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Every bid, found and prepared, while you run your business.

We find the set-aside contracts that fit your firm, prepare the brief, and track what changes. You bid. Janitorial and grounds, SDVOSB and 8(a). Three signals, one ranking: the Lane Score tells you whether an opportunity fits your firm, how urgent it is, and whether it is worth a bid — without asking you to read every solicitation yourself.

Every notice in your digest is evaluated using three independent signals. Here is what each one measures and why they are kept separate.

Watch Pathfinder in about a minute

Make one clear call from your next digest

  1. Choose one notice from your next digest.
  2. Read the reason and record Will Bid, Consider, or Pass through the email.
  3. A qualified Pass is success: it keeps a poor-fit opportunity out of your active pipeline.

If no notice is suitable, wait for the next digest or adjust your existing firm profile. You do not need to generate a document to make useful progress.

A solicitation may warrant a Bid Brief after you choose to pursue it. An eligible Sources Sought or RFI may warrant a Capability Statement to describe your capabilities during agency market research. Review the notice's full response instructions and send the response yourself. FedLane.us does not submit it. See the worked examples and the input checklist.

What the call is based on

Synthetic teaching examples: the notices and firms below are invented. These are not live opportunities, generated customer documents, or records of completed QA. Each example separates notice facts from the firm's own statements and identifies what still needs checking.

Bid on a synthetic Solicitation

Illustrative notice facts
  • Illustrative solicitation for SDVOSB janitorial services at three sites in northern Virginia.
  • The illustrative notice states NAICS 561720, an annual budget of $180,000–$220,000, and a response due 14 days after this example's starting point. It does not state incumbent information.
Firm-reported facts
  • Illustrative firm self-reports SDVOSB certification, janitorial work, northern Virginia coverage, and a $100,000–$250,000 annual contract target. These are the firm's statements, not independently verified status.
  • The firm has not reported whether it can cover every shift or site requirement.
Reasoned call
Bid: the stated set-aside, trade, geography, and value band align with the firm's reported facts.
What remains uncertain
Confirm the full performance work statement, site access requirements, and staffing capacity before deciding to submit.
Preparation document: Bid Brief
Illustrative Bid Brief excerpt: The stated budget fits your target band, and the work is in your reported service area. Staffing for every shift remains unconfirmed. Verify the site schedule and current certification status before committing proposal time.
Customer's next action
Open the notice, confirm the missing operational facts, then record Bid or Pass in the pipeline.

Consider on a synthetic Sources Sought / RFI

Illustrative notice facts
  • An illustrative Sources Sought asks firms to describe campus grounds-maintenance experience and submit relevant project examples within ten days of this example's starting point.
  • It is market research, not a solicitation or a promise of an award opportunity.
  • The notice does not state a final contract value, acquisition method, or future set-aside decision.
Firm-reported facts
  • Illustrative firm self-reports grounds maintenance in the requested geography and one completed campus project.
  • The firm has not supplied the project's dates or an authorized reference.
Reasoned call
Consider: the firm appears relevant, but the notice is seeking market information rather than bids.
What remains uncertain
Confirm the requested response format and whether the firm can support the capabilities it chooses to describe.
Preparation document: Capability Statement
Illustrative Capability Statement excerpt: Our firm provides campus grounds maintenance in the requested service area. Relevant experience includes one completed campus project. Add the actual scope, dates, and authorized reference from your records before use; these facts are not supplied in this example.
Customer's next action
Decide whether to respond, complete the missing project facts, and review the requested format and additional questions. A Capability Statement may be only part of the response. The customer sends it; FedLane.us does not.

Pass on a synthetic Solicitation

Illustrative notice facts
  • Illustrative solicitation is reserved for an eligible small-business category but requires service in a geography outside the firm's reported coverage.
  • The excerpt does not provide enough facts to establish a practical delivery plan.
  • No response date is supplied in this illustrative excerpt; the deadline is unknown.
Firm-reported facts
  • Illustrative firm self-reports a different service area and no confirmed partner for this location.
  • No assumption is made about new capacity, registration status, or subcontracting availability.
Reasoned call
Pass: the stated location does not fit the firm's reported operating coverage.
What remains uncertain
If the firm's coverage changes, review the current notice directly; this example does not predict eligibility or a result.
Customer's next action
Record Pass through the digest email or pipeline. A qualified Pass is a useful decision, not a failure.

Lane match

Lane match measures how well a notice matches the lane you declared at signup — your specific set-aside type and NAICS code combination. It is computed from the raw SAM.gov notice and checks for set-aside alignment, NAICS match, estimated value within your band, and relevant scope language.

