A firm protested the award of a contract for 12 explosion-proof forklift trucks issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) under an invitation for bids. The protester contended that it was entitled to the award, because DLA should not have waived first article testing for the awardee without doing the same for the protester. Therefore, the protester would have been the low bidder. DLA evaluated...

DIGEST: PROTEST AGAINST CONTRACTING OFFICER'S DETERMINATION TO WAIVE FIRST ARTICLE TESTING IS DENIED BECAUSE THE PROTESTER HAS NOT SHOWN THAT THE DETERMINATION WAS ARBITRARY OR CAPRICIOUS. THE RECORD SHOWS THAT WAIVER WAS BASED ON (1) THE ADVICE OF TECHNICAL PERSONNEL THAT THE AWARDEE HAD SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED FIRST ARTICLE TESTING ON A SIMILAR (BUT SMALLER CAPACITY) TRUCK AND (2) IN 1968. DREXEL...