Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Comment; Extension of an Information Collection: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations, 32388-32390 [2011-13900]
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32388
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 108 / Monday, June 6, 2011 / Notices
Marshall, Martin, McLean, Meade,
Perry, Webster, Wolfe.
All other information in the original
declaration remains unchanged.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Numbers 59002 and 59008)
Joseph P. Loddo,
Acting Associate Administrator for Disaster
Assistance.
[FR Doc. 2011–13848 Filed 6–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
[Disaster Declaration # 12588 and # 12589]
Minnesota Disaster Number MN–00030
U.S. Small Business
Administration.
ACTION: Amendment 1.
AGENCY:
This is an amendment of the
Presidential declaration of a major
disaster for Public Assistance Only for
the State of Minnesota (FEMA–1982–
DR), dated 05/10/2011.
Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding.
Incident Period: 03/16/2011 and
continuing.
Effective Date: 05/24/2011.
Physical Loan Application Deadline
Date: 07/11/2011.
Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan
Application Deadline Date: 02/10/2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan
applications to: U.S. Small Business
Administration, Processing and
Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport
Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A.
Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050,
Washington, DC 20416.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice
of the President’s major disaster
declaration for Private Non-Profit
organizations in the State of
MINNESOTA, dated 05/10/2011, is
hereby amended to include the
following areas as adversely affected by
the disaster.
Primary Counties: Becker, Beltrami,
Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail,
Polk, Ramsey, Red Lake, Roseau,
Swift, Washington, Wright, and the
Red Lake Reservation.
All other information in the original
declaration remains unchanged.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Numbers 59002 and 59008)
James E. Rivera,
Associate Administrator for Disaster
Assistance.
[FR Doc. 2011–13849 Filed 6–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
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16:06 Jun 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
This determination shall be reported
to the Congress, and published in the
Federal Register.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 7486]
Determination and Waiver Relating to
Assistance for the Independent States
of the Former Soviet Union
Determination and Waiver of Section
7073(a) of the Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs Appropriations Act, 2010
(Div. F, Pub. L. 111–117), as carried
forward under the Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2011 (Div. B, Pub.
L. 112–10) (‘‘the Act’’) Relating to
Assistance for the Independent States of
the Former Soviet Union.
Pursuant to the authority vested in me
as Deputy Secretary of State, including
by section Section 7073(a) of the
Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act, 2010 (Div. F, Pub.
L. 111–117), as carried forward under
the Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2011 (Div. B, Pub.
L. 112–10) (‘‘the Act’’), Executive Order
13118 of March 31, 1999, and State
Department Delegation of Authority No.
245–1, I hereby determine that it is in
the national security interest of the
United States to make available funds
appropriated under the heading
‘‘Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and
Central Asia’’ of the Act, without regard
to the restriction in section 7073(a).
This determination shall be reported
to the Congress and published in the
Federal Register.
Dated: May 23, 2011.
James B. Steinberg,
Deputy Secretary of State.
[FR Doc. 2011–13920 Filed 6–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710–23–P
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 7484]
Waiver of Restriction on Assistance to
the Central Government of Dominican
Republic
Pursuant to Section 7086(c)(2) of the
Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act, 2010 (Div. F, Pub.
L. 111–117) as carried forward by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2011 (Div. B, Pub. L. 112–10) (‘‘the
Act’’), and Department of State
Delegation of Authority Number 245–1,
I hereby determine that it is important
to the national interest of the United
States to waive the requirements of
Section 7086(c)(1) of the Act with
respect to the Dominican Republic and
I hereby waive such restriction.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Dated: May 26, 2011.
Thomas Nides,
Deputy Secretary of State for Management
and Resources.
