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Office of Acquisitions Management (OAM), 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC 20590

(ii) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The S-92 Digital Factory is a key component of the Department’s “1DOT IT” vision, designed to strengthen both immediate and long-term technological capabilities while ensuring alignment with the IT Strategic Plan. As part of this unified structure, S-92 enables collaborative, mission-driven delivery by bringing together digital solution development, analytics, and application operations under a single, streamlined model.

Focused on execution, S-92 ensures that existing initiatives across agencies such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and Maritime Administration (MARAD) continue to meet their delivery commitments while identifying opportunities for convergence and reuse. At the same time, it enables the development of new digital solutions through standardized, transparent processes aligned with Department-wide priorities.

By operating within a broader ecosystem of Shared Services, S-92 benefits from consistent governance, technology standards, and enablement capabilities. This integrated approach enhances coordination across teams, improves visibility into IT investments, and supports scalable, agile delivery. Ultimately, the S-92 Digital Factory drives operational efficiency, improves user experience, and accelerates digital transformation in support of the Department’s mission.

S-92 has a continued need for software development services to expand the capabilities of SafeSpect—its next-generation crash, inspection, and investigation platform. This includes ongoing operational support for the existing inspections module, as well as developing new features for crash and investigation management.

https://www.acquisition.gov/fss-ordering-procedures https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/page_file_uploads/far-companion.pdf

The primary objective of this acquisition is to continue to provide support, maintenance, and enhancements to SafeSpect. FMCSA is advancing its mission to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). To achieve this mission, FMCSA relies on an integrated safety ecosystem composed of crash reporting, roadside inspections, and carrier investigations. These core programs enable the Agency to identify risks, enforce compliance, and drive data-informed safety decisions across the commercial transportation industry through SafeSpect, a modern, integrated platform that supports inspection and investigation activities and incorporates crash data reporting.

SafeSpect is being developed and maintained under S92 that supports FMCSA by standardizing delivery, accelerating development, and enabling scalable, reusable solutions across programs. To modernize inspection operations, S-92 developed and deployed SafeSpect, its next-generation inspection platform. While SafeSpect has already been deployed for inspection operations and crash-related capabilities are in place, the platform continues to mature through ongoing maintenance, enhancement, and expansion, including the development of a new investigation module. As part of the S-92 vision, SafeSpect is being positioned not only as an FMCSA solution, but as an enterprise platform capable of supporting inspection and investigation efforts across multiple DOT modes.

A continued innovative technical approach is needed for FMCSA and realize the objectives outlined in SafeSpect: Product Support SOO. While inspection and crash capabilities are already operational, the investigation module within SafeSpect is currently under development. This effort represents a critical step toward completing the platform by enabling deeper, system-level analysis of carrier safety and supporting enforcement actions.

The estimated value, inclusive of a 12-month base plus one (1) 12-month option periods is $8,976,308.97.

(iii) The authority and supporting rationale, and if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service :

An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the ordering procedures would result in unacceptable delays.

SafeSpect: Product Support contract should be awarded to Sohum Systems LLC, the current vendor, due to several critical considerations, First, it is a unified platform that integrates crash, inspection, and investigation functions into a cohesive safety ecosystem that requires specialized knowledge and a steep learning curve. Sohum Systems LLC, as the incumbent contractor, has the necessary expertise to operate and maintain the system without delays or disruptions. Transitioning to a new vendor would necessitate significant time and resources for training and knowledge transfer, potentially compromising the continuity and effectiveness of contract work under non-negotiable time constraints.

