[Federal Register: February 3, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 22)]
[Notices]
[Page 5616-5617]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03fe05-35]
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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:
thomasg@sddc.army.mil; 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