Industry Request For Information New US Army Heavy-Duty Flatcar for Limited Rate Production This is a request for information (RFI) only. There is no solicitation available. The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) is requesting information as part of its market research regarding the design, production and manufacturability of heavy-duty railway flatcars for limited rate production (LRP). This RFI, any following solicitation and award is classified under a) Product Service Code number 2220, Railroad Rolling Stock, and b) North American Industry Classification System number 336510, Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing. If a solicitation is issued in the future, it will be announced under Contract Opportunities via the System for Award Management (SAM) website (https://sam.gov/) and interested parties must comply with that announcement. This notice is for information only, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to solicit contractual offers or award contracts. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this notice is voluntary. Prior to release of the formal solicitation, the Government is not soliciting, nor will it accept, proposals as a result of this notice. The Government will not reimburse the cost of any submission in response to this notice. The entire cost of any submission will be at the sole expense of the source submitting the information. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within any written submission. The Government will not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked and clearly identified. Proprietary information received in response to this notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable laws, rules, regulations and authorities. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any questions submitted or information provided as a result of this notice. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative because of this notice. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued. Background and Requirement Summary USDOT Volpe Center, on behalf of the U.S. Army, intends to execute a design-build contract for the design, manufacture, and supply of up to five (5) heavy-duty railroad flatcars. This contract will provide a design and initial production railcars for field evaluation by the government before full-rate production is contracted separately at a future date. The solicitation and award is planned for Fiscal Year 2023. This contract will deliver a new railcar design (for government ownership) and will deliver up to five (5) fully-operational flatcars of this new design. This new heavy-duty flatcar is intended to replace the DODX 40000-series flatcars currently owned and in use by the Department of Defense. The DODX 40000-series flatcars provide the primary rail transportation capability for heavy, wide military tactical vehicles to include but not limited to; the M1 Abrams tank, the M109A6 Paladin 155 mm howitzer motor carriage and the M88 Recovery Vehicle. The U.S. Army intends to replace these railcars through a two-stage acquisition beginning with this initial design-build contract with LRP. The second stage will be a separate contract for full-rate production (FRP) over a multi-year timeframe. General Description and Principal Dimensions The railcar shall be built as a wide-capable, heavy-duty flatcar with four two-axle trucks connected with a span bolster. Heavy-duty railcar QTTX 131025 was used as an example for this preferred truck and span bolster configuration. Deck length shall be a minimum of 68 feet and a maximum of 80 feet. Width over platform deck is to be the maximum width available in conformance with AAR Plate J, but not less than 10’5”. Tapering at the ends of the deck is permissible. Vehicle loads shall be restrained using chain tiedown assemblies anchored to recessed channels in the deck. Deck surface shall be flat and continuous (non-articulating, without swivel platforms, and without depressed center). Deck surface shall be steel. The minimum load carrying capacity shall be 160 tons. Gross rail load shall not exceed 65,750 pounds per axle when carrying two 80-ton heavy-tracked vehicles. The railcars shall be capable of loading U.S.-military vehicles under their own power via stationary railyard end ramps (circus loading). The railcars shall be able to load and unload using end or side ramps, without damage to railcar or lading, and to support as live loads: Tracked vehicles with individual weights as high as 80 tons evenly distributed over 14 road wheels (7 on each side) having a total wheelbase of 180” Wheeled vehicles with individual weights as high as 50 tons unevenly distributed on 5 axles over a total wheelbase of 315” with axles loads and spacing as follows: Axle 1: 11.5 tons Axle 2: 11.3 tons at 58.7” from Axle 1 Axle 3: 8.2 tons at 137.5” from Axle 2 Axle 4: 9.8 tons at 58.8” from Axle 3 Axle 5: 9.2 tons at 60” from Axle 4. (Notional wheeled vehicle profile based on PLS M1074A1 military vehicle.) Length of deck to be optimized to the maximum permissible up to 80 feet, given Plate J and minimum 10’5” width. Height of deck surface at end sills shall not exceed a nominal 51” with 48” deck height being optimum. No portion of the railcar, except safety appliances to the minimum extent mandated plus nominal ½” tolerance, shall