Driver Qualifications; Regulatory Guidance Concerning the Use of Computerized Employer Notification Systems for the Annual Inquiry and Review of Driving Records, 13069-13070 [2015-05645]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 48 / Thursday, March 12, 2015 / Notices
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to
Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,116 that the
proposed rule change (File No. SR–
OCC–2015–02) be, and it hereby is,
approved as of the date of this notice or
the date of an order by the Commission
authorizing OCC to implement OCC’s
advance notice proposal that is
consistent with this proposed rule
change (File No. SR–OCC–2014–813),
whichever is later.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.117
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015–05556 Filed 3–11–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
Driver Qualifications; Regulatory
Guidance Concerning the Use of
Computerized Employer Notification
Systems for the Annual Inquiry and
Review of Driving Records
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration.
ACTION: Notice of regulatory guidance.
AGENCY:
FMCSA provides regulatory
guidance concerning the use of Stateoperated employer notification systems
(ENS) for the annual inquiry and review
of driving records required by 49 CFR
391.25. The guidance explains the use
of State-operated ENS that provide
motor carriers with a department of
motor vehicle report for every State in
which the driver held either an
operator’s license, a commercial driver’s
license (CDL), or permit when a driver
is enrolled in the system. Many State
driver licensing agencies (SDLAs)
provide ENS that either automatically
update requestors (push-system) on
license status, crashes and convictions
of laws or regulations governing the
operation of motor vehicles or allow the
requestor to regularly query the record
(pull-system) for this information. The
use of these systems to check the
driving record, at least annually,
satisfies the requirement for an annual
review of each driver’s record. This
includes when a third-party is used to
accumulate the records for a motor
carrier. This revises the Agency
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
impact on efficiency, competition, and capital
formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
116 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
117 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Mar 11, 2015
Jkt 235001
guidance issued in 2003 that referenced
to a specific third-party vendor.
DATES: This guidance is effective March
12, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Thomas L. Yager, Chief, Driver and
Carrier Operations Division, Office of
Bus and Truck Standards and
Operations, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE.,
Washington, DC 20590, Telephone 202–
366–4325, Email: MCPSD@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Legal Basis
The Secretary of Transportation has
statutory authority to set minimum
standards for commercial motor vehicle
safety. These minimum standards must
ensure that: (1) CMVs are maintained,
equipped, loaded, and operated safely;
(2) the responsibilities imposed on
operators of CMVs do not impair their
ability to operate the vehicles safely; (3)
the physical condition of CMV operators
is adequate to enable them to operate
the vehicles safely; (4) the operation of
CMVs does not have a deleterious effect
on the physical condition of the
operators; and (5) an operator of a
commercial motor vehicle is not coerced
by a motor carrier, shipper, receiver, or
transportation intermediary to operate a
commercial motor vehicle in violation
of a regulation (49 U.S.C. 31136(a)(1)–
(5), as amended). The Secretary also has
broad power in carrying out motor
carrier safety statutes and regulations to
‘‘prescribe recordkeeping and reporting
requirements’’ and to ‘‘perform other
acts the Secretary considers
appropriate’’ (49 U.S.C. 31133(a)(8) and
(10)).
The Administrator of FMCSA has
been delegated authority under 49 CFR
1.87(f) to carry out the functions vested
in the Secretary of Transportation by 49
U.S.C. chapter 311, subchapters I, III
and IV, relating to commercial motor
vehicle programs and safety regulation.
Background
On January 13, 2003, FMCSA issued
a letter to a company providing
regulatory guidance concerning the use
of computerized employer notification
systems for the annual inquiry and
review of driving records required by 49
CFR 391.25. The guidance explained
that the use of a specific third-party
computerized ENS that provides motor
carriers with a department of motor
vehicle report for every State in which
the driver held either an operator’s
license, a CDL, or permit when a driver
is enrolled in the system, and provides
an update anytime the State licensing
agency enters new information about
license status, crashes and convictions
PO 00000
Frm 00096
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
13069
of laws or regulations governing the
operation of motor vehicles satisfies the
requirement for an annual review of
each driver’s record. However, the
guidance referenced a specific vendor
providing such services to the motor
carrier industry.
The regulatory guidance issued to the
specific company was subsequently
posted to FMCSA’s Web site as question
#4 to 49 CFR 391.25 (See https://
www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/
section/391.25?guidance). The 2003
guidance reads as follows:
Question 4: Does the use of a thirdparty computerized system that
provides motor carriers with a complete
department of motor vehicle report for
every State in which the driver held a
commercial motor vehicle operator’s
license or permit when a driver is
enrolled in the system, and then
automatically provides an update
anytime the State licensing agency
enters new information on the driving
record, satisfy the requirements of
§ 391.25?