Grounding-strict: every lane match score requires verbatim citations from the notice text. Nothing is inferred or guessed — each judgment must be backed by a direct quote from the solicitation. A notice with thin information gets a conservative score, not a confident one.

Design rule: deadline proximity never affects lane match. A contract expiring tomorrow gets the same lane match as an identical contract with 60 days remaining. Urgency is handled separately.

Urgency Band

Urgency Band is a display-only deadline label — it tells you how much time you have, not whether you should bid. The four bands are: Today (due today), This Week (1–7 days), This Month (8–30 days), and Later (31+ days).

Urgency Band is never multiplied into lane match. A weak match due tomorrow does not outrank a strong match with three weeks left. The ranking is always fit-first, urgency as a tiebreaker — so the digest surfaces what is worth bidding, not what is about to expire.

The Will Bid / Consider / Pass call

The Will Bid / Consider / Pass call is a firm-aware recommendation available to Pathfinder subscribers. Unlike lane match (which evaluates notices against the lane in general), it evaluates each notice against your specific firm — your set-aside certifications, primary NAICS codes, typical contract value, and geography.

The assessment runs fresh for each digest. It returns a Will Bid / Consider / Pass recommendation with a 2–3 sentence rationale explaining the judgment. If your profile changes, next morning's recommendations reflect it.

Feedback loop: the thumbs up/down on each digest item feeds back into score calibration over time. A pattern of thumbs-down on a particular set-aside type or NAICS code surfaces in the alignment report and informs prompt tuning.

The Three-Check Review

Every Bid Brief and Capability Statement goes through three checks before it reaches you. If any check fails, it does not ship as written.

  • Every claim is cited. Dates, dollar values, requirements, and eligibility statements each point to the line in the notice they came from. A claim with no source does not ship.
  • Eligibility is checked. Your set-aside certifications are checked against the solicitation. If you are not eligible, you are told that and why, and the deliverable stops there.
  • Errors are hunted, not assumed away. A separate automated reviewer tries to find what is wrong with the draft. Any single failed check stops it.
Held, not guessed: when a check fails because information is missing, you get one question. We do not fill the gap with an assumption. A Capability Statement that is held still ships as a version with no generated text. You decide whether to bid, and you submit.

Frequently asked questions

How does the digest work?
FedLane.us checks SAM.gov every day for new notices in your lane: Solicitations, Combined Synopsis/Solicitations, Presolicitations, and Sources Sought. Qualifying matches arrive with a plain-English summary, key dates, and a note on why each one matters for your firm. The Free tier sends a Monday coverage receipt even when no notice qualifies; Pathfinder sends weekday decision alerts.
Does it save time, or is it one more tool to babysit?
It saves time. The weekday email is the whole workflow: matched opportunities arrive already screened, each with our call, and you answer Will Bid, Consider, or Pass with one tap. There is nothing to configure beyond confirming your profile once. Amendments and deadlines on the bids you chose come to you, including in your own calendar. You never have to log in to stay current.
Does it give operators more time with actual people?
Yes. Searching and screening is the part a small firm's owner or one BD person loses hours to, and FedLane.us takes it over. One former business owner put that work at about 20 hours a month. Those hours go back to customers, contracting officers, teaming partners, and your own team.
What is a 'lane' in federal contracting?
A lane is a specific set-aside type combined with a NAICS industry code — the slice of the federal market where your firm has the best competitive position. For example: SDVOSB + NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services) is one lane.
How accurate is the scoring?
Scores improve continuously as you use the product — likes, clicks, and engagement all feed back into your lane model. You should see tighter, more relevant matches over the first few months.
What if I miss a deadline because the digest didn't arrive?
FedLane.us is a monitoring aid, not a compliance guarantee. Always verify deadlines directly on SAM.gov before submitting. Treat the digest as a first-pass filter, not a substitute for your own due diligence.
Can I watch more than one lane?
Yes, on Pathfinder. Free covers one lane, chosen at signup. Pathfinder covers up to 4 lanes for $149/mo; lanes beyond 4 are $99/mo each. For a set-aside and NAICS combination that is not listed yet, reach out to vince@fedlane.us. We reply within one business day.
Does urgency boost the fit score?
No — by design. Lane match and Urgency Band are kept completely separate. A mediocre contract with a deadline tomorrow never outranks a strong contract with time remaining. Urgency informs when you should act; lane match determines whether you should act at all.
What data does the Will Bid / Consider / Pass call use?
Your firm profile: set-aside certifications (SDVOSB, 8(a), HUBZone, etc.), primary NAICS codes, typical contract value band, and geography. The Will Bid / Consider / Pass call reads the raw notice and asks whether this specific opportunity is worth a bid for a firm exactly like yours.
Can scores be wrong?
Yes. The lane match and Will Bid / Consider / Pass scores are generated and grounded in the notice text, but no automated system is perfect. Thumbs up/down feedback on each digest item is how you correct the model — each signal is used to sharpen future scoring for your lane.
How is this different from SAM.gov email alerts?
SAM.gov saved searches do persist your filters and email you daily or weekly — that part works. Two things they do not do. First, they treat NAICS and set-aside as independent filters, so a saved search cannot require the pair: filter on NAICS alone and much of what arrives is not reserved for your firm, but turn the set-aside filter on and you lose every notice that leaves that field blank — 55% of them in facilities support. Second, they do not rank. Every match arrives equally weighted, with no fit score, no Will Bid, Consider, or Pass call, and no alert when a contract in your lane is coming up for recompete. FedLane.us matches the pair, then sends a curated shortlist: ranked by lane match, urgency-labeled, and (for Pathfinder subscribers) scored against your specific firm profile, with recompete tracking. The goal is zero noise, not zero misses.
What does grounding-strict mean for lane match?
Every lane match score requires verbatim citations from the notice text. Nothing is inferred or guessed — each key judgment (fit score, Will Bid, Consider, or Pass call, deadlines) must be backed by a direct quote from the solicitation. This prevents hallucinated confidence on notices with thin information.
How does FedLane.us check a Bid Brief or Capability Statement before I get it?
Every one goes through the Three-Check Review. Every claim must be cited to the notice, your set-aside eligibility is checked against the solicitation, and a separate automated reviewer tries to find what is wrong with the draft. Any single failed check stops it from shipping as written. If the failure is missing information, you get one question instead of a guess.
How often do scores update?
Lane match is scored once when a notice is first ingested, and re-scored if an amendment changes the content hash. Will Bid / Consider / Pass scores are generated fresh for each digest run — your firm profile is re-read each time, so if you update your profile, next morning's scores reflect it.
Back to FedLane.us

