On-Ramp Additional Contractors for Coeur d’Alene Nursery BPA

On-Ramp Additional Contractors for Coeur d’Alene Nursery BPA

The Forest Service intends to recompete the Coeur d’Alene Nursery Transportation BPA to establish a larger pool of vendors.  Section 3.4 of the basic agreement covers the on-ramping procedures. 

On Ramp Procedures.  The Government reserves the right to announce and issue this new solicitation for the purposes of: (i) adding additional Contractors to expeditiously meet the requirement as the need for increased assessments materialize; and (ii) increase the small business pool of Contractors; and (iii) increase competition. The Government may implement on-ramp procedures at any time by reopening the competition and utilizing the same basis of award established in the initial solicitation. Any resulting BPA(s) awarded will include the same terms and conditions as the current basic agreement. Implementing this procedure will not affect the overall period of performance for the basic agreement 1284LL24Q0013. 

Background:

The original solicitation is 1284LL24Q0013, originally posted to SAM.GOV on Marth 4th, 2024.

The Coeur d’Alene Nursery, operated by the Forest Service, is the National Forests and Grasslands' primary plant production facility in region 1 (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and northern Idaho). The Nursery also serves clients in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, and periodically other states. The Nursery primarily produces conifer tree seedlings for reforestation of federal, tribal, and state lands throughout the Region but also produces non-conifer seedlings, seed mixes, and other plant materials for restoration and revegetation efforts. These highly perishable and sensitive plant materials are stored in boxes before delivery, typically frozen or chilled, and must be maintained at appropriate temperature and humidity throughout the delivery process. Most plant materials are shipped from the Nursery during the annual planting season from March to June. However, a smaller volume is shipped in the fall planting season (September to October) and periodically throughout the rest of the year. Typical deliveries are of a volume and nature requiring a semi-truck or large cargo truck with climate control capacity. Deliveries usually consist of 10-20 pallets of boxes (15-25 boxes per pallet; standard boxes are approx. 14” H x 14” W x 28” L). Pallets are industry standard 48” x 48” or 40” x 48”, wrapped with packing materials, and labeled in keeping with industry standards. Average shipping volumes for past years have been 10,000-16,000 boxes annually. This translates to 35-45 delivery trips annually, with 30-35 occurring in spring and the remainder occurring throughout the rest of the year, primarily in the fall. Total delivery miles are estimated to be 8,000-15,000 loaded miles per year, although a minimum or maximum mileage is not guaranteed.
Delivery locations vary greatly in distance and infrastructure. Most delivery locations are within 500 miles of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Some locations are well established on paved roads and will receive a large semi-truck without issue, but some locations are remote and will require travel on gravel, poorly maintained, or steep and winding roads. Some deliveries are to very rural and underdeveloped areas. Delivery locations typically cannot unload trucks at a loading bay or with forklifts, so delivery trucks equipped with liftgates are appropriate. Some delivery locations are to established addresses and receipt points with forklifts, but some delivery locations are remote and will require special instructions and handtruck/lift-gate unloading. Due to the highly perishable nature of the plant materials and the volume of deliveries being processed during the shipping season, a high degree of communication and coordination is needed between personnel at the Nursery, the shipper, and personnel at receiving locations.

Addenda to Provision 52.212-1 paragraph (b) Submission of Offers:
1) Offerors must have an active entity registration in the System for Award Management in order to submit an offer. https://www.sam.gov/SAM/

2) Offers submitted in response to this solicitation shall include a technical proposal, a price proposal, and contractor representations and certifications.

a) Technical Proposal – The technical proposal shall address the evaluation factors in 52.212-2. At a minimum, the technical proposal shall include:

i) Experience Questionnaire – attached to this solicitation will be an experience questionnaire. When filling it out, answer the questions based on the requirement or service needed, such as refrigerated transportation.

iii) Technical Capability – Provide a narrative on what the capabilities are for your company and how those capabilities will satisfy the services required by the Coeur d’Alene Nursery.

iii) Past Performance –The government may use past performance information from any available source. If a company does not have past performance information available, information may be provided for predecessor companies, key personnel, or subcontractors. If there is no past performance information available, the offeror will receive a neutral rating in this factor.

b) Price Proposal – Since the shipping requirement can vary from transportation order to transportation order, the pricing proposals will be for evaluation only and not indicative of any requirement. Provide two quotes for two shipments highlighted in the items' schedule.

c) Representations and Certifications – Fill in the check boxes for provisions 52.204-24, 52.204-29, 52.212-3, and include a copy with your offer.

3) Submit documentation by emailing to shawn.trout@usda.gov so that it is delivered into this inbox by the due date and time. Emails should contain 3 separate attachments (Technical Proposal, Price Proposal, and Representations and Certifications) in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF format.

4) Address questions about this solicitation to Shawn Trout at Shawn.trout@usda.gov by March 12th, 2025; any questions asked after that time may not be answered.

5) All quotes and documentation for this solicitation will be due on March 14th, 2025, by 3:00PM EST.Please see attached combined solicitation synopsis for the full details.