Guidance: Yes. Since motor carriers
would be provided with a complete
department of motor vehicle report for
every State in which the driver held a
commercial motor vehicle operator’s
license or permit when a driver is
enrolled in the system, and then
provided with an update any time the
State licensing agency enters new
information on the driving record, the
requirements of § 391.25(a) would be
satisfied. When the motor carrier
manager reviews the information on the
driving record, and the License Monitor
system records the identity of the
manager who conducted the review, the
requirements of § 391.25(b) and (c)
would be satisfied.
With regard to the requirement that
the response from each State agency,
and a note identifying the person who
performed the review, may be
maintained in the driver’s qualification
files, motor carriers may satisfy the
record keeping requirement by using
computerized records in accordance
with 49 CFR 390.31. Section [390.31]
allows all records that do not require
signatures to be maintained through the
use of computer technology provided
the motor carrier can produce, upon
demand, a computer printout of the
required data. Therefore, motor carriers
using an automated computer system
would not be required to maintain paper
copies of the driving records, or a note
identifying the person who performed
the review, in each individual driver
qualification file provided a computer
printout can be produced upon demand
of a Federal or State enforcement
official.
E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM
12MRN1
13070
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 48 / Thursday, March 12, 2015 / Notices
Because the guidance made reference
to one vendor, License Monitor, it was
not considered helpful by some in the
industry for motor carriers using
systems other than the one operated by
License Monitor. The American
Trucking Associations raised the issue
with FMCSA and the Agency agrees that
the guidance should be revised to
provide generic guidance rather than
vendor-specific guidance. In addition,
since 2003, several SDLAs have
implemented ENS systems that provide
the driver record information to
employers.
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
FMCSA’s Decision
In consideration of the above, FMCSA
has determined that the current
regulatory guidance should be revised to
make clear that any State-operated ENS
may be used to satisfy the requirements
of 49 CFR 391.25, even if the
information is accumulated by a third
party. The FMCSA revises Question 4 to
49 CFR 391.25 to read as follows:
Qualification of Drivers, Annual
Inquiry and Review of Driving Record;
Regulatory Guidance for 49 CFR 391.25
Question 4: Does the use of an
employer notification system that
provides motor carriers with a
department of motor vehicle report for
every State in which the driver held
either an operator’s license, a
commercial driver’s license (CDL), or
permit when a driver is enrolled in the
system and provides information about
license status, crashes and convictions
of laws or regulations governing the
operation of motor vehicles on the
driving record satisfy the requirement
for an annual review of each driver’s
record?
Guidance: Yes. Since motor carriers
would be provided with a department of
motor vehicle report for every State in
which the driver held a commercial
motor vehicle operator’s license or
permit when a driver is enrolled in the
system and the State licensing agency
includes information about crashes and
convictions of laws or regulations
governing the operation of motor
vehicles on the driving record, the
requirements of § 391.25(a) would be
satisfied. Generally, the requirements of
§ 391.25(b) and (c) would be satisfied if
the employer notification system
records the identity of the motor
carrier’s representative who conducted
the review when the carrier’s
representative reviews the information
on the driving record.
The use of an employer notification
system would meet the requirements if
either the motor carrier automatically
receives updates from the State (push-
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Mar 11, 2015
Jkt 235001
system) or can regularly access the
system to check for updates (pullsystem), as long as the check occurs at
least once per year. In addition, receipt
of these reports meets the requirement
for the annual check even if it is
provided to the motor carrier by a thirdparty.
With regard to the requirement that
the response from each State agency,
and a note identifying the person who
performed the review, may be
maintained in the driver’s qualification
files, motor carriers may satisfy the
recordkeeping requirement by using
computerized records in accordance
with FMCSA’s Regulatory Guidance
Concerning Electronic Documents and
Signatures, 75 FR 411, January 4, 2011.
Therefore, motor carriers using an
automated employer notification
computer system would not be required
to maintain paper copies of the driving
records, or a note identifying the person
who performed the review, in each
individual driver qualification file
provided documentation consistent
with FMCSA’s January 4, 2011,
guidance can be produced upon
demand of a Federal or State
enforcement official.
Issued on: March 2, 2015.
T.F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Notice of Applications for Certificates
of Public Convenience and Necessity
and Foreign Air Carrier Permits Filed
Under Subpart B (formerly Subpart Q)
during the Week Ending January 10,
2015
The following Applications for
Certificates of Public Convenience and
Necessity and Foreign Air Carrier
Permits were filed under Subpart B
(formerly Subpart Q) of the Department
of Transportation’s Procedural
Regulations (See 14 CFR 302.201 et.
seq.). The due date for Answers,
Conforming Applications, or Motions to
Modify Scope are set forth below for
each application. Following the Answer
period DOT may process the application
by expedited procedures. Such
procedures may consist of the adoption
of a show-cause order, a tentative order,
or in appropriate cases a final order
without further proceedings.
