B -- RAILROAD WAYBILL SAMPLE DATA COLLECTION, EDITING AND ANALYSIS

Notice Date

April 30, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW, Mail Stop 50, Washington, DC, 20590

ZIP Code

20590

Solicitation Number

Reference-Number-PR-210134017

Response Due

June 5, 2001

Point of Contact

Gail Boger, Contract Specialist, Phone 202/493-6152, Fax 202/493-6171, Email gail.boger@fra.dot.gov -- Illona Williams, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 493-6130, Fax (202) 493-6171, Email

E-Mail Address

Gail Boger (gail.boger@fra.dot.gov)

Description

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is seeking qualification statements from sources capable of collecting and editing prospective railroad Waybill Samples for calendar years 2002 through 2006. Railinc, a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), has been providing these services for the past 16 years. Unless another qualified source is available, it is anticipated that a "sole source" contract will be negotiated with Railinc for the follow-on requirements for years 2002 through 2006. The Waybill Sample is a yearly sample of carload waybills for terminated shipments by rail carriers. The Government requires railroads to submit waybill sample data if, in any of the three preceding years, they terminated on their lines at least 4,500 revenue carloads. These railroads may file Waybill Sample information by using either: (1) authenticated copies of a sample of audited revenue waybills (the manual system) or (2) a computer generated sample containing specified information (the computerized system or MRI). The Waybill Sample identifies originating and terminating freight stations, the names of all railroads participating in the movement, the point of all railroad interchange, the number of cars, the car types, the movement weight in hundredweights, the commodity and the freight revenue. The names of the shipper and consignee are not included in the data. Other data in the sample such as the origin and destination Freight Station Accounting Code (FSAC) and seven-digit Standard Transportation Commodity Code (STCC) may permit the identification of a shipper and consignee. Thus, the data in this raw form can disclose each railroad's significant customers and also the rate at which it transports the traffic. This information is proprietary and protected from release to the public. Data from the Railroad Waybill Sample are used as input to many government projects, analyses, and studies. Federal agencies (Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, etc) use the Waybill Sample as part of their information base. The Waybill Sample is also used by States as a major source of information for developing state transportation plans. In addition, non-government groups seek access to Waybill Sample data for such uses as market surveys, development of verified statements in Federal and State formal proceedings, forecast of rail equipment requirements economic analysis and forecasts, academic research, etc. The contractor will also collect and summarize from non-sampled railroads the data required by 49 C.F.R. 1244.2(f). This data is an accounting for all rail traffic terminating in the United States that was not subject to sampling by the Waybill Sample collection process. The 2002 Waybill Sample is expected to contain approximately 600,000 records. In addition to editing the selected records, the contractor will add a number of fields to each record. These additional fields require the contractor to have access to a rail network model and a proper miling algorithm. The contractor will also need access to a number of industry reference files (IRF) such as the Standard Transportation Commodity Codes (STCC), The Standard Point Location Code (SPLC), files giving the physical characteristic of rail cars, and a number of different geographic codes; i.e., BEA, county and state FIPS, and census regions. The incumbent contractor, Railinc, owns the computer programs that are being used currently to edit the sample. AAR also holds the copyrights to most of the IRFs, and the American Trucking Association owns the copyright on the SPLC. The rail network model and miling algorithm currently being used, are owned by ALK Associates, Inc. of Princeton, New Jersey. The FRA has developed a rail network model that may be utilized in place of the currently used Railinc model; however, if the contractor uses this alternative government-owned model, a separate miling algorithm will have to be developed by the contractor. It is the responsibility of the contractor to make all arrangements necessary for access to the required Industry Reference Files (IRF). The contractor assumes all costs of using the required IRFs and any other copyrighted materials. The sample is received as a mix of hardcopy waybills and computer selected records. For 2000, less than 3 percent of the records were received as hardcopy waybills requiring the contractor to enter the data manually. The Government does not expect this mix to change over the next five years; however, the nation's railroads decide which sampling method to use, and can switch the sampling method with prior Government approval. The waybill processing cycle covers a 19-month period. The 2002 waybill sample processing cycles starts January 1, 2002 and ends July 31, 2003. This cycle covers movements that are added to the railroads revenue file before December 31, 2002, and that has not been reported in a previous waybill sample. Movements that fall within this period are included as long as they terminate and are reported by the railroad by April 30, 2003. The contractor then has until July 30, 2003 to complete the waybill data processing. Subsequent years follow the same cycle, starting on January 1 and ending 19 months later on July 31. For seven months of each year the contractor will be working on two different waybill sample years. The contract period shall extend approximately two months beyond the end of each processing cycle, and will end with the delivery and acceptance of the deliverable. The railroad waybill sample data to be processed under this statement of work will be delivered to the contractor on magnetic tape from the computerized system (Machine Readable Input, MRI) carriers and on hard copies of waybill sample documents from non-MRI carriers. The Contractor shall maintain copies of all records and waybill documentation received from railroads as well as its own records and documentation pertaining to the collection and processing of the waybill data for a period of 3 years from the date the Waybill Sample is delivered to and accepted by the Government. These records shall be available for Government review at any time. These records shall document all steps taken by the contractor in the follow-up requirement to assure that the railroads are providing complete and accurate data. The contractor will compare waybill records and documents with other sources to assure that all records required under 49 C.F.R. 1244 are submitted by the railroads and that all railroads required to submit documents do submit the required data. The contractor shall provide the Government with all necessary documentation to use the files, including but not limited to the following: 1. Standard Transportation Commodity Code Director; 2. Freight Station Accounting Code Director; and 3. A list of all railroads in the sample (originating, terminating, or bridge) with the reporting marks used by these carriers. The above documentation will be provided in both hardcopy and on Compact Disks (CDs). Interested sources must submit a fully descriptive statement of qualifications by 2:00 p.m., EST on June 5, 2001. Interested sources are responsible for assuring that qualification statements clearly indicate the capability to perform the required tasks. Qualification statements shall be limited to no more that twenty (20) pages, including a description of organizational and individual knowledge and working experience with: development and use of transportation traffic flow algorithms; Railroad Waybill practices; the railroad transportation industry in general; data processing techniques and prior projects of a similar nature, including names, addresses and telephone numbers for client representatives. Resumes of key personnel who would be assigned to manage and implement the required work should be included with the 20-page limit. Qualification statements may be submitted to the above address, faxed to 202-366-6171 or e-mail to gail.boger@fra.dot.gov.

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010502/BSOL003.HTM (D-120 SN50K6M3)