[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4848-4849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2325]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Proposed Implementation of the Defense Table of Official 
Distances (DTOD) in the DoD Freight Program

agency: Military Traffic Management Command, DoD.

action: Final notice (policy statement).

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summary: The Department of Defense (DoD) has decided as a matter of 
procurement policy and internal agency procedure to change the distance 
calculation source for payment and audit under DoD freight program. 
Beginning on the effective date set forth below, the DoD will use the 
DTOD for computing highway distances for freight shipments, hazardous 
material shipments, and overweight/overdimensional shipments. Carriers 
and providers participating in the DoD freight program must agree to be 
bound by the DTOD distance calculation for payment and audit purposes 
in all procurements using mileage-based rates. This policy decision is 
in furtherance of DoD's goal to use a single integrated, electronic 
distance calculation source for its travel entitlement, passenger 
traffic, personal property, and freight programs.

effective date: April 1, 1999.

for further information contact: Mr. Ed Dickerson (703) 681-6870 or Ms. 
Patty Maloney (703) 681-6586, Military Traffic Management Command, 
ATTN: MTTM-O, Room 108, 5611 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-
5050.

supplementary information:

1. Background

    In furtherance of DoD's goal of making its transportation programs, 
including travel entitlement, passenger traffic, personal property, and 
freight, more standard, economical and efficient, the DoD Comptroller 
tasked MTMC to find a commercially available, integrated, automated 
distance calculation source capable of supporting all DoD 
transportation and travel related requirements. After an extensive 
proof-of-concept and market analysis phase, MTMC contracted for 
delivery and installation of a commercial-off-the-shelf distance 
calculation system adaptable to DoD transportation and entitlement 
programs. The DTOD, commercially known as PC*MILER by ALK Associates, 
Inc., will become the DoD standard, automated source for surface 
vehicular distance information worldwide. A notice of proposed 
implementation of DTOD in the DoD freight transportation program was 
published in the Federal Register, vol. 63, no. 178, pages 49338-49339, 
Tuesday, September 15, 1998. In response to this notice, 14 comments 
were received; of which 10 were from freight carriers, three from 
carrier associations, and one from Rand McNally. The comments and 
responses are as follows:
    Comment: ALK's PC*MILER is a cost-effective database and would 
benefit small businesses.
    Response: MTMC is aware that DTOD's commercial counterpart, ALK's 
PC*MILER, is currently used successfully in the commercial sector by 
shippers and carriers of various sizes and business objectives. MTMC 
believes that DTOD can be fully integrated with existing commercial 
transportation systems and can be used by DoD shippers and carriers 
with equal success.
    Comment: The cost to purchase and maintain a separate distance 
calculation product for DoD shipments is too high.
    Response: MTMC is aware of the economic impact implementation of 
DTOD may have on freight carriers, particularly small businesses. 
Therefore, MTMC did not mandate that carriers purchase and maintain 
DTOD in order to participate in the DoD freight program. Instead, MTMC 
only requires that participating carriers agree to be bound by DTOD 
mileage for payment and audit purposes. MTMC believes that carriers may 
choose to adapt to the DTOD implementation in a variety of ways, to 
include:
    (1) Carriers not purchasing DTOD may rely on the payment process to 
identify the distance used for payment; (2) Carriers may subscribe to 
the DTOD-compliant commercial product (PC*MILER) through the Internet 
for an estimated $375 per 500 lookups; (3) Carriers may purchase and 
install ALK's PC*MILER in a manner best suited to their own business 
strategies and computer operations; (4) Carriers may explore the 
possibility of acquiring hard copy versions of PC*MILER; (5) Carriers 
may rely on the comparison of variances between Rand McNally's 
Milemaker and ALK's PC*MILER distances for the 124 busiest traffic 
lanes. Copies of the comparison are available on request. Additionally, 
MTMC is exploring automated methods of annotating all GBL's to reflect 
the DTOD distance.
    Comment: Serving the commercial market and participating in the DoD 
freight program will require carriers to purchase and maintain two 
different systms--one for DoD and another for commercial customers.
    Response: MTMC does not require carriers to purchase PC*MILER and 
maintain two different distance systems. Carriers may continue to use 
the mileage software they are currently using. However, for DoD 
shipments, payment and audit will be based on the DTOD distance 
calculations. Carriers will have the options listed in the first 
comment or other options suited to each carrier's business strategy/
business relationship and market situation.
    Comment: DTOD is a DoD-unique product and not the commercial 
standard in the freight industry.
    Response: DTOD is a commercial product and is, therefore, 
consistent with commercial business practices. DTOD is based on ALK's 
PC*MILER,

[[Page 4849]]

which is a commercial-off-the-shelf product modified to include DoD 
standards point of location codes (SPLC) and several locations within 
CONUS and overseas. Use of DTOD will move DoD closer to a single, 
automated, and widely used commercial standard for all its various 
transportation programs. DTOD and PC*MILER will be subject to the same 
version control process and will feature delivery systems compatible 
with current commercial usage for like products.
    Comment: Carrier information systems use AS400 and Unix operating 
systems. It is not clear whether DTOD will run on these larger systems.
    Response: DoD has chosen to use a Windows NT operating system. 
However, carriers are free to license a PC*MILER version that will run 
on an operating system of their choice. ALK currently has versions of 
PC*MILER for AS400 and Unix operating systems.
    Comment: Many small businesses do not have updated computer 
capability or do not use computers.
    Response: MTMC realizes that all carriers do not operate their 
businesses in the same way. However, current and future business 
practices are centered on the use of computers in one way or another. 
As the business process changes to embrace principles of electronic 
commerce (e.g., electronic data interchange and electronic funds 
transfer), MTMC is anxious to capitalize on the economies and 
efficiencies those changes represent. MTMC is confident that commercial 
shippers and transportation providers are moving in the same direction.
    Comment: PC*MILER is unproven in industry and lacks version 
control.
    Response: Currently, over 9500 shippers and carriers in commercial 
transportation are using PC*MILER. The DTOD project office, in 
conjunction with the software vendor, will maintain precise versions 
control of the distance software to ensure all parties (finance 
centers, audit agencies, shippers, and carriers) have the same version 
of DTOD/PC*MILER at the same time.
    Comment: DoD's proposed implementation of DTOD in its freight 
program violates the Regulatory Flexibility Act by failing to include 
an initial regulatory flexibility analysis.
    Response: DoD's decision to adopt and implement a single, 
integrated mileage calculation source is a procurement policy decision 
that is directly related to the basis DoD will use to pay for 
commercial transportation services. The decision and steps taken to 
implement DTOD in DoD's freight program relate to public contracts and 
are exempt from the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612. This 
policy decision to implement a single distance calculation source for 
internal agency travel entitlement and procurement purposes is not 
considered rule making within the meaning of the Administrative 
Procedure Act or the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

2. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Implementation of this policy change in DoD's freight program 
involves public contracts and is designed to standardize distance 
calculation in the payment and audit process. This change is not 
considered rule making within the meaning of the Administrative 
Procedures Act or the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612.

3. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3051, et seq., does not 
apply because no information collection reporting or records keeping 
responsibilities are imposed on offerors, contractors, or members of 
the public.
David E. Cook,
Col, USAF, Director, JTMO.
[FR Doc. 99-2325 Filed 1-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M