[FR Doc. 2011–13919 Filed 6–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710–29–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2011–0065]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Request for Comment;
Extension of an Information Collection:
Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers
Regulations
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
FMCSA announces its plan to submit
the Information Collection Request (ICR)
described below to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for its
review and approval and invites public
comment. The FMCSA requests OMB
approval to revise and extend an
existing ICR entitled, ‘‘Hours of Service
(HOS) of Drivers Regulations.’’ The
hours-of-service (HOS) rules require
most commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
drivers to maintain on the CMV an
accurate record of duty status (RODS) in
either paper or electronic form. The
Agency, effective June 4, 2010,
authorized the use of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) to create driver
RODS. This ICR estimates, for the first
time, the paperwork burden of motor
carriers voluntarily using EOBRs. This
ICR promotes safety in CMV operations
by assisting motor carriers and
enforcement officials in monitoring
compliance with the HOS rules.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before August 5, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket
Number FMCSA–2011–0065 using any
of the following methods:
Web site: Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments.
Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility;
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
SUMMARY:
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jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 108 / Monday, June 6, 2011 / Notices
New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building,
Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 20590–
0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–
140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the Agency name and docket
number. For detailed instructions on
submitting comments and additional
information on the exemption process,
see the Public Participation heading
below. Note that all comments received
will be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. Please
see the Privacy Act heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov, and follow the
online instructions for accessing the
dockets, or go to the street address listed
above.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search
the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
comment (or signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement for the Federal Docket
Management System published in the
Federal Register on January 17, 2008
(73 FR 3316), or you may visit https://
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8794.pdf.
Public Participation: The Federal
eRulemaking Portal is available 24
hours each day, 365 days each year. You
can obtain electronic submission and
retrieval help and guidelines under the
‘‘help’’ section of the Federal
eRulemaking Portal Web site. If you
want us to notify you that we received
your comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or
postcard, or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting
comments online. Comments received
after the comment closing date will be
included in the docket and will be
considered to the extent practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver
and Carrier Operations Division.
Telephone: 202–366–4325. E-mail:
MCPSD@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The FMCSA regulates
the amount of time a CMV driver may
drive or otherwise be on duty, in order
to ensure that an adequate period of
time is available to the driver to rest. A
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16:06 Jun 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
driver must accurately record his or her
duty status (driving, on duty not
driving, off duty, sleeper berth) at all
points during the 24-hour period
designated by the motor carrier (49 CFR
395.8(a)(1)). This record of duty status
(RODS) must be made on a grid
specified by subsection 395.8(g). The
term ‘‘logbook’’ is often used in the
industry to denote the collection of the
most recent RODS of the driver. A
driver must have the RODS for the
previous 7 consecutive days in the CMV
at all times (395.8(k)(2)). The RODS
must be submitted to the motor carrier
along with any supporting documents,
such as fuel receipts and toll tickets that
could assist in verifying the accuracy of
entries on the RODS, and the motor
carrier must retain these records for a
minimum of 6 months from the date of
receipt (49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)).
Statutory authority for regulating the
hours of service (HOS) of drivers
operating CMVs in interstate commerce
is derived from 49 U.S.C. 31136 and
31502. The penalty provisions are
located at 49 U.S.C. 521, 522 and 526,
as amended. On November 28, 1982, the
Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA), the agency responsible for
administration of the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations (49 CFR 350
et seq.)(FMCSRs) at that time,
promulgated a final rule requiring motor
carriers to ensure that their drivers
record their duty status in a specified
format and verify the accuracy of the
HOS of each driver (47 FR 53383). The
rule is codified at 49 CFR 395.8. The
FMCSRs also state:
‘‘No driver shall operate a commercial
motor vehicle, and a commercial motor
carrier shall not require or permit a driver to
operate a commercial motor vehicle, while
the driver’s ability or alertness is so
impaired, or so likely to become impaired,
through fatigue, illness, or any other cause,
as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or
continue to operate the commercial motor
vehicle’’ (49 CFR 392.3).
The HOS rules provide four methods of
recording driver duty status:
(1) Paper RODS: This grid form
requires the driver to graph time and
location on a paper record over a 24hour period (Section 395.8(g)). It must
be present on the CMV in the absence
of a regulatory exception.