Second, A transition to a new contractor would make it impossible to meet FMCSA's upcoming mission-critical milestones. FMCSA's leadership has established a non-negotiable directive: Safespect system must be fully capable of handling Inspections/Investigations/Crash Module by next summer (June 2027). During this specific window, FMCSA will not only continue development of critical investigation module but also work on seamless integration with other mission critical system

If FMCSA were to utilize a competitive acquisition strategy, and decide on a new contractor, the absolute earliest a new contract could be awarded is the first week of September 2026. Current DOT and FMCSA security processing, credentialing, and onboarding timelines for new contractor personnel average two (2) months without any unusual roadblocks. Consequently, the very first engineer from a newly awarded contractor would not be able to log into the system, view the source code, or assess the FMCSA tech stack until November 2026.

Upon gaining initial access in November, the new team would require several additional months of architectural discovery, codebase review, and federal rulemaking familiarization. Quality recommendations and functional API deployment would not realistically occur until end of January or early February 2027. This leads to only 3 months of core development time. Reiterating the 1DOT IT mission, a new contractor would be forced to re-forge vital interpersonal and inter-agency technical relationships, potentially delaying any actionable progress. Sohum Systems LLC is the only vendor physically and technically positioned to meet the June 2027 deployment mandate.

Given these factors, awarding the contract to Sohum Systems LLC as a sole source is in the best interest of FMCSA and will safeguard both operational efficiency and mission-critical activities which include stringent deployment mandates. It is more efficient for S- 92 to award this task order to Sohum Systems LLC to provide consistency, quality, and continuity of support of the SafeSpect project requirements that are part of a highly visible IT investment.

The nature of the effort of the SafeSpect effort and its integral role in S-92 (FMCSA)’s Safety mission, transitioning the remaining work to a different contractor would introduce significant risks and inefficiencies.

Prior development completed by Sohum Systems LLC is important since SafeSpect is being engineered as a scalable, reusable platform that can support not only FMCSA but also inspection and investigation programs across other DOT modes, enabling a unified enterprise approach to safety enforcement and operational efficiency. As the platform evolves, Sohum Systems LLC has been able to provide a successful pilot in March 2022, SafeSpect Inspection was fully deployed in February 2023 and is now actively used in the field. While SafeSpect has already been deployed for inspection operations and crash-related capabilities are in place, the platform continues to mature through ongoing maintenance, enhancement, and expansion, including the development of a new investigation module. As part of the S-92 vision, SafeSpect is being positioned not only as an FMCSA solution, but as an enterprise platform capable of supporting inspection and investigation efforts across multiple DOT modes.

(iv) A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with GSAM/R 538.7102-2(d)(2) and 538.7104-2(a)(3).

Prior to award, the Contracting Officer (CO) will ensure that the final negotiated price for this order is fair and reasonable. The fixed hourly rates and pricing for the required services are established under the vendor’s FSS contract have already determined prices to be fair and reasonable. Furthermore, the CO in coordination with the COR will evaluate the proposed mix of labor categories and total labor hours to ensure the overall total price is reasonable and represents the best value to the Government.

(v) (vi) A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

No additional market research was conducted for the SafeSpect: Product Support because it can only be performed by Sohum Systems LLC. However, market research is being performed to support the future competition of the operations and maintenance support services procurement that will be a follow-on to this requirement. The requested services are available under Sohum’s FSS contract.

(vi) Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

(vii) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

Currently, the Government is not able to remove or overcome the barriers to competition to fulfil the continuation of development of the SafeSpect. Upon completion of this action, future competitions for the SafeSpect development and support will no longer be sole sourced. The successful maintenance and subsequent changes of the SafeSpect: Product Support will allow the Department to solicit competitive orders for SafeSpect in the future.

Certification & Approvals Signature Page

(viii) The ordering activity contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

ORIGNAL SIGNED

Mark Miller, Team Lead Contracting Officer Office of Acquisitions Management

ORIGINAL SIGNED

Sabrina Phillips, Contracting Officer

(ix) Evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for limited sources) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

Supreet Kaur, Contracting Officer’s Representative Office of the Chief Digital and Information Officer

Additional Approvals and Signatures

Michele Jennings

Chief of the Contracting Office

Matt Cox Competition Advocate Office of Administration