The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of Response and Recovery has a requirement for Resource and Capability Transportation Support during Disasters (RCTSD) in U.S. Virgin Islands & Puerto Rico.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region II has the responsibility of supporting the disaster response and recovery efforts for the severely impacted United States territories of Puerto Rico (PR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Hurricanes Irma & Maria have brought unprecedented damages, therefore amplifying the response and recovery effort challenges that affected FEMA’s response to survivors located throughout the islands, specifically to those secluded areas like the mountain and inland regions. Accessibility issues due to damaged transportation infrastructure has survivors waiting longer periods of time to receive life-sustaining supplies.

A major part of the response and recovery effort revolves around supplying the affected area with Initial Response Resources (IRR). These include life-supporting and life-sustaining IRRs such as but not limited to water, meals, cots, tarps, plastic sheeting, blankets, sandbags, generators, and fuel which are needed to lessen the damage before or after a disaster. FEMA lacks readiness on these islands due to the deficiency of an IRR footprint, unavailable warehousing space and minimum full time FEMA/CORE personnel in the USVI & PR to support the magnitude of this response. Additionally, FEMA needs to move Inter-agency resources and support functions into the affected areas in order to support critical needs such as infrastructure, electricity and sewage repairs; provide medical requirements and services; and bring basic human needs like water and meals to those in need.

The objective is to establish Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle to obtain all-inclusive, multi-modal transportation and shipping services from a Continental United States (CONUS) point of origin to Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) point of need. Task Order award and execution will be driven by the response to the disaster and particular needs. FEMA has determined that a full suite of transportation services such as air, maritime, and ground transportation (including point of origin at both air/sea ports to destination) is key to fulfilling the requirement. In addition, cross-docking, warehousing services, essential equipment, and all necessary labor to fulfill such transportation services, are needed to successfully complete FEMA’s mission. This includes but is not limited to:

• 20-, 40- and/or 53-foot containers, trailer chassis, specialized trailers (e.g. flatbeds, lowboys, refrigerated);
• container/material handling equipment;
• specialized trucks (e.g. box trucks, 20 ft. pups, and lift gates);
• drayage services and robust cross-docking operations;
• surface line haul services;
• staging yards and storage;
• continuous sailing/shipping without interruption, with the exception of U.S. Coast Guard restrictions or the ship’s captain, on vessels due to hazardous weather;
• contractor shall be fully functional within 48 hours of task order award to provide operations for 24-hours a day, 7-days a week with all necessary Contractor labor and supervision; and
• asset tracking and management from the time of possession to time of delivery at destination.

These services and resources are required to facilitate movement of various containerized commodities/breakbulk cargo from the Continental United States to various ports in PR and the USVI, and designated distribution points on the islands.