Docket Number: DOT–OST–2015–
0003.
Date Filed: January 8, 2015.
Frm 00097
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Barbara J. Hairston,
Supervisory Dockets Officer, Docket
Operations, Federal Register Liaison.
[FR Doc. 2015–05629 Filed 3–11–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–1998–4334; FMCSA–
2000–7006; FMCSA–2000–8398; FMCSA–
2005–20027]
Qualification of Drivers; Exemption
Applications; Vision
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of renewal of
exemptions; request for comments.
AGENCY:
[FR Doc. 2015–05645 Filed 3–11–15; 8:45 am]
PO 00000
Due Date for Answers, Conforming
Applications, or Motion to Modify
Scope: January 29, 2015.
Description: Application of Air
Caledonie International S.A. (Aircalin),
requesting a foreign air carrier permit
and exemption authorizing it to provide
scheduled and charter foreign air
transportation of persons, property and
mail from any point or points behind
New Caledonia, via any point or points
in New Caledonia and any intermediate
points, to any point or points in the
United States.
FMCSA announces its
decision to renew the exemptions from
the vision requirement in the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 4
individuals. FMCSA has statutory
authority to exempt individuals from
the vision requirement if the
exemptions granted will not
compromise safety. The Agency has
concluded that granting these
exemption renewals will provide a level
of safety that is equivalent to or greater
than the level of safety maintained
without the exemptions for these
commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
drivers.
SUMMARY:
This decision is effective April 5,
2015. Comments must be received on or
before April 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
bearing the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) numbers: Docket No.
[Docket No. FMCSA–1998–4334;
FMCSA–2000–7006; FMCSA–2000–
8398; FMCSA–2005–20027], using any
of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM
12MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13069-13070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05645]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Driver Qualifications; Regulatory Guidance Concerning the Use of
Computerized Employer Notification Systems for the Annual Inquiry and
Review of Driving Records
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
ACTION: Notice of regulatory guidance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FMCSA provides regulatory guidance concerning the use of
State-operated employer notification systems (ENS) for the annual
inquiry and review of driving records required by 49 CFR 391.25. The
guidance explains the use of State-operated ENS that provide motor
carriers with a department of motor vehicle report for every State in
which the driver held either an operator's license, a commercial
driver's license (CDL), or permit when a driver is enrolled in the
system. Many State driver licensing agencies (SDLAs) provide ENS that
either automatically update requestors (push-system) on license status,
crashes and convictions of laws or regulations governing the operation
of motor vehicles or allow the requestor to regularly query the record
(pull-system) for this information. The use of these systems to check
the driving record, at least annually, satisfies the requirement for an
annual review of each driver's record. This includes when a third-party
is used to accumulate the records for a motor carrier. This revises the
Agency guidance issued in 2003 that referenced to a specific third-
party vendor.
DATES: This guidance is effective March 12, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas L. Yager, Chief, Driver and
Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and
Operations, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, Telephone
202-366-4325, Email: MCPSD@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Legal Basis
The Secretary of Transportation has statutory authority to set
minimum standards for commercial motor vehicle safety. These minimum
standards must ensure that: (1) CMVs are maintained, equipped, loaded,
and operated safely; (2) the responsibilities imposed on operators of
CMVs do not impair their ability to operate the vehicles safely; (3)
the physical condition of CMV operators is adequate to enable them to
operate the vehicles safely; (4) the operation of CMVs does not have a
deleterious effect on the physical condition of the operators; and (5)
an operator of a commercial motor vehicle is not coerced by a motor
carrier, shipper, receiver, or transportation intermediary to operate a
commercial motor vehicle in violation of a regulation (49 U.S.C.
31136(a)(1)-(5), as amended). The Secretary also has broad power in
carrying out motor carrier safety statutes and regulations to
``prescribe recordkeeping and reporting requirements'' and to ``perform
other acts the Secretary considers appropriate'' (49 U.S.C. 31133(a)(8)
and (10)).
The Administrator of FMCSA has been delegated authority under 49
CFR 1.87(f) to carry out the functions vested in the Secretary of
Transportation by 49 U.S.C. chapter 311, subchapters I, III and IV,
relating to commercial motor vehicle programs and safety regulation.
Background
On January 13, 2003, FMCSA issued a letter to a company providing
regulatory guidance concerning the use of computerized employer
notification systems for the annual inquiry and review of driving
records required by 49 CFR 391.25. The guidance explained that the use
of a specific third-party computerized ENS that provides motor carriers
with a department of motor vehicle report for every State in which the
driver held either an operator's license, a CDL, or permit when a
driver is enrolled in the system, and provides an update anytime the
State licensing agency enters new information about license status,
crashes and convictions of laws or regulations governing the operation
of motor vehicles satisfies the requirement for an annual review of
each driver's record. However, the guidance referenced a specific
vendor providing such services to the motor carrier industry.