(2) Time Record: The HOS regulations
allow certain ‘‘short haul’’ CMV drivers
to avoid the onboard-the-CMV RODS
requirement if their motor carrier
records their HOS by means of a time
record or time card maintained at the
place of business (Section 395.1(e)). To
qualify for this exception, short-haul
drivers generally must return at the end
of the duty day to the same location at
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32389
which they began the day, and must
remain within a certain distance of that
location at all times during the duty
day. The time record must show the
time the driver began work, was
released from work, and the total hours
worked.
(3) Automatic On-Board Recording
Device (AOBRD): An electronic record is
permitted if it is created and maintained
by an AOBRD as defined by 49 CFR
395.2. The record must include all the
information that would appear on a
paper log, and the driver or carrier must
be capable of producing this
information upon demand.
(4) EOBR: Motor carriers subject to an
FMCSA remedial directive must use an
electronic record created and
maintained by an EOBR as defined in 49
CFR 395.2. Other motor carriers may
voluntarily employ EOBRs.
The RODS is important because it
provides motor carriers and
enforcement personnel a significant tool
for determining driver compliance with
the HOS rules. Compliance helps
FMCSA protect the public by reducing
the number of tired CMV drivers on the
highways.
Most States receive grants from
FMCSA under the Motor Carrier Safety
Assistance Program. As a condition of
receiving these grants, States agree to
adopt and enforce the FMCSRs,
including the HOS rules, as State law.
As a result, State enforcement
inspectors use the RODS and supporting
documents to determine whether CMV
drivers are complying with the HOS
rules. In addition, FMCSA uses the
RODS during on-site compliance
reviews (CRs) and targeted reviews of
motor carriers. The CR is a public
record. An unfavorable review can be
damaging to a motor carrier’s business
because customers may access the CRs
before selecting a motor carrier to hire.
Finally, Federal and State judicial
systems generally accept RODS as
evidence in actions alleging driver of
motor carrier violation of the HOS
regulations. This information collection
supports the DOT’s Strategic Goal of
Safety because the information helps the
Agency ensure the safe operation of
CMVs in interstate commerce on our
Nation’s highways.
The currently-approved PRA burden
estimate is 181.28 million hours, as
approved by OMB on August 20, 2010.
The expiration date of this IC is August
31, 2011. In this ICR, FMCSA proposes
to reduce the PRA burden by
approximately 9.20 million burden
hours, or by slightly over 5 per cent.
FMCSA seeks OMB approval of its
revised estimated PRA burden of 172.08
million burden hours. In today’s
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 108 / Monday, June 6, 2011 / Notices
submission, FMCSA for the first time
estimates the extent of voluntary EOBR
use by motor carriers, and subtracts that
same number from its estimate of the
extent of the use of written RODS. The
Agency maintains its OMB-approved
estimates of the total number of CMV
drivers subject to the HOS rules, and the
total number of CMV drivers subject to
an Agency remedial HOS directive.
By this notice, the Agency seeks
public comment on its revised estimate
of the paperwork burden of the HOS
rules.
Title: Hours of Service (HOS) of
Drivers Regulations.
OMB Control Number: 2126–0001.
Type of Request: Revision and
extension of a currently-approved
information collection.
Respondents: Motor Carriers, Drivers
of CMVs.
Estimated Annual Respondents: 4.93
million [4.60 million drivers + 0.33
million active motor carriers = 4.93
million respondents].
Estimated Time per Response: A
driver employing a paper RODS takes an
average of 6.5 minutes to complete it; a
driver employing an EOBR takes an
average of 2 minutes to complete it. A
driver takes an average of 5 minutes to
forward a paper RODS to the motor
carrier; a driver employing an EOBR is
relieved of this task by automation.
Whether using a paper or EOBR RODS,
a motor carrier takes 2 minutes to
review a RODS and its corresponding
supporting documents, and 1 additional
minute to maintain those supporting
documents. For those motor carriers
using an EOBR, the ICR burden of
maintaining the RODS is eliminated by
automation; for those motor carriers
using paper RODS, 1 minute is required
to maintain the RODS.
