Access to Real Time Truck Freight Rates

No. T8080-230560
Advance Contract Award Notice
Access to Real Time Truck Freight Rates

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

BACKGROUND:
TC requires timely access to a large repository of domestic and international truck freight rates broken down by market and load type in support of its performance monitoring functions. Access to an on-demand platform would address the need for crisper, timelier freight rate data permitting more detailed analyses by equipment type and by market.

DEFINITION OF REQUIREMENTS:
TC is seeking comprehensive domestic and transborder freight rate data to support the following functions:

• Measuring and monitoring truck freight rate trends by market, equipment type, and over time via an easy-to-use desktop application should provide more timely intelligence about the interaction between the demand and supply of truck transport by corridor.

• Better knowledge about the pricing of commercial vehicle operations, especially during times of disruption.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (MINIMUM ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Transport Canada is seeking a service provider who can provide a freight rate data platform that meets all of the mandatory requirements set out below. Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets all of the following requirements:
1) On-demand access to a web-based analytics platform for a period of one year.
a. The platform must be acceptable to industry security standards and allow users to login to access the data
b. Must have the capability to allow least 10 named users sign-in to access the platform and export data.
2) Daily refresh of freight rates, where available
3) An annual downloadable machine-readable archive of freight rate data at year-end
4) Broad coverage of all major domestic and transborder markets, nominally over 5,000 unique market segments or lanes
5) Coverage dating back to at least January 1, 2018
6) Ability to generate custom filters that can select from the following data elements:
a. Date range
b. Trailer type
c. Origin-Destination market
d. Distance band
7) Ability to select freight rate values in Canadian and American dollars
8) Ability to export data and performance measures to a machine-readable file (e.g. csv).
9) Information via a manual or on-line resources explaining how to use the service.
10) Phone, email, or online technical support for the duration of the subscription.

To demonstrate the statement of capabilities must include screen shots of the platform providing the date range, trailer type, lane (origin-destination), rate along with an export feature, a list in Excel of the lanes that are covered along with the date ranges covered for each of the lanes and a copy of the user guide in common format such as MS-Word or portable document format (PDF).
APPLICABILITY OF THE TRADE AGREEMENT(S) TO THE PROCUREMENT:
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:
a. Canada Free Trade Agreement
b. Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement
c. Canada–Chile Free Trade Agreement
d. Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement
e. Canada–Honduras Free Trade Agreement
f. Canada–Panama Free Trade Agreement
g. Canada–Peru Free Trade Agreement
h. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
i. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
j. Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement - Agreement on Trade Continuity
k. Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement
l. World Trade Organization–Agreement on Government Procurement

JUSTIFICATION FOR PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER:
The Contractor operates a “load board” which creates an online market for trucking services bringing together trucking firms offering equipment for hire and shippers and brokers offering loads for pickup and delivery. Spot prices for trucking services are established by the interplay of demand and supply over a wide range of city-pair markets and equipment types. Currently, the Contractor’s platform hosts nearly 20,000 participants and organizes over 8 million loads per year.
In operating this market, the Contractor collects a considerable amount of information about the details of these trades including freight rate, equipment types, and supply-demand conditions in each lane or market. This market information is exclusively owned by the firm and is commercialized via its subscription service which provides summary freight rate data in an easy-to-use web-based portal. By subscribing to its platform, customers receive access to the real-time load matching platform for ongoing monitoring of truck prices in domestic and transborder markets and can download the digital market data into machine-readable files for further analysis and research.
All freight rate data collected by the Contractor’s load board and disseminated by its subscription service are unique to the Contractor and cannot be obtained from any other vendor.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS REGULATIONS EXCEPTION:

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6 (d) that states “only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract”.
 
OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:
Contractor to Own IP Rights in Foreground Information

PERIOD OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT:
The proposed contract is for 5 years commencing from Contract award to March 31, 2029.

ESTIMATE COST:
The estimated value of the contract including option years is $390,000.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER:
Supplier: LoadLink Technologies
Address: 2 Robert Speck Parkway, Suite 900, Mississauga ON, L4Z1H8

SUPPLIERS’ RIGHT TO SUBMIT A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

CLOSING DATE FOR A SUBMISSION OF A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:
The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is August 15, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:
Inquiries and Statement of Capabilities are to be directed to:
Name: Maryse Babineau
Title: Procurement Officer
Department: Transport Canada
Tel: 506-378-4342
Email: maryse.babineau@tc.gc.ca