[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5616-5617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2052]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Mandatory Use of US Bank's Power Track System by Department of 
Defense Personal Property Transportation Service Providers (TSPs)

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command 
(SDDC), as the Traffic Manager for Department of Defense (DOD) Personal 
Property Program, is informing the TSP community of SDDC's mandatory 
requirement to use US Bank's PowerTrack System as the transaction and 
payment system for all DOD TSP's handling personal property. 
Furthermore, the use of SDDC's Centralized Web Application (CWA) will 
also be mandatory. This mandatory usage is effective 30 days from 
publication of this notice beginning with all TSP's who have a Letter 
of Intent (LOI) on file with participating sites. Each time a new site 
is added to Phase I, TSPs not participating in Phase I will have 30 
days to execute a Trading Partner Agreement with USBank and be 
PowerTrack certified. Implementation of PowerTrack at all Military 
Services and Coast Guard installations is the goal of Families First, 
which is the first step in moving toward the reengineered Personal 
Property Program of the future.
    This announcement is a follow-on to Federal Register notices 
published on June 5, 2003 (68 FR 33683) and September 29, 2003 (68 FR 
55947) proposing mandatory use of US Bank's Power Track System by 
Department of Defense Personal Property Transportation Service 
Providers. Effective 30 days from publication of this notice, they are 
required to have a Trading Partner Agreement with US Bank and be 
PowerTrack certified in order to participate in the DoD Personal 
Property Program. This notice affords TSP's ample time to plan for the 
use of PowerTrack. The Electronic Billing and Payment portion of the 
Families First Web site is located at http://www.sddc.army.mil, under 
Personal Property Program. This site offers industry access to updates 
on the Business Rules, Concept of Operations (CONOPS), System Interface 
Specifications and the latest information.

DATES: The initial rollout of PowerTrack and CWA to all sites began on 
March 29, 2004 and is scheduled to continue until June 30, 2005. The 
Evaluation Phase of

[[Page 5617]]

Phase I ran from March 29, 2004 to September 22, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Request for additional information may be sent by e-mail to: 
[email protected]; or by courier to: Military Surface Deployment 
Distribution Command, ATTN: SDPP-PD, Room 10N35-39 (George Thomas), 
Hoffman Building II, 200 Stovall Street, Alexandria, VA 22332-5000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. George Thomas at (703) 428-2237.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The initial rollout (see DATES) served as 
the Evaluation Period for the Phase I process, and involved a limited 
number of Personal Property Shipping Office's (PPSO) and TSP's. The 
implementation Phase started in March 2004 and expansion to the 
remaining PPSO's and TSP's is scheduled for completion on or about June 
30, 2005.
    New sites are added to Phase I on an ongoing basis. All TSPs who 
have LOIs on file at these added sites are required to become 
PowerTrack certified and participate as Phase I TSPs effective 30 days 
from the date the site is added to Phase I. An updated list of all 
Phase I participating sites is located on the SDDC Web site. It is 
important to note that during this period, the participating TSPs will 
continue to receive the 1% PowerTrack Surcharge reimbursement fee until 
International Winter 05 (IW05) and Domestic Winter 05 (DW05) or Defense 
Future Personal Property (DPS) Rates are in effect. The Rate 
Solicitation for both IW05 and DW05 will be available to TSPs on March 
15, 2005 and the rate filing period is scheduled for May 1, 2005 to 
July 15, 2005 with an effective date of October 1, 2005 for both 
cycles. For this reason, TSPs should file their rates for the IW05 and 
DW05 Winter Cycle and DPS assuming that PowerTrack and CWA will be 
used. DPS rates will be filed August 1-31, 2005 with an effective date 
of October 1, 2005.
    Transportation Service Providers wishing to transport personal 
property shipments for the DOD must have a Trading Partner agreement 
with US Bank and be PowerTrack certified for the electronic payment of 
commercial transportation services. It is important that TSPs begin the 
PowerTrack certification process immediately by calling US Bank at 1-
800-417-1844. Additional information on PowerTrack is available at 
http://www.usbank.com/powertrack. Only those TSPs that are PowerTrack 
certified will be eligible to receive personal property shipments.

I. Background

    On July 7, 1997, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) 
issued a memorandum, which required the reengineering of defense 
transportation documentation and financial processes as part of an 
effort to revolutionize DOD business practices across all Military 
Services and Agencies. A major component of the reengineering effort is 
the implementation of US Bank's PowerTrack System. PowerTrack has now 
been implemented for DOD freight and personal property shipments for 
all modes of transportation. In June 2002, the USTRANSCOM Personal 
Property report was released, and USTRANSCOM directed that work begin 
on the future Personal Property program. USTRANSCOM tasked SDDC, in 
conjunction with the Military Services and Industry, to map out 
Families First by August 31, 2002. As a part of the Families First 
effort, DOD declared that PowerTrack would be utilized as the 
commercial business-to-business payment system.
    To begin moving forward with Families First, SDDC developed a 
Concept of Operation (CONOPS) outlining the implementation of Phase I. 
Key elements of Phase I CONOPS are electronic bill payment and the CWA. 
The CWA will be used for approval authorization and for costing 
shipments, based on the current Military Rate Tender.

II. Objective

    The objective of Phase I is to implement the electronic bill 
payment portion of Families First for all Military Installations and 
DOD approved TSPs. The electronic bill payment processes for Phase I 
will:
     Use US Bank's PowerTrack system to pay Transportation 
Service Providers;
     Use CWA as a tool to track and approve services performed 
by Transportation Service Providers; and
     Provide information visibility for Stakeholders (Personal 
Property Shipping Offices, Military Services, U.S. Coast Guard, General 
Service Administration, Transportation Service Providers, etc.).

Regulation Flexibility Act

    This action is not considered rule making within the meaning of 
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3051 et seq., does not apply 
because no information collection or record keeping requirements are 
imposed on contractors, offerors or members of the public.

Thomas Hicks,
Chief, Personal Property Division.
[FR Doc. 05-2052 Filed 2-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M