Capability Statement input worksheet

This optional worksheet does not save information or create a statement. Use it to collect facts you can verify.

Identity and certifications

Use the legal identity and certification status already supported by your records.

Field guidance and examples

CAGE code

Use the CAGE code in your registration record. Confirm the registration's current status separately.

Limit: Exactly 5 letters or numbers.

Example structure, not a credential: ABC12.

Firm facts

Use current, supportable figures. Revenue is optional context, not a claim of capacity.

Notes

Capabilities, staffing, and equipment

Describe work your firm can substantiate with actual people, equipment, or delivery experience.

Field guidance and examples

Capability statement and NAICS

Connect a real service to the staff, equipment, or process that enables it. Do not promise capacity you cannot document.

Limit: Capability statement: 600 characters. NAICS: 10 characters.

Example structure, not a claim: Provide [service] with [actual staff, equipment, or process] for [real work type].

Notes

Past performance

Use real completed or active work that a reviewer can understand and verify.

Field guidance and examples

Agency or customer and work delivered

Describe the actual work, location, time period, and scope. Avoid claiming an award, customer, or result you cannot verify.

Limit: Agency or customer: 200 characters. Work delivered: 600 characters.

Example structure, not a claim: Performed [scope] for [actual customer] in [location] from [start] to [end].

Contract details

Add only details supported by the contract file or authorized reference. Dates and status should match the work record.

Limit: Contract number: 80 characters. Reference: 200 characters. Up to 3 highlights, 300 characters each.

Notes

Differentiators and geographic coverage

Choose specific facts that distinguish your delivery, not unsupported superlatives.

Field guidance and examples

Differentiator

Write one specific, supportable distinction rather than a broad marketing claim.

Limit: 300 characters each.

Example structure, not a claim: [Delivery practice or credential] that supports [specific client need].

Geographic coverage

Name the states, regions, or delivery model your firm can actually support.

Limit: 300 characters.

Example structure, not a coverage claim: [States or region] with [on-site, remote, or travel] support.

Notes

Contacts

Provide a point of contact who can answer a government follow-up promptly.

Field guidance and examples

Primary point of contact

This contact is required. Confirm they can respond about the profile and proposed work.

Limit: Name and title: 120 characters. Email: 200 characters. Phone: 40 characters.

Secondary point of contact

Optional. Add only an authorized backup contact.

Limit: Name and title: 120 characters. Email: 200 characters. Phone: 40 characters.

Notes