Expiration Date: 8/31/2011.
Estimated Frequency of Response:
Drivers: 240 days per year, on average.
Motor Carriers: 240 days per year, on
average.
Estimated Annual Responses:
3,843.59 million—the sum of the
following:
A. Driver Tasks
(1) Filling out the RODS: 1,104
million, and
(2) Forwarding the RODS to the motor
carrier: 102.23 million.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
B. Motor Carrier Tasks
(1) Reviewing the RODS: 552 million,
(2) Maintaining the RODS: 981.36
million, and
(3) Maintaining the supporting
documents: 1,104 million.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
172.08 million burden hours [118.92
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16:06 Jun 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
million driver hours + 53.16 million
carrier hours = 172.08].
Public Comments Invited: You are
asked to comment on any aspect of this
information collection, including: (1)
Whether the proposed collection is
necessary for the performance of
FMCSA’s functions; (2) the accuracy of
the estimated burden; (3) ways for the
FMCSA to enhance the quality,
usefulness, and clarity of the collected
information; and (4) ways that the
burden could be minimized without
reducing the quality of the information
collected. The Agency will summarize
or include your comments in the request
for OMB’s clearance of this ICR.
Issued on: May 27, 2011.
Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator for Research and
Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2011–13900 Filed 6–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2006–26367]
Motor Carrier Safety Advisory
Committee Public Meeting
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Motor Carrier Safety
Advisory Committee (MCSAC) Meeting.
AGENCY:
FMCSA announces that
MCSAC will hold a committee meeting
from Monday, June 20 through
Wednesday, June 22, 2011. The meeting
will be open to the public for its
duration. The MCSAC will complete
action on Task 11–01, regarding Patterns
of Safety Violations by Motor Carrier
Management and will begin work on
Tasks 11–02, regarding Roadside
violation severity weightings in the
Carrier Safety Measurement System
(CSMS) in FMCSA’s Compliance,
Safety, Accountability (CSA) program,
and 11–03, regarding Oversight of the
Agency’s Long-Haul Cross Border
Trucking Pilot Program.
TIME AND DATES: The meeting will be
held on Monday and Tuesday, June 20–
21, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Eastern Time (E.T.), and on Wednesday,
June 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., E.T.
The last hour of each day will be
reserved for public comment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Shannon L. Watson, Senior Adviser to
the Associate Administrator for Policy,
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, U.S. Department of
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00036
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590,
(202) 385–2395, mcsac@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
MCSAC
Section 4144 of the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity
Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU)
(Pub. L. 109–59, 119 Stat. 1144, August
10, 2005) required the Secretary of
Transportation to establish a Motor
Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. The
committee provides advice and
recommendations to the FMCSA
Administrator on motor carrier safety
programs and regulations, and operates
in accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App
2).
Patterns of Safety Violations Task
SAFETEA–LU Section 4133 allows
the Secretary to suspend, amend, or
revoke any part of a motor carrier’s
registration if the Secretary finds that an
officer of a motor carrier engages, or has
engaged, in a pattern or practice of
avoiding compliance, or masking or
otherwise concealing noncompliance,
with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations and Hazardous Materials
Regulations, while serving as an officer
of any motor carrier. The section defines
an officer as ‘‘an owner, director, chief
executive officer, chief financial officer,
safety director, vehicle maintenance
supervisor, and driver supervisor of a
motor carrier, regardless of title attached
to these functions, and any person,
however designated, exercising
controlling influence over the
operations of a motor carrier.’’ Following
deliberations of the Committee, the
MCSAC will submit written
recommendations in the form of a report
to the FMCSA Administrator on this
topic following its June 2011 meeting.
Roadside Violation Severity Weightings
Task
FMCSA’s new compliance and
enforcement program, Compliance,
Safety, Accountability (CSA), includes a
new measurement system to assess
carriers’ safety performance. One of the
core purposes of the CSMS is to identify
poor motor carrier safety behavior.
