Protest of Army Contract Award

International Harvester Company protested the award of a contract by the Army for the manufacture and delivery of 177 Rough Terrain Container Handlers with top-handlers. International maintained that the awardee's bid was nonresponsive because (1) it provided only one mode of transportation even though the solicitation provided the Government with the option of deciding the most economical mode of transportation for delivery; (2) the item in the awardee's bid did not comply with the payload weight limitation for highway transport; (3) the awardee's bid did not offer to supply required data items; (4) the awardee altered the bid acceptance period in its bid after bid opening; and (5) the bid acceptance period in the awardee's bid is ambiguous. The protest was denied on all counts. Failure of the bidder to furnish all of the transportation data did not make the bid nonresponsive, since the firm signed the required form committing itself to deliver to designated points at the Government's option. The awardee proposed under step one of the procurement to furnish the item capable of disassembly to meet the weight specification for highway transport. The bidder submitted forms not returned with the bid package that demonstrated obligation to supply data items in accordance with specifications. The period for bid acceptance was not made a material requirement in this procurement.