Hours of Service of Drivers: Quality Driveaway, Inc. Application for Exemption, 5098-5099 [E7-1750]
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5098
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
ACTION:
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 22 / Friday, February 2, 2007 / Notices
Notice of Intent.
SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this
notice to advise the public that an
environmental impact statement will be
prepared for a proposed transportation
project in Bell County, Texas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Salvador Deocampo, District Engineer,
District A, Federal Highway
Administration, Texas Division, 300
East 8th Street, Rm 826, Austin, Texas
78701, Telephone 512–536–5950.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
FHWA, in cooperation with the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT),
will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for the proposed
extension of State Highway (SH) 201
from SH 195 to IH 35 in Bell County,
Texas. Note: This project is listed in the
Killeen-Temple Urban Transportation
(K–TUTS) 2030 Project Rankings (longrange transportation plan) as ‘‘SH 201
Extension, Construct 2 lane divided
roadway.’’ The project length is
approximately 17 miles long. Areas
within the cities of Killeen, Harker
Heights, Belton and Salado are included
in the study.
The proposed roadway is listed in the
Mobility 2030 Metropolitan
Transportation Plan, developed by the
K–TUTS for the region over the next 25
years. The SH 201 extension is
considered necessary to alleviate
congestion on US 190, improve traffic
flow in southern Bell County, and
provide direct access to the Killeen-Fort
Hood Regional Airport. The EIS will
evaluate a range of alternatives,
including the proposed action and the
alternative of no action.
Opportunities for public involvement
exist during scoping and public review
of the draft EIS. Two early scoping
meetings will be held to determine the
scope of environmental issues and
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.
The public scoping meetings will be
held on Monday, March 26, 2007, at the
Killeen Civic & Convention Center and
Visitors Bureau located at 3601 South
WS Young Drive, Killeen, Texas 76543
at 6:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, March 27,
2007, at the Salado Intermediate School
located at 550 Thomas Arnold Road,
Salado, Texas 76571 at 6:30 p.m. All
interested citizens are encouraged to
attend these meetings. Maps of the
study area will be displayed at each
meeting. This will be the first in a series
of meetings to involve the public in
preparing the EIS.
The EIS will evaluate potential
impacts from construction and
operation of the proposed roadway
including, but not limited to, the
following: transportation impacts
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:13 Feb 01, 2007
Jkt 211001
(construction detours, construction
traffic, and mobility improvement), air
quality, and noise impacts from
construction equipment and operation
of the facilities, water quality impacts
from construction area and roadway
storm water runoff, impacts to waters of
the United States including wetlands
from right-of-way encroachment,
impacts to historic and archeological
resources, impacts to floodplains, and
impacts and/or potential displacements
to residents and businesses, land use,
vegetation, wildlife, aesthetic and visual
resources, socioeconomic resources, and
cumulative impacts.
Letters describing the proposed action
and soliciting comments will be sent to
appropriate Federal, State and local
agencies, and private organizations and
citizens who have previously expressed
or are known to have interest in this
proposal. To ensure that the full range
of issues related to this proposed action
are addressed and all significant issues
identified, comments and suggestions
are invited from all interested parties.
Comments or questions concerning this
proposed action and the EIS should be
directed to FHWA at the address above.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning
and Construction. The regulations
implementing Executive Order 12372
regarding intergovernmental review of
Federal programs apply to this program.)
Issued: January 26, 2007.
Ted West,
Urban Programs Engineer.
[FR Doc. 07–433 Filed 2–1–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–22–M
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2007–27123]
Hours of Service of Drivers: Quality
Driveaway, Inc. Application for
Exemption
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of application for
exemption; request for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has
received from Quality Driveaway, Inc.
(Quality) an application for an
exemption from the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations regarding
maximum driving time for drivers of
passenger-carrying vehicles. The
exemption would allow Quality drivers
delivering new buses without any
passengers to be governed by the hoursof-service (HOS) requirements for
PO 00000
Frm 00101
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
drivers of property-carrying vehicles.
Quality states that the level of safety
will be equivalent or greater than the
level of safety that would be obtained by
complying with the HOS regulations for
drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles.