Building upon FMCSA’s previous Safety
Status Measurement System (SafeStat),
CSMS quantifies the on-road safety
performance of carriers to identify
candidates for interventions, determine
the specific safety problems exhibited
by a carrier and its drivers, and monitor
whether safety problems are improving
or worsening. FMCSA requests that
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 108 (Monday, June 6, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32388-32390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13900]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0065]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Comment;
Extension of an Information Collection: Hours of Service (HOS) of
Drivers Regulations
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA
announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR)
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its
review and approval and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests OMB
approval to revise and extend an existing ICR entitled, ``Hours of
Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.'' The hours-of-service (HOS)
rules require most commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to maintain
on the CMV an accurate record of duty status (RODS) in either paper or
electronic form. The Agency, effective June 4, 2010, authorized the use
of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to create driver RODS. This
ICR estimates, for the first time, the paperwork burden of motor
carriers voluntarily using EOBRs. This ICR promotes safety in CMV
operations by assisting motor carriers and enforcement officials in
monitoring compliance with the HOS rules.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 5, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2011-0065 using any of the
following methods:
Web site: Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200
[[Page 32389]]
New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-
140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information on the exemption process, see the Public
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov, and follow
the online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street
address listed above.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket Management System
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or
you may visit http:[sol][sol]edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8-794.pdf.
Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain electronic
submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the ``help'' section
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site. 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 online. Comments received after the
comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be
considered to the extent practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver
and Carrier Operations Division. Telephone: 202-366-4325. E-mail:
MCPSD@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The FMCSA regulates the amount of time a CMV driver may
drive or otherwise be on duty, in order to ensure that an adequate
period of time is available to the driver to rest. A driver must
accurately record his or her duty status (driving, on duty not driving,
off duty, sleeper berth) at all points during the 24-hour period
designated by the motor carrier (49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)). This record of
duty status (RODS) must be made on a grid specified by subsection
395.8(g). The term ``logbook'' is often used in the industry to denote
the collection of the most recent RODS of the driver. A driver must
have the RODS for the previous 7 consecutive days in the CMV at all
times (395.8(k)(2)). The RODS must be submitted to the motor carrier
along with any supporting documents, such as fuel receipts and toll
tickets that could assist in verifying the accuracy of entries on the
RODS, and the motor carrier must retain these records for a minimum of
6 months from the date of receipt (49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)).
Statutory authority for regulating the hours of service (HOS) of
drivers operating CMVs in interstate commerce is derived from 49 U.S.C.
31136 and 31502. The penalty provisions are located at 49 U.S.C. 521,
522 and 526, as amended. On November 28, 1982, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), the agency responsible for administration of the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 CFR 350 et seq.)(FMCSRs)
at that time, promulgated a final rule requiring motor carriers to
ensure that their drivers record their duty status in a specified
format and verify the accuracy of the HOS of each driver (47 FR 53383).
The rule is codified at 49 CFR 395.8. The FMCSRs also state:
``No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a
commercial motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to
operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver's ability or
alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through
fatigue, illness, or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for him/
her to begin or continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle''
(49 CFR 392.3).
The HOS rules provide four methods of recording driver duty status:
(1) Paper RODS: This grid form requires the driver to graph time
and location on a paper record over a 24-hour period (Section
395.8(g)). It must be present on the CMV in the absence of a regulatory
exception.
(2) Time Record: The HOS regulations allow certain ``short haul''
CMV drivers to avoid the onboard-the-CMV RODS requirement if their
motor carrier records their HOS by means of a time record or time card
maintained at the place of business (Section 395.1(e)). To qualify for
this exception, short-haul drivers generally must return at the end of
the duty day to the same location at which they began the day, and must
remain within a certain distance of that location at all times during
the duty day. The time record must show the time the driver began work,
was released from work, and the total hours worked.
(3) Automatic On-Board Recording Device (AOBRD): An electronic
record is permitted if it is created and maintained by an AOBRD as
defined by 49 CFR 395.2. The record must include all the information
that would appear on a paper log, and the driver or carrier must be
capable of producing this information upon demand.