project more than a nominal 1” above the deck surface. The railcar is exempt from raised handholds. Grab holes will be made available in their place. Truck performance shall be taken into account to eliminate truck hunting when moving loaded and empty. The initial production railcars shall be warrantied for design and workmanship for a period of one (1) year after delivery to the government. Design Intellectual Property Sharing All design intellectual property shall be released to the US Government for unrestricted modification and use in follow on railcar FRP through a separate contract at a later time. Upon railcar delivery, contractor shall provide copies of the fully editable, native electronic engineering design files reflecting as-built condition, non-editable (PDF) versions of the as-built plan set, and full manufacturing specifications reflecting as-built condition. Proposed Scheduling Requirements Period of performance for LRP completion of this initial contract, including full design and delivery of up to five (5) railcars, shall not exceed 24 months. FRP for this new railcar is expected to commence in 2028 through a separate contract. The government intends to use the railcar design delivered by this initial contract. The government plans to purchase approximately 100 heavy-duty flatcars per year each year beginning in 2028 and ending in 2032. Specific RFI and Questions The following RFI and questions are to be answered and forwarded the Volpe Center via email. Responses should be as concise as possible and address only the information requested. 1. If your business firm were to design and manufacture the railcar described in this RFI, are there any major problems recognized with the feasibility of the proposed characteristics as compared to general industry practice or regulations? 2. Is your business firm capable and interested in competing for this proposed contract for design and initial production of up to five (5) heavy-duty flatcars? Would your firm intend to subcontract any part of the work? If so, which portions? 3. What would be the time period for the initial design and engineering phase of the project? What would be the time period for the manufacturing phase of the five (5) heavy-duty railcars? What would be the time period to manufacture a single heavy-duty rail car in production? Please comment on the feasibility of these questions based on a planned period of performance of 24 months. 4. Please provide an estimated cost of the design effort required for this railcar and an estimated, per railcar cost of the initial production for up to five (5) heavy-duty flatcars. Estimates provided in this RFI will be used to inform government financial planning. Any estimate provided will not bind the vendor to that price in the future and will not be taken into account during any future competitive solicitation. 5. Is your business firm capable and interested in competing for the future, full production contract planned to begin in 2028? If so, please provide a per railcar cost estimate for the full-rate production. Any estimate provided will not bind the vendor to that price in the future and will not be taken into account during any future competitive solicitation. 6. Please comment on the planned, limited rate production in the original contract vs. a full rate production of approximately 100 railcars per year over a multi-year timeframe contract beginning in 2028. Does the planned rate of production affect your firm’s interest in competing for the full-rate production? If possible, please generalize per car cost difference between this proposed gradual acquisition approach and a bulk purchase where the entire government railcar requirement is purchased over 1 to 3 years at a rate of 250 railcars per year. What rate of production is optimum? 7. Please comment on the feasibility of providing the design to the government for future production. Note that the future, full production contract will be a separate competitive solicitation. 8. Please comment on the feasibility of the warranty period specified. Are there any concerns or limitations to a warranty as compared to industry standard practice? RFI Response Instructions Interested parties should provide details of their products and capabilities in writing via email to
[email protected],
[email protected] and
[email protected]. Please respond by the response date 3 June 2022, 2:30 pm EST. The responses should be single spaced in Times New Roman font, 12 point, in black font color. Other than these instructions, there are no page limits or format restrictions. Have your responses made as concise as possible and address only the information requested. Any questions should be submitted electronically to the email addresses above by 30 May 2022, 2:30 pm EST. No phone calls will be accepted. Failure to completely answer any of the requests may result in your firm not being considered as part of this market research. This is a RFI only that will be used for planning purposes only and NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses will not be returned. Your firm must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) to do business with the Government and bid on any contracts that could come out of this RFI. Please ensure you are registered in SAM.gov and all your Reps and Certs are up to date.