The regulatory guidance issued to the specific company was
subsequently posted to FMCSA's Web site as question #4 to 49 CFR 391.25
(See https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/391.25?guidance). The 2003 guidance reads as follows:
Question 4: Does the use of a third-party computerized system that
provides motor carriers with a complete department of motor vehicle
report for every State in which the driver held a commercial motor
vehicle operator's license or permit when a driver is enrolled in the
system, and then automatically provides an update anytime the State
licensing agency enters new information on the driving record, satisfy
the requirements of Sec. 391.25?
Guidance: Yes. Since motor carriers would be provided with a
complete department of motor vehicle report for every State in which
the driver held a commercial motor vehicle operator's license or permit
when a driver is enrolled in the system, and then provided with an
update any time the State licensing agency enters new information on
the driving record, the requirements of Sec. 391.25(a) would be
satisfied. When the motor carrier manager reviews the information on
the driving record, and the License Monitor system records the identity
of the manager who conducted the review, the requirements of Sec.
391.25(b) and (c) would be satisfied.
With regard to the requirement that the response from each State
agency, and a note identifying the person who performed the review, may
be maintained in the driver's qualification files, motor carriers may
satisfy the record keeping requirement by using computerized records in
accordance with 49 CFR 390.31. Section [390.31] allows all records that
do not require signatures to be maintained through the use of computer
technology provided the motor carrier can produce, upon demand, a
computer printout of the required data. Therefore, motor carriers using
an automated computer system would not be required to maintain paper
copies of the driving records, or a note identifying the person who
performed the review, in each individual driver qualification file
provided a computer printout can be produced upon demand of a Federal
or State enforcement official.
[[Page 13070]]
Because the guidance made reference to one vendor, License Monitor,
it was not considered helpful by some in the industry for motor
carriers using systems other than the one operated by License Monitor.
The American Trucking Associations raised the issue with FMCSA and the
Agency agrees that the guidance should be revised to provide generic
guidance rather than vendor-specific guidance. In addition, since 2003,
several SDLAs have implemented ENS systems that provide the driver
record information to employers.
FMCSA's Decision
In consideration of the above, FMCSA has determined that the
current regulatory guidance should be revised to make clear that any
State-operated ENS may be used to satisfy the requirements of 49 CFR
391.25, even if the information is accumulated by a third party. The
FMCSA revises Question 4 to 49 CFR 391.25 to read as follows:
Qualification of Drivers, Annual Inquiry and Review of Driving Record;
Regulatory Guidance for 49 CFR 391.25
Question 4: Does the use of an employer notification system that
provides motor carriers with a department of motor vehicle report for
every State in which the driver held either an operator's license, a
commercial driver's license (CDL), or permit when a driver is enrolled
in the system and provides information about license status, crashes
and convictions of laws or regulations governing the operation of motor
vehicles on the driving record satisfy the requirement for an annual
review of each driver's record?
Guidance: Yes. Since motor carriers would be provided with a
department of motor vehicle report for every State in which the driver
held a commercial motor vehicle operator's license or permit when a
driver is enrolled in the system and the State licensing agency
includes information about crashes and convictions of laws or
regulations governing the operation of motor vehicles on the driving
record, the requirements of Sec. 391.25(a) would be satisfied.
Generally, the requirements of Sec. 391.25(b) and (c) would be
satisfied if the employer notification system records the identity of
the motor carrier's representative who conducted the review when the
carrier's representative reviews the information on the driving record.
The use of an employer notification system would meet the
requirements if either the motor carrier automatically receives updates
from the State (push-system) or can regularly access the system to
check for updates (pull-system), as long as the check occurs at least
once per year. In addition, receipt of these reports meets the
requirement for the annual check even if it is provided to the motor
carrier by a third-party.
With regard to the requirement that the response from each State
agency, and a note identifying the person who performed the review, may
be maintained in the driver's qualification files, motor carriers may
satisfy the recordkeeping requirement by using computerized records in
accordance with FMCSA's Regulatory Guidance Concerning Electronic
Documents and Signatures, 75 FR 411, January 4, 2011. Therefore, motor
carriers using an automated employer notification computer system would
not be required to maintain paper copies of the driving records, or a
note identifying the person who performed the review, in each
individual driver qualification file provided documentation consistent
with FMCSA's January 4, 2011, guidance can be produced upon demand of a
Federal or State enforcement official.
Issued on: March 2, 2015.
T.F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-05645 Filed 3-11-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