(4) EOBR: Motor carriers subject to an FMCSA remedial directive
must use an electronic record created and maintained by an EOBR as
defined in 49 CFR 395.2. Other motor carriers may voluntarily employ
EOBRs.
The RODS is important because it provides motor carriers and
enforcement personnel a significant tool for determining driver
compliance with the HOS rules. Compliance helps FMCSA protect the
public by reducing the number of tired CMV drivers on the highways.
Most States receive grants from FMCSA under the Motor Carrier
Safety Assistance Program. As a condition of receiving these grants,
States agree to adopt and enforce the FMCSRs, including the HOS rules,
as State law. As a result, State enforcement inspectors use the RODS
and supporting documents to determine whether CMV drivers are complying
with the HOS rules. In addition, FMCSA uses the RODS during on-site
compliance reviews (CRs) and targeted reviews of motor carriers. The CR
is a public record. An unfavorable review can be damaging to a motor
carrier's business because customers may access the CRs before
selecting a motor carrier to hire. Finally, Federal and State judicial
systems generally accept RODS as evidence in actions alleging driver of
motor carrier violation of the HOS regulations. This information
collection supports the DOT's Strategic Goal of Safety because the
information helps the Agency ensure the safe operation of CMVs in
interstate commerce on our Nation's highways.
The currently-approved PRA burden estimate is 181.28 million hours,
as approved by OMB on August 20, 2010. The expiration date of this IC
is August 31, 2011. In this ICR, FMCSA proposes to reduce the PRA
burden by approximately 9.20 million burden hours, or by slightly over
5 per cent. FMCSA seeks OMB approval of its revised estimated PRA
burden of 172.08 million burden hours. In today's
[[Page 32390]]
submission, FMCSA for the first time estimates the extent of voluntary
EOBR use by motor carriers, and subtracts that same number from its
estimate of the extent of the use of written RODS. The Agency maintains
its OMB-approved estimates of the total number of CMV drivers subject
to the HOS rules, and the total number of CMV drivers subject to an
Agency remedial HOS directive.
By this notice, the Agency seeks public comment on its revised
estimate of the paperwork burden of the HOS rules.
Title: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.
OMB Control Number: 2126-0001.
Type of Request: Revision and extension of a currently-approved
information collection.
Respondents: Motor Carriers, Drivers of CMVs.
Estimated Annual Respondents: 4.93 million [4.60 million drivers +
0.33 million active motor carriers = 4.93 million respondents].
Estimated Time per Response: A driver employing a paper RODS takes
an average of 6.5 minutes to complete it; a driver employing an EOBR
takes an average of 2 minutes to complete it. A driver takes an average
of 5 minutes to forward a paper RODS to the motor carrier; a driver
employing an EOBR is relieved of this task by automation. Whether using
a paper or EOBR RODS, a motor carrier takes 2 minutes to review a RODS
and its corresponding supporting documents, and 1 additional minute to
maintain those supporting documents. For those motor carriers using an
EOBR, the ICR burden of maintaining the RODS is eliminated by
automation; for those motor carriers using paper RODS, 1 minute is
required to maintain the RODS.
Expiration Date: 8/31/2011.
Estimated Frequency of Response:
Drivers: 240 days per year, on average.
Motor Carriers: 240 days per year, on average.
Estimated Annual Responses: 3,843.59 million--the sum of the
following:
A. Driver Tasks
(1) Filling out the RODS: 1,104 million, and
(2) Forwarding the RODS to the motor carrier: 102.23 million.
B. Motor Carrier Tasks
(1) Reviewing the RODS: 552 million,
(2) Maintaining the RODS: 981.36 million, and
(3) Maintaining the supporting documents: 1,104 million.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 172.08 million burden hours [118.92
million driver hours + 53.16 million carrier hours = 172.08].
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2)
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance
the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and
(4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the
quality of the information collected. The Agency will summarize or
include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.
Issued on: May 27, 2011.
Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2011-13900 Filed 6-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
