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Panoptic Enterprises' FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH

DATE: January 27, 2004

SUBJECT: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); Transportation Industry Standard Practices

SOURCE: Federal Register, January 27, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 17, page 4003

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

ACTION: Proposed Rule

SYNOPSIS: It is proposed that the FAR be amended to implement changes to the Interstate Transportation Act, which abolished tariff-filing requirements for motor carriers of freight and the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and changes resulting from the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) amendments that require use of commercial bills of lading for domestic shipments.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more on the FMR amendments that replaced government bills of lading (GBL) with commercial bills of lading (CBL), see the April 26, 2000, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Management Regulation (FMR); Transportation Payment and Audit"; the October 6, 2000, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Management Regulation (FMR); Transportation Management"; and the September 24, 2001, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Management Regulation (FMR); Transportation Management and Transportation Payment and Audit."

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule are due on or before March 29, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (MVP), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4035, ATTN: Laurie Duarte, Washington, DC 20405, or by e-mail to farcase.2002-005@gsa.gov. Cite "FAR Case 2002-005" in all correspondence related to this proposed rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeritta Parnell, 202-501-4082.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: This proposed rule would amend the FAR to implement changes to the Interstate Transportation Act and the FMR.

• The Interstate Transportation Act has been substantially amended in recent years, most notably by the Trucking Industry Reform Act of 1994, which abolished tariff-filing requirements for motor carriers of freight, and by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Termination Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-88), which abolished the ICC.
  
  
• Amendments to the FMR in 2000 and 2001 retired the Standard Forms 1103 and 1203, Government Bill of Lading, for domestic freight and household goods shipments, and required the use of CBLs for domestic shipments.

To implement these changes, the following changes to the FAR would be made:

• The sections comprising FAR Subpart 42.14, Traffic and Transportation Management, would be moved to FAR Part 47, Transportation.
  
  
• Definitions of "bill of lading" (which includes "commercial bill of lading" and "government bill of lading"), "government rate tenders," "household goods," "noncontiguous domestic trade," and "release/declared value" are added to FAR 47.001, Definitions.
  
  
• New paragraph (a) would be added to FAR 47.101, Policies, and it would state, "For domestic shipments, the contracting officer shall authorize shipments on commercial bills of lading (CBL's). Government bills of lading (GBL's) may be used for international or noncontiguous domestic trade shipments or when otherwise authorized."
  
  
• FAR 47.103, Transportation Payment and Audit Regulation, which currently states that the GBL "shall generally be used for the transportation of property of the United States for which the government pays the transportation charges directly to commercial carriers," would be revised to reference FMR Part 102-118, Transportation Payment and Audit, as the applicable regulation "governing the bill of lading, documentation, payment, and audit of transportation services acquired by the United States government" (proposed FAR 47.103-1, General).
  
  
• FAR 47.104, Government Rate Tenders Under Sections 10721 of the Interstate Commerce Act (and FAR 47.104-1 through FAR 47.104-5) would be revised to change references to "49 U.S.C. 10721" to "49 U.S.C. 10721 and 13712" to make it clear that government rate tenders can be used in certain situations for the transportation of household goods by rail carrier (authorized by 49 U.S.C. 10721), as well as by motor carriers, water carrier, and freight forwarder (authorized by 49 U.S.C. 13712 and the definition of "carrier" in 49 U.S.C. 12102). This same change would be made to FAR Subpart 47.2, Contracts for Transportation or for Transportation-Related Services (specifically, FAR 47.200, Scope of Subpart).
  
  In addition, FAR 47.104 is currently merely a section heading for FAR 47.104-1 through FAR 47.104-5. This proposed rule would change the title of FAR 47.104 to "Government Rate Tenders Under Sections 10721 and 13712 of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 10721 and 13712)," and add the following text: "This subpart explains statutory authority for common carriers subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board (motor carrier, water carrier, freight forwarder, rail carrier) to offer to transport persons or property for the account of the United States without charge or at 'a rate reduced from the applicable commercial rate'. Reduced rates are offered in a Government rate tender. Additional information for civilian agencies is available in the Federal Management Regulation (41 CFR Chapter 102) and for DOD in the Defense Transportation Regulation (DoD 4500.9-R)."
  
  
• FAR 47.303, Standard Delivery Terms and Contract Clauses (specifically, FAR 47.303-1, F.o.b. Origin; FAR 47.303-3, F.o.b. Origin, Freight Allowed; and FAR 47.303-4, F.o.b. Origin, Freight Prepaid); FAR 52.247-29, F.o.b. Origin; FAR 52.247-31, F.o.b. Origin, Freight Allowed; FAR 52.247-32, F.o.b. Origin, Freight Prepaid; and FAR 52.247-33, F.o.b. Origin, with Differentials, would be revised to reflect that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prescribes commercial zones at 49 CFR Part 372, Subpart B.
  
  
• FAR 52.242-10, F.o.b. Origin -- Government Bills of Lading or Prepaid Postage, and FAR 52.242-11, F.o.b. Origin -- Government Bills of Lading or Indicia Mail, would be deleted.
  
  
• FAR 52.242-12, Report of Shipment (REPSHIP), would be redesignated as FAR 52.247-68 and revised.
  
  
• FAR 52.247-3, Capability to Perform a Contract for the Relocation of a Federal Office, would be revised to replace "Interstate Commerce Commission" with "Surface Transportation Board."
  
  
• Other conforming and editorial changes would be made to FAR Part 47 and its corresponding clauses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Panoptic Enterprises at 703-451-5953 or by e-mail to Panoptic@FedGovContracts.com.

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