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B-129712, FEB. 26, 1957

B-129712 Feb 26, 1957
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GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION: FURTHER REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF NOVEMBER 2. ON THE GROUND THAT YOU WERE. CARRIER'S POINT OF SHIPMENT AT OR NEAR CONTRACTOR'S PLANT WAS ISSUED ON JULY 30. THERE WAS STATED: "FOR THE PURPOSES OF BID EVALUATION. POINT/S) TO THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION/S) LISTED BELOW EACH ITEM WILL BE ADDED TO THE VEHICLE BID PRICE TO DETERMINE LOWEST OVERALL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.'. BIDS WERE OPENED ON AUGUST 29. THE BID OF THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY WAS $865. THE BID OF YOUR COMPANY WAS $861. THERE WAS ADDED FOR FREIGHT THE AMOUNT OF $26. WERE $892. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER WAS THE LOW BIDDER AND AWARD OF CONTRACT NO. DA-20-113-ORD-21503 WAS MADE TO THE LATTER COMPANY ON OCTOBER 15.

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B-129712, FEB. 26, 1957

TO GMC TRUCK AND COACH DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION:

FURTHER REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF NOVEMBER 2, 1956, PROTESTING THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT TO THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY BY THE ORDNANCE TANK AUTOMOTIVE CENTER, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, PURSUANT TO INVITATION FOR BIDS NO. ORD-20-113-57-335, ON THE GROUND THAT YOU WERE, IN FACT, THE LOW BIDDER.

THE INVITATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF 168 TRUCK TRACTORS, 5-TON 4 BY 2, F.O.B., CARRIER'S POINT OF SHIPMENT AT OR NEAR CONTRACTOR'S PLANT WAS ISSUED ON JULY 30, 1956. ON CONTINUATION SHEET NO. 3E UNDER THE HEADING TRANSPORTATION COST EVALUATION, THERE WAS STATED:

"FOR THE PURPOSES OF BID EVALUATION, TRANSPORTATION COSTS FROM F.O.B. POINT/S) TO THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION/S) LISTED BELOW EACH ITEM WILL BE ADDED TO THE VEHICLE BID PRICE TO DETERMINE LOWEST OVERALL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.'

BIDS WERE OPENED ON AUGUST 29, 1956. THE BID OF THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY WAS $865,675.72. THE BID OF YOUR COMPANY WAS $861,364. IN EVALUATING THE BIDS PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE INVITATION, THERE WAS ADDED FOR FREIGHT THE AMOUNT OF $26,800.10 TO THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER BID AND $34,885.50 TO YOUR BID. TOTAL EVALUATED BID PRICES INCLUDING FREIGHT, THEREFORE, WERE $892,475.82 FOR INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER AND $896,249.50 FOR GMC. ON THE BASIS OF THAT EVALUATION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER WAS THE LOW BIDDER AND AWARD OF CONTRACT NO. DA-20-113-ORD-21503 WAS MADE TO THE LATTER COMPANY ON OCTOBER 15, 1956. YOU PROTESTED AGAINST THE AWARD ON THE BASIS THAT CERTAIN ARBITRARIES HAD BEEN EXCLUDED IN THE DETERMINATION OF FREIGHT COSTS AND YOU CONCLUDED THAT THE BID PRICES INCLUDING FREIGHT COSTS PROPERLY COMPUTED WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A DETERMINATION THAT YOUR BID WAS LOW BY $281.52. AS THE RESULT OF THE PROTEST, INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER WAS ADVISED TO INCUR NO FURTHER COSTS UNDER THE CONTRACT UNTIL THE VALIDITY OF THE AWARD HAD BEEN DETERMINED.

OUR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION HAS COMPUTED THE FREIGHT COSTS, SHOWN IN THE ENCLOSED COPIES OF TABULAR STATEMENTS, WHICH WOULD HAVE RESULTED FROM AWARD TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER AND TO YOU UNDER FOUR DIFFERENT METHODS. UNDER EACH OF THESE METHODS, AS INDICATED BELOW, THE BID OF INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER, INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION COSTS, IS LOW. EACH METHOD AND THE FREIGHT COSTS COMPUTED THEREUNDER ARE EXPLAINED BELOW AND IN THE ENCLOSURE.

I. DRIVE-AWAY METHOD

THE COMPUTATIONS UNDER THIS METHOD ARE BASED UPON RATES AS PUBLISHED FOR DRIVE-AWAY DUAL SERVICE PLUS FULL ARBITRARIES. DRIVE-AWAY DUAL SERVICE IS THE MOVEMENT OF TWO VEHICLES AS A UNIT, ONE DRIVING UNDER ITS OWN POWER AND TOWING THE OTHER. BASED UPON DRIVE-AWAY CHARGES, THE TOTAL BID PRICES INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION, FOR GMC, IS $906,888.04 AND FOR INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER $906,766.80 MAKING INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER'S BID LOWER BY $121.24.

