TRANSCOM | The Contracting Education Academy

November 12, 2020 By cs

DoD’s $7.2 billion moving contract included ‘pervasive’ violations of procurement rules

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) overturned the Defense Department’s $7.2 billion contract to move service members’ household goods around the world because of what the independent bid arbiter called “pervasive” errors in the contracting process that prejudiced two losing bidders, according to two newly-released legal decisions.

GAO found U.S. Transportation Command, the agency responsible for the new Global Household Goods contract (GHC), ran afoul of federal contracting rules in no less than five key areas, beginning with serious questions about whether TRANSCOM’s chosen bidder, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC), was eligible to win the contract in the first place.

The redacted decisions shed new light on the office’s rationale for telling TRANSCOM it should reevaluate bids in the GHC procurement. GAO first announced its verdict in two protests that challenged the GHC award on Oct. 21.

Both of the losing bidders who protested the contract award — HomeSafe Alliance and Connected Global Solutions — alleged that ARC wasn’t eligible for the contract because its parent company had a recent history of criminal and civil misconduct that it failed to disclose.

GAO didn’t explicitly agree with that position, but did find that TRANSCOM hadn’t done nearly enough of an investigation to credibly come to the conclusion that ARC was a responsible contractor.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-news/2020/11/dods-7-2b-moving-contract-included-pervasive-violations-of-procurement-rules/

October 29, 2020 By cs

Pentagon loses 2 bid protests that challenged $7 billion moving contract

The Pentagon will likely need to redo its award of a $7.2 billion contract intended to transform the military’s household goods moving system after two losing bidders won their cases before an independent arbiter on last week.

The Government Accountability Office agreed with numerous challenges two losing bidders brought after U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) awarded the contract to American Roll-On-Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC), pulled the contract back for corrective action, changed its mind on the need for corrective action and then re-awarded the contract to the same firm.

GAO hasn’t yet released the full text of its decisions in the bid protests, saying they need to be scrubbed of procurement-sensitive information before they’re made public. But a statement the office issued Wednesday indicated the protest arbiter agreed with nearly all of the legal issues the protesters raised — a highly unusual circumstance in a government bid protest.

Both protestors — HomeSafe Alliance, LLC and Connected Global Solutions, LLC (CGSL) — had argued that ARC should have been ineligible for the award because of prior misconduct by its parent company. GAO appeared to agree with that position, or at least concluded that TRANSCOM didn’t do enough to verify that ARC was a responsible bidder, according to its statement.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/10/pentagon-loses-two-bid-protests-that-challenged-7-billion-moving-contract/

July 24, 2020 By cs

Two firms renew legal challenges to DoD’s $7 billion moving contract

A Pentagon contract meant to completely overhaul the military’s system for moving service members’ belongings around the world is once again under protest.

The same two companies who had initially challenged the $7.2 billion Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) in May filed new bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week, meaning the contract could continue to be tied up until Oct. 21, the due date for GAO to rule on the latest round of challenges.

GAO dismissed protests by Connected Global Alliance LLC, and HomeSafe Alliance LLC late last month after U.S. Transportation Command pledged to take corrective action on at least one of the issues they raised in their complaints. But less than two weeks later, TRANSCOM announced it wouldn’t be taking any corrective action after all, and re-awarded the contract to the same vendor it initially picked for the award, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC).

“The decision to re-award GHC in light of the serious issues raised is extremely disappointing,” Al Thompson, HomeSafe’s CEO said in a statement. “We are confident GAO will agree that errors have been made on a major contract that touches every member of the armed forces and their families.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/07/two-firms-renew-legal-challenges-to-dods-7b-moving-contract/

See earlier article about this subject at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/2020/07/09/transcom-allegations-unsubstantiated-awards-7-2-billion-contract-to-privatize-household-goods-moves/

July 9, 2020 By cs

TRANSCOM: Allegations ‘unsubstantiated,’ awards $7.2 billion contract to privatize household goods moves

U.S. Transportation Command officials have confirmed their award to a New Jersey company of a $7.2 billion contract to outsource management of service members’ household goods, according to a statement from the command.

Allegations made against the company, American Roll On Roll Off Carrier Group, of Parsippany, N.J., were “unsubstantiated,” TRANSCOM officials said, resulting in the confirmation of the award Monday.

The $7.2 billion contract covers a nine-month transition period and three-year base period. But if all the options are exercised, the contract will be worth about $20 billion over nine years. The contract doesn’t affect service members’ moves currently under way; all household goods moves will continue under the current system, managed by TRANSCOM, until February, 2021.

“Team ARC remains committed to our proposal to provide exceptional customer service to TRANSCOM and the service members,” said ARC CEO Eric Ebeling, in a statement. “We look forward to getting started on the [Global Household Goods Contract.]”

TRANSCOM had previously pulled back the contract for the review, and notified the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of its intent to review the allegations on June 9.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/2020/06/29/transcom-allegations-unsubstantiated-awards-72b-contract-to-privatize-household-goods-moves/

Also see: TRANSCOM offers explanation for reversal on corrective action, but it’s difficult to square with publicly-available evidence at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2020/07/dods-7b-household-goods-contract-takes-an-even-stranger-turn/

June 18, 2018 By AMK

GAO sustains Oracle’s ‘other transaction authority’ protest

GAO’s much-anticipated decision in Oracle America, Inc. confirms that GAO will not hesitate to review the details of an agency’s use of its Other Transaction Authority (OTA) in lieu of issuing a procurement contract.

GAO determined that the US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) both: (a) failed to properly provide for a follow-on production contract in its initial “prototype OTA” instrument, and (b) issued its sole-source production order before the prototype was complete, in violation of the requirements of the statute that provides OTA.

The Oracle decision acts as a shot across the bow to agencies exploring OTA agreements as alternatives to traditional contracting. OTA is not new, but the recent advent of using OTA for follow-on production contracts, combined with increased government interest in using creative alternatives to traditional procurement procedures, has made OTA agreements particularly popular in recent years. While GAO will not review an agency’s award decision once it properly elects to utilize an OTA agreement, GAO will examine the transaction to assess whether the agency properly chose to use an OTA agreement instead of a procurement contract. That is the context in which GAO sustained Oracle’s protest of TRANSCOM’s OTA award. GAO did not seek to limit TRANSCOM’s ability to use OTA, and specifically declined to find that the agency was obligated to use FAR-based procurement. Rather, GAO identified specific process flaws and implied that had the agency written its prototype OTA award slightly differently, and waited slightly longer for completion of the prototype project before issuing its follow-on production order, there may not have been a problem from GAO’s perspective.

The Oracle decision does not prevent any agency from seeking to obtain the flexibility and lower administrative burden that comes with OTA, but instead cautions that GAO will not shy away from policing compliance with the strict letter of the statutory provisions that provide OTA.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=708740

The Pentagon will likely need to redo its award of a $7.2 billion contract intended to transform the military’s household goods moving system after two losing bidders won their cases before an independent arbiter on last week.

A Pentagon contract meant to completely overhaul the military’s system for moving service members’ belongings around the world is once again under protest.

GAO’s much-anticipated decision in Oracle America, Inc. confirms that GAO will not hesitate to review the details of an agency’s use of its Other Transaction Authority (OTA) in lieu of issuing a procurement contract.

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