FMCSA requests public comment on
Quality’s application for exemption.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 5, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by DOT DMS Docket Number
FMCSA–2007–27123 using any of the
following methods:
• Web site: https://dmses.dot.gov/
submit/. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT
electronic docket site.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility;
U.S. Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building,
Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590–
0001.
• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building,
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the Agency name and docket
number for this notice. Note that all
comments received will be posted
without change to https://dms.dot.gov
including any personal information
provided. Please see the Privacy Act
heading for further information.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to https://
dms.dot.gov at any time or Room PL–
401 on the plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. The Docket
Management System (DMS) is available
24 hours each day, 365 days each year.
If you want us to notify you that we
received your comments, please include
a self-addressed, stamped envelope or
postcard or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting
comments on-line.
Privacy Act: Anyone may search the
electronic form of all comments
received into any of DOT’s dockets by
the name of the individual submitting
the comment (or of the person signing
the comment, if submitted on behalf of
an association, business, labor union, or
other entity). You may review DOT’s
complete Privacy Act Statement in the
Federal Register published on April 11,
E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM
02FEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 22 / Friday, February 2, 2007 / Notices
2000 (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 2000). This
statement is also available at https://
dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and Carrier
Operations Division, Office of Bus and
Truck Standards and Operations, MC–
PSD, Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, 400 Seventh Street,
SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001.
Telephone: 202–366–4009. E-mail:
MCPSD@fmcsa.dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Background
Section 4007 of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (Pub. L.
105–178, 112 Stat. 107, June 9, 1998)
amended 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e)
to provide authority to grant exemptions
from motor carrier safety regulations.
Under its regulations, FMCSA must
publish a notice of each exemption
request in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(a)). The Agency must provide
the public an opportunity to inspect the
information relevant to the application,
including the conducting of any safety
analyses. The Agency must also provide
an opportunity for public comment on
the request.
The Agency reviews the safety
analyses and the public comments, and
determines whether granting the
exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety equivalent to, or greater than,
the level that would be achieved by the
current regulation (49 CFR 381.305).
The decision of the Agency must be
published in the Federal Register (49
CFR 381.315(b)) with the reason for
denying or, in the alternative, the
specific person or class of persons
receiving the exemption, and the
regulatory provision or provisions from
which exemption is granted. The notice
must also specify the effective period of
the exemption (up to 2 years), and
explain the terms and conditions of the
exemption. The exemption may be
renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).
Request for Exemption
Quality Driveaway, Inc. (Quality) is a
registered motor carrier whose principal
office is located in Goshen, Indiana. It
provides extensive transportation
services to manufacturers of various
types of motor vehicles, including motor
homes, tractors, trucks, and buses, and
has more than 750 drivers delivering
vehicles in a driveaway-towaway
operation. A ‘‘driveaway-towaway
operation’’ is defined in 49 CFR 390.5
as ‘‘an operation in which an empty or
unladen motor vehicle with one or more
sets of wheels on the surface of the
roadway is being transported:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:13 Feb 01, 2007
Jkt 211001
(1) Between vehicle manufacturer’s
facilities;
(2) Between a vehicle manufacturer
and a dealership or purchaser;
(3) Between a dealership, or other
entity selling or leasing the vehicle, and
a purchaser or lessee;
(4) To a motor carrier’s terminal or
repair facility for the repair of disabling
damage (as defined in § 390.5) following
a crash; or
(5) To a motor carrier’s terminal or
repair facility for repairs associated with
the failure of a vehicle component or
system; or
(6) By means of a saddle-mount or
tow-bar.’’
Quality was recently awarded a
contract to transport buses in a
driveaway-towaway operation from a
manufacturing facility in Lafayette,
Georgia, to purchasers. Quality uses
approximately 300 experienced drivers
to meet its contractual requirements.
The Federal hours-of-service (HOS)
regulations for commercial motor
vehicle (CMV) drivers in 49 CFR 395.5
apply to motor carriers and drivers
operating passenger-carrying vehicles.