II. DRIVE-BARGE-DRIVE METHOD

THE COMPUTATIONS UNDER THIS METHOD ARE THE SAME AS THOSE FOR THE FIRST METHOD EXCEPT AS TO THE VEHICLES DESTINED FOR ANNISTON ORDNANCE DEPOT AND RED RIVER ARSENAL. FOR THESE TWO DESTINATIONS TRANSPORTATION CHARGES ARE LOWER WHEN COMPUTED VIA DRIVE-BARGE-DRIVE ROUTES. USING DRIVE-BARGE-DRIVE CHARGES FOR THESE TWO DESTINATIONS AND DRIVEAWAY CHARGES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DESTINATIONS, THE TOTAL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT ON THE GMC BID IS $906,520.04 AS COMPARED TO A COST OF $906,490.80 ON THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER BID, MAKING THE LATTER BID LOW BY $29.24.

III. DRIVE-AWAY METHOD WITH CERTAIN STATE ARBITRARIES ELIMINATED

THE COMPUTATIONS UNDER THIS METHOD ARE THE SAME AS THOSE UNDER THE FIRST METHOD EXCEPT THAT PART OF THE STATE ARBITRARIES SHOWN IN SUPPLEMENT NO. 3, DEVUYST TARIFF NO. 2F, MF-I.C.C. NO. 28 AS APPLICABLE TO SHIPMENTS FOR DELIVERY IN THE STATES OF WASHINGTON AND CALIFORNIA HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY LETTER OF JANUARY 22, 1957, FROM THE PUBLISHER OF THE TARIFF THAT THE ARBITRARY SHOWN FOR WASHINGTON INCLUDED A $5 CHARGE FOR IDAHO AND A $5 CHARGE FOR MONTANA, AND THE ARBITRARY SHOWN FOR CALIFORNIA INCLUDED A $15 CHARGE FOR CALIFORNIA. ARBITRARIES FOR IDAHO, MONTANA AND CALIFORNIA APPLY ONLY TO VEHICLES MOVING THROUGH OR INTO THOSE STATES FOR SALE OR FOR OFFER FOR SALE. SINCE THE TRUCKS TO BE TRANSPORTED ARE NOT WITHIN SUCH CATEGORIES, THE FEES FOR THESE THREE STATES HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE TRANSPORTATION COSTS. SEE SECTIONS 49-1501 AND 49- 1503 OF THE IDAHO CODE, SECTIONS 53-630 AND 53-638 OF THE REVISED CODES OF MONTANA (APPLICABLE ONLY TO TRANSPORTATION OF VEHICLES TO AGENTS OF MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS), SECTION 249.01, 249.05 (1), AND 249.05 (2) OF DEERINGS VEHICLE CODE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND CLARK V. PAUL GRAY, INC., 306 U.S. 583. IT MAY BE NOTED AS A MATTER OF INFORMATION THAT SUPPLEMENT NO. 4 TO THE TARIFF CITED ABOVE AMENDED THE ARBITRARIES BY ELIMINATING THE FEES OF IDAHO, MONTANA AND CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, THE SUPPLEMENT DID NOT BECOME EFFECTIVE UNTIL AFTER BIDS WERE OPENED. ON THE BASIS OF THIS METHOD, ELIMINATING THE FEES OF IDAHO, MONTANA AND CALIFORNIA, BUT ASSUMING THE APPLICABILITY OF ANY OF THE ARBITRARIES (AND WE DO NOT HERE DECIDE THEIR APPLICABILITY), THE COST TO THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER BID OF $906,266.80 IS $621.24 LOWER THAN UNDER THE GMC BID OF $906,888.04.

IV. DRIVE-BARGE-DRIVE METHOD WITH CERTAIN STATE ARBITRARIES ELIMINATED

THIS METHOD IS THE SAME AS METHOD NO. 2 EXCEPT THAT THE FEES FOR THE STATES OF IDAHO, MONTANA AND CALIFORNIA HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. UNDER THIS METHOD, THE TOTAL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER BID IS $905,990.80 AS COMPARED TO A TOTAL COST UNDER THE GMC BID OF $906,520.04. THUS, THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER BID IS LOWER BY $529.24.

ON THE BASIS OF THE FOREGOING, IT IS CLEAR THAT UNDER ANY OF THE METHODS OF COMPUTING FREIGHT COSTS STATED ABOVE, THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY'S BID IS LOW. THE CONCLUSION IS REQUIRED, THEREFORE, THAT THE AWARD WAS PROPERLY MADE TO THAT COMPANY AND WE PERCEIVE NO BASIS FOR OBJECTION THERETO.

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