[Protest of DLA Contract Award for Different Types of Front-End Loaders]

A firm protested a Defense Logistics Agency contract award for front-end loaders, contending that the awardee: (1) offered a product that did not comply with the solicitation requirements; (2) based its transportation costs on incorrect data; (3) failed to correctly complete its bid; and (4) failed to timely extend its bid. GAO found that the: (1) solicitation permitted modifications to a current product; (2) awardee understated its product's dimensions and weight as a means of effecting a price reduction; (3) awardee's failure to designate the origin point was a minor irregularity that did not affect the bid's validity; and (4) awardee responded to an agency request for bid extensions on the first working day after the request and did not gain a competitive advantage over other bidders. Accordingly, the protest was denied.