Protest of Navy Contract Award for Transportation Operations and Maintenance Services

A firm protested a Navy contract award for transportation operations and vehicle maintenance services, contending that the Navy's award decision was unreasonable and inconsistent with the evaluation criteria. GAO held that: (1) although the protester enhanced its proposal after discussions, the technical evaluation board did not increase the protester's ratings under any of the three technical evaluation factors; (2) the Navy failed to accurately document any meaningful technical differences between the protester's bid and the awardee's bid; and (3) the awardee had not performed any contracts of similar size contrary to the evaluation report. Accordingly, the protest was sustained, and GAO recommended that the Navy: (1) amend the solicitation to clarify the bid preparation requirements; (2) reopen discussions and reevaluate proposals; (3) terminate the award if another bidder offers the best value; and (4) reimburse the protester for its protest costs.