Supplier Registration
For each of the CREATE Projects, one or more CREATE Partners leads the project. Some work is conducted by the railroad's own forces and some is contracted out. The railroads also conduct many other projects in the region other than CREATE and conduct those procurements individually. If you would like to become registered directly with the railroads, please see the links below and follow the directions to register.
Amtrak will do no direct procurements for CREATE. Some joint ventures with Metra are possible.
The diversity requirement on Amtrak procurements is 15 percent (10 percent minority and 5 percent women).
Procurement Levels
- For minor purchases (<$5,000) no competitive solicitation is required
- For purchases <$100,000, a competitive solicitation is required. Solicitation format, i.e., fax bid, mailed bids, is determined at the buyer’s discretion.
- Formal solicitations >$100,000 controlled bid opening, formal sealed responses opened at the same time and date. NOT A PUBLIC BID OPENING.
Contracting Requirements
- A minimum of $2 million general liability insurance
- Performance and payment bonds depend on the scope of work and level of risk. Bonds are 100 percent of total contract value.
- Amtrak provides RR protective liability insurance for contractors
- Requires that Amtrak be listed as an “additional insured”
- Contractor safety/orientation training is required – 3-4 hour class provided by Amtrak
Contractor Pre-certification (DBE Certification is a different process)
To get on the bidder’s list the prospective supplier must provide Amtrak Procurement Department with:
- One-pager on supplier’s commodities (e.g. corporate brochure)
- Name and contact information
This information should be sent to:
Mike Clauson
Senior Contracting Agent
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
525 W. Van Buren, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
312-880-5295
clausom@amtrak.com
DBE Certification: Application is obtained from Amtrak’s Diversity Compliance Office and returned to Amtrak for evaluation and certification. Procurement does not certify DBE Firms.
BNSF Contracting Requirements:
- DBEs must be certified via one of these national organizations:
- The National Minority Supplier Development Council
- Women’s Business Enterprises National Council (WBENC)
- Small Business Administration (SBA) (Disadvantaged, HubZone, and 8(a))
- BNSF will recognize DBEs certified under the Unified Certification Program
- Suppliers must have a safety awareness program
- Must have liability insurance of $5 million to $10 million
Supplier Registration
DBEs should register online under Supplier Registration:
- Go to www.bnsf.com
- Click on “Suppliers”
- Complete and submit the DBE Supplier Verification Form
- Provide a copy of certification
Belt Railway Company of Chicago
Procurement Contact:
Timothy Coffey
(708) 496-4112
tcoffey@beltrailway.com
Web site: www.cn.ca
Click “Suppliers” tab
Click “Learn how to become a CP Supplier”
Click on “learn about CPR policies and guidelines”
Click on DBE Registration Form and complete it
Indicate interest in CREATE projects in the “comments” section when submitting form
To be notified of CSX procurements, Suppliers must register with CSX.
Go to www.csx.com
Click on the “Suppliers” tab
Under “Forms” click on Supplier Registration and fill out the form.
Suppliers should state interest in CREATE via online application process.
Procurement Process
Metra follows 49 Code of Federal Regulations.
All solicitations are open and public on the website. Procurements are advertised in the Sun Times. For information on procurements visit the Metra website’s Purchasing section at: http://www.metrarr.com/matmgmt/
Contracting Requirements
All construction has bonding requirements.
Contracting Requirements
$5 million to $10 million insurance requirement
Procurement Process
Most rail work is handled internally, although there will be future contracting needs for grading, bridges, and engineering. Beginning in 2008 all work will be purchased through Norfolk Southern.
Future work anticipated includes 35 miles of IHB mainline that will be rebuilt from 2008-2010.
Procurement Process
NS publicly advertises all projects over $1 million in vehicles such as fwdodge.com.
NS issues a bid package including a sample contract and NS operating guidelines for contractors.
Contracting Requirements
- NS requires Employers' Liability insurance with limits of not less than $1MM per occurrence, and Commercial General Liability insurance with a combined single limit of $2MM per occurrence.
- Insurance coverage cannot be denied within 50 feet of a railroad.
- Bonding or a letter of credit is required for any project greater than $50,000. In some cases bonds may be waived jointly by the user department within NS and the procurement department (e.g. if there is a history of work with NS).
- New contractors are required to submit documentation on 3 projects of similar size and scope completed within the past five years, injury ratios, state licenses.
- Contractor's employees must participate in the e-RailSafe program (similar to all of the Class 1 railroads), and when successfully completed, the outcome is that the contractor's employee will be issued an identification badge.
Procurement Process
RFQs are distributed via closed invitation to registered suppliers.
Contracting specifications:
- General liability insurance is usually from $5 million to $10 million. Insurance can be required of up to $25 million on a very high risk project.
- UP requires that the railroad be named as an additional insurer
- Bonds may be required (e.g. in the case of a new contractor)
- Health and safety plan is required
- Minimum warranty of one year is required
- Dispute resolution will go to arbitration
- UP requires that a project manager be committed for the duration of a job, which is important for quality of work product.
If you are interested in becoming a service provider, complete the Bidder’s List Registration form under “Contract Services”at:
www.uprr.com/suppliers/index.shtml