According to FMCSA’s regulatory
guidance, a driver of a CMV ‘‘designed
or used to transport * * *
passengers* * *’’ (49 CFR 390.5
definition of CMV) would be considered
to be passenger-carrying regardless of
whether there were actually any
passengers in the vehicle. This prevents
a requirement for drivers to switch to
the HOS rules for property-carrying
vehicles each time the bus becomes
empty. However, this also means that
drivers of the empty buses Quality
delivers (drives) from the manufacturer
to the dealer are always subject to the
HOS rules for passenger vehicles.
Quality states that, given the variety
of vehicles it delivers, its drivers are
currently required to be familiar with
HOS regulations applicable to property
and passenger-carrying vehicles. Not
only is compliance with these two sets
of regulations difficult for the drivers, it
is also extremely complex for Quality to
audit the drivers’ records of duty status
(RODS) to ensure compliance because
the applicable regulatory standard could
change on every trip.
Quality submits that it does not make
any ‘‘regulatory common sense’’ to
apply the passenger-carrying HOS rule
when the new bus is being delivered in
a driveaway-towaway operation from a
point of manufacture to a dealer,
because there are never any passengers
on the vehicle. Furthermore, unless the
request for an exemption is granted,
Quality will continue to be confronted
with having to comply with two
different sets of HOS regulations for a
PO 00000
Frm 00102
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
5099
significant class of its drivers, and also
have to audit two different sets of
RODS.
Quality therefore requests that the
‘‘described class’’ of drivers be granted
an exemption from 49 CFR 395.5 when
these drivers are delivering new buses
without passengers from a point of
manufacture in a driveaway-towaway
operation. A copy of Quality’s
exemption application is in the docket
identified at the beginning of this
notice.
Request for Comments
In accordance with 49 U.S.C.
31315(b)(4) and 31136(e), FMCSA
requests public comment on Quality’s
application an exemption from 49 CFR
395.5. The Agency will consider all
comments received by close of business
on March 5, 2007. Comments will be
available for examination in the docket
at the location listed under the
‘‘ADDRESSES’’ section of this notice. The
Agency will file comments received
after the comment closing date in the
public docket, and will consider them to
the extent practicable. In addition to late
comments, FMCSA will also continue to
file, in the public docket, relevant
information that becomes available after
the comment closing date. Interested
persons should monitor the public
docket for new material.
Issued on: January 26, 2007.
John H. Hill,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7–1750 Filed 2–1–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA–2006–25592]
Morgan Motor Company Limited;
Denial of Application for a Temporary
Exemption From Air Bag Provisions of
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
No. 208
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Denial of application for a
temporary exemption from air bag
provisions of Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant
Crash Protection.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice denies the
petition of Morgan Motor Company,
Limited (Morgan) for a temporary
exemption from the air bag
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208,
E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM
02FEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 22 (Friday, February 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5098-5099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1750]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27123]
Hours of Service of Drivers: Quality Driveaway, Inc. Application
for Exemption
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has received from Quality Driveaway,
Inc. (Quality) an application for an exemption from the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations regarding maximum driving time for drivers
of passenger-carrying vehicles. The exemption would allow Quality
drivers delivering new buses without any passengers to be governed by
the hours-of-service (HOS) requirements for drivers of property-
carrying vehicles. Quality states that the level of safety will be
equivalent or greater than the level of safety that would be obtained
by complying with the HOS regulations for drivers of passenger-carrying
vehicles. FMCSA requests public comment on Quality's application for
exemption.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 5, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number
FMCSA-2007-27123 using any of the following methods:
Web site: https://dmses.dot.gov/submit/. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to https://dms.dot.gov including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading for further
information.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to https://dms.dot.gov at any time or Room PL-401
on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The Docket Management System (DMS) is
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you want us to
notify you that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting comments on-line.
Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of DOT's dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, or other
entity). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the
Federal Register published on April 11,
[[Page 5099]]
2000 (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 2000). This statement is also available at
https://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and
Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and
Operations, MC-PSD, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-
4009. E-mail: MCPSD@fmcsa.dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
(Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107, June 9, 1998) amended 49 U.S.C. 31315
and 31136(e) to provide authority to grant exemptions from motor
carrier safety regulations. Under its regulations, FMCSA must publish a
notice of each exemption request in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an opportunity to
inspect the information relevant to the application, including the
conducting of any safety analyses. The Agency must also provide an
opportunity for public comment on the request.
