The Lane Score
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.
Lane Fit (0–100%)
Lane Fit measures how well a notice matches the lane you declared at signup — your specific set-aside typeSet-asideA federal contract reserved exclusively for firms with a specific small business certification. Large businesses cannot compete.Full glossary → and NAICS codeNAICS codeA 6-digit industry classification code. The federal government uses it to categorize contracts by trade — e.g., 561720 = Janitorial Services.Full glossary → combination. It is computed by an AI triage agent that reads the raw SAM.gov notice and checks for set-aside alignment, NAICS match, estimated value within your band, and relevant scope language.
Grounding-strict:Grounding-strictA scoring rule requiring every AI judgment to be backed by a verbatim quote from the notice text. Prevents the AI from inferring facts not stated in the document.Full glossary → every Lane Fit score requires verbatim citations from the notice text. The AI cannot infer or guess — 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.
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 Fit. A 40% Lane Fit contract due tomorrow does not outrank an 85% Lane Fit contract 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.
Scout Intelligence (Bid / Consider / Pass)
Scout Intelligence is a firm-aware recommendation available to Scout subscribers. Unlike Lane Fit (which evaluates notices against the lane in general), Scout Intelligence 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 Bid / Consider / Pass recommendation with a 2–3 sentence rationale explaining the judgment. If your profile changes, next morning's Scout Intelligence recommendations reflect it.
Frequently asked questions
- How does the digest work?
- FedLane 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; Scout sends weekday decision alerts.
- 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. Contractors who pick a lane and stick to it consistently outbid those who chase everything.
- 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 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 — reach out to vince@fedlane.us to set up additional lanes.
- Does urgency boost the fit score?
- No — by design. Lane Fit 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 Fit determines whether you should act at all.
- What data does Scout Intelligence use?
- Your firm profile: set-aside certifications (SDVOSB, 8(a), HUBZone, etc.), primary NAICS codes, typical contract value band, and geography. Scout Intelligence 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 Fit and Scout Intelligence scores are AI-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 — 53% of them in facilities support. Second, they do not rank. Every match arrives equally weighted, with no fit score, no bid/no-bid call, and no alert when a contract in your lane is coming up for recompete. FedLane matches the pair, then sends a curated shortlist: ranked by Lane Fit, urgency-labeled, and (for Scout subscribers) scored against your specific firm profile. The goal is 90 seconds to a decision, not another inbox to manage.
- What does grounding-strict mean for Lane Fit?
- Every Lane Fit score requires verbatim citations from the notice text. The AI is not allowed to infer or guess — each key judgment (fit score, bid/no-bid, deadlines) must be backed by a direct quote from the solicitation. This prevents hallucinated confidence on notices with thin information.
- How often do scores update?
- Lane Fit is scored once when a notice is first ingested, and re-scored if an amendment changes the content hash. Scout Intelligence 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.