>In the Wilma watch, it appears Landstar is on a list of no
>bid contractors who may get investigated for high cost
>contracts involved in the Katrina fiasco. They got a nice
>plug on CNN this morning for providing trucks, planes, etc.
>along with other companies providing other services. Next
>story was on the Vacation cruisers Bush admin lined up but
>never used. Appears that things go better when you have
>friends in high places...
I was looking into becoming a government service provider for IT and what I have to do to qualify is unreal just as a subcontractor. The complexity of FEMA/DHS and GSA is mind boggling and to become a tendered provider is a mess. If I was only a woman, I could get the help to move through the red tape.
But with that said, I can understand that people don’t get it with these things and many companies would love to have these so called “no bid” contract but reality is the government biding process is measured in weeks and months not hours and days and they make it complex because they like to protect their job. As someone who has done disaster work I can tell you it is really hard to have several companies trying to work in unison to move freight to where it is needed or setup to be deployed. The logistics of the entire operation (even a small flood disaster) is as mind boggling as FEMA itself. So when you need things moved, the victims don’t care who moves it.
Oh yea one other thing, the likeliness that there is only one contract is slim, there may be several contracts involved with different agencies and departments within the agencies. And if you don’t think that these contracts are not scrutinized, just remember that the GAO will most likely review each fulfilled contracted because the congress will want to know what the performance of the vendor was like to complain about President Bush.
There is a site that you can register your services, National Emergency Resource Registry.
