United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) has unveiled a new timetable for awarding the government’s military moving contract, as the process stalled again.
The new schedule came as TRANSCOM withdrew the contract that had initially been awarded to American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier Group (ARC), following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the previous contract process.
The GAO held up complaints by HomeSafe Alliance and Connected Global Solutions about the original decision to award the contract to ARC. It also suggested that if, after the new process, TRANSCOM again deems ARC’s proposal the best value, it should carry out a new responsibility review, as per its report.
The contract includes around 600,000 domestic and international shipments every year and, over 10 years, will be worth an estimated US$20bn.
The organisation requested revised proposals from the four leading bidders, including ARC, which will be presented in January 2021, following a submission deadline of 2 December 2020. It expects to award the contract in early June 2021.
TRANSCOM said that it will ‘thoroughly, fairly, and completely re-evaluate the four most competitive offers and select the one that presents the best overall benefit and the highest quality of service for our service members, DOD civilians, and their families.’
Military weight allowances
In other US moving news, according to a report in the Military Times, US military services are looking to increase the weight allowance for moves, possibly from next summer. Military service members are given their weight allowance according to their rank and family status.
Biden and immigration laws
Meanwhile, the recent election of Joe Biden as President of the US may prove beneficial to the mobility industry if it leads to the revision of immigration policies that restrict inward movement into the country.
A report by Forbes said that, while challenges to immigration law changes were likely, Biden would have the opportunity to reverse orders by the Trump administration that would have reduced legal immigration by almost 49 per cent in 2021. These measures had followed the suspension of the H-1B visa programme established by George HW Bush to assist companies wishing to import specialist labour.