The Agency reviews the safety analyses and the public comments, and
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of
the Agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(b)) with the reason for denying or, in the alternative, the
specific person or class of persons receiving the exemption, and the
regulatory provision or provisions from which exemption is granted. The
notice must also specify the effective period of the exemption (up to 2
years), and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The
exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).
Request for Exemption
Quality Driveaway, Inc. (Quality) is a registered motor carrier
whose principal office is located in Goshen, Indiana. It provides
extensive transportation services to manufacturers of various types of
motor vehicles, including motor homes, tractors, trucks, and buses, and
has more than 750 drivers delivering vehicles in a driveaway-towaway
operation. A ``driveaway-towaway operation'' is defined in 49 CFR 390.5
as ``an operation in which an empty or unladen motor vehicle with one
or more sets of wheels on the surface of the roadway is being
transported:
(1) Between vehicle manufacturer's facilities;
(2) Between a vehicle manufacturer and a dealership or purchaser;
(3) Between a dealership, or other entity selling or leasing the
vehicle, and a purchaser or lessee;
(4) To a motor carrier's terminal or repair facility for the repair
of disabling damage (as defined in Sec. 390.5) following a crash; or
(5) To a motor carrier's terminal or repair facility for repairs
associated with the failure of a vehicle component or system; or
(6) By means of a saddle-mount or tow-bar.''
Quality was recently awarded a contract to transport buses in a
driveaway-towaway operation from a manufacturing facility in Lafayette,
Georgia, to purchasers. Quality uses approximately 300 experienced
drivers to meet its contractual requirements.
The Federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for commercial motor
vehicle (CMV) drivers in 49 CFR 395.5 apply to motor carriers and
drivers operating passenger-carrying vehicles. According to FMCSA's
regulatory guidance, a driver of a CMV ``designed or used to transport
* * * passengers* * *'' (49 CFR 390.5 definition of CMV) would be
considered to be passenger-carrying regardless of whether there were
actually any passengers in the vehicle. This prevents a requirement for
drivers to switch to the HOS rules for property-carrying vehicles each
time the bus becomes empty. However, this also means that drivers of
the empty buses Quality delivers (drives) from the manufacturer to the
dealer are always subject to the HOS rules for passenger vehicles.
Quality states that, given the variety of vehicles it delivers, its
drivers are currently required to be familiar with HOS regulations
applicable to property and passenger-carrying vehicles. Not only is
compliance with these two sets of regulations difficult for the
drivers, it is also extremely complex for Quality to audit the drivers'
records of duty status (RODS) to ensure compliance because the
applicable regulatory standard could change on every trip.
Quality submits that it does not make any ``regulatory common
sense'' to apply the passenger-carrying HOS rule when the new bus is
being delivered in a driveaway-towaway operation from a point of
manufacture to a dealer, because there are never any passengers on the
vehicle. Furthermore, unless the request for an exemption is granted,
Quality will continue to be confronted with having to comply with two
different sets of HOS regulations for a significant class of its
drivers, and also have to audit two different sets of RODS.
Quality therefore requests that the ``described class'' of drivers
be granted an exemption from 49 CFR 395.5 when these drivers are
delivering new buses without passengers from a point of manufacture in
a driveaway-towaway operation. A copy of Quality's exemption
application is in the docket identified at the beginning of this
notice.
Request for Comments
In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(4) and 31136(e), FMCSA
requests public comment on Quality's application an exemption from 49
CFR 395.5. The Agency will consider all comments received by close of
business on March 5, 2007. Comments will be available for examination
in the docket at the location listed under the ``ADDRESSES'' section of
this notice. The Agency will file comments received after the comment
closing date in the public docket, and will consider them to the extent
practicable. In addition to late comments, FMCSA will also continue to
file, in the public docket, relevant information that becomes available
after the comment closing date. Interested persons should monitor the
public docket for new material.
Issued on: January 26, 2007.
John H. Hill,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-1750 Filed 2-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P