Commercial Driver's License (CDL): Application for Exemption; U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. (USCHI), 20415-20416 [2017-08725]

Agencies

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 82 (Monday, May 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20415-20416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08725]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0133]


Commercial Driver's License (CDL): Application for Exemption; 
U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. (USCHI)

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that the U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. (USCHI) 
has requested an exemption from the ``K'' intrastate restriction on 
commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) held by custom harvester drivers 
operating in interstate commerce. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations (FMCSRs) exempt drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) 
controlled and operated by a person engaged in interstate custom 
harvesting, including the requirement that drivers be at least 21 years 
old. However, many younger custom harvester drivers hold CDLs with an 
intrastate-only (or ``K'') restriction. This has caused drivers of 
USCHI member companies to be cited during roadside inspections in a 
different State, as some officers interpret the ``K'' restriction to 
mean that the license is invalid outside the State of issuance, even 
when the younger driver is operating under the custom harvester 
exemption. This is an issue not only for individual drivers, but also 
for the custom harvester employing those drivers, whose safety record 
is adversely affected. FMCSA requests public comment on USCHI's 
application for exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 31, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2017-0133 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. See the 
Public Participation and Request for Comments section below for further 
information.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
docket number for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments 
received without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140 
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 24 hours each 
day, 365 days each year.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning this 
notice, contact Mr. Tom Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver and Carrier 
Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety 
Standards; Telephone: 614-942-6477. Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and 
related materials.

Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2017-0133), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which the comment applies, and provide a reason for 
suggestions or recommendations. You may submit your comments and 
material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a 
mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of 
your document so the Agency can contact you if it has questions 
regarding your submission.
    To submit your comments online, go to www.regulations.gov and put 
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2017-0133'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and 
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on ``Comment 
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box in the following 
screen. Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual 
or on behalf of a third party and then submit. If you submit your 
comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no 
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic 
filing. If you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they 
reached the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard 
or envelope. FMCSA will consider all comments and material received 
during the comment period and may grant or not grant this application 
based on your comments.

II. Legal Basis

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations (FMCSRs). 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

[[Page 20416]]

opportunity to inspect the information relevant to the application, 
including any safety analyses that have been conducted. The Agency must 
also provide an opportunity for public comment on the request.
    The Agency reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted, 
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 reasons for denying or granting the application 
and, if granted, the name of the person or class of persons receiving 
the exemption, and the regulatory provision from which the exemption is 
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period and explain 
the terms and conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed 
(49 CFR 381.300(b)).

III. Request for Exemption

    Custom harvesters are businesses that supply the equipment and 
labor to assist farmers with harvesting during their busiest seasons. 
Typically, there are two different classes of operations, grain 
harvesting and forage harvesting. A grain harvester uses combines to 
harvest wheat, corn, barley, canola, sunflowers, soybeans, and grain 
sorghum, among others. These crop products are transported to an 
elevator or on-farm storage, where the crop is stored and later 
transported elsewhere to be processed into products for public use. A 
forage harvester uses a chopper to harvest whole-plant crops such as 
corn, sorghum, milo, triticale, and alfalfa. These crops are used for 
silage to feed livestock in dairies and feedlots. Some operators 
harvest crops such as cotton that require other specialized equipment. 
Custom harvesters travel from State to State and can spend from a few 
days to several months cutting crops for one farmer.
    USCHI states that custom harvesters are experiencing a problem with 
the exemption they have utilized since the early 1970s (49 CFR 
391.2(a)). Under this provision, drivers of CMVs controlled and 
operated by a person engaged in custom harvesting are exempt from all 
of part 391, including the requirement to be at least 21 years of age 
to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. USCHI members frequently 
employ drivers 18-21 years of age, who are issued CDLs with a ``K'' 
restriction that makes the license valid only for operations within the 
issuing State (49 CFR 383.153(a)(10)(vii)). The problem arises when law 
enforcement officers interpret the ``K'' restriction to mean that the 
license is invalid outside the issuing State, even though section 
391.2(a) exempts younger custom harvester drivers from the 21-year-old 
age requirement when operating in interstate commerce. This has caused 
drivers employed by some of USCHI's members to be cited for CDL 
violations during inspections. This an issue not only for the 
individual driver, but also for the custom harvester employer, whose 
safety record is adversely affected.
    Therefore, USCHI asks that the Agency grant an exemption under the 
following terms and conditions:
    (1) Drivers for custom harvesters operating in interstate commerce 
shall be exempt from any intrastate-only ``K'' restriction on their 
CDLs (49 CFR 383.153(a)(10)(vii));
    (2) Drivers to be included in this exemption are identified in 49 
CFR 391.2 as those operating a CMV to:
    (1) Transport farm machinery, supplies, or both, to or from a farm 
for custom-harvesting operations on a farm; or
    (2) Transport custom-harvested crops to storage or market.
    In its application, USCHI cites regulatory guidance to 49 CFR 
383.155, entitled ``Special topics--State Reciprocity,'' which reads as 
follows: ``Question 1: May a State place an `intrastate only' or 
similar restriction on the CDL of a driver who certifies that he or she 
is not subject to part 391?; Guidance: Yes; however, this restriction 
would not apply to drivers in interstate commerce who are excepted or 
exempted from part 391 under the provisions of parts 390 or 391.'' 
USCHI believes that this guidance clearly indicates that the 
``intrastate only'' restriction should not be applied to custom 
harvester drivers; however, USCHI states that this guidance does not 
seem to have been widely circulated among State law enforcement 
personnel or is not followed consistently.
    To ensure that the driver is authentically operating as a custom 
harvester, USCHI specifies that he/she should be able to provide at 
least three of the following methods of verification:
     The driver shall have on hand a valid custom harvesting 
document such as a current date agricultural commodity scale sheet, a 
current date custom harvesting load sheet, an official company document 
stating the company purpose, etc.;
     The CMV may have license plates specific to custom 
harvesting, or the verbiage ``Harvesting'' may be part of the business 
signage on the vehicle;
     The CMV must be designed to haul a harvested agricultural 
commodity or equipment for harvesting, or be a support vehicle for 
custom-harvesting operations such as a service truck;
     The CMV may be hauling a harvested agricultural commodity 
or equipment for the purpose of custom harvesting;
     The CMV may have newly harvested commodity or remnants on 
board;
     The driver will provide a verifiable location of current 
harvesting operation or delivery location for a harvested commodity.

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or Greater Level of Safety

    One requirement of any exemption issued under 49 CFR part 381 is 
that it be likely to achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or 
greater than, the level that would be achieved by the current 
regulation. In this case interstate operations by custom harvester 
drivers is already authorized by 49 CFR 391.2(a), but could be 
construed as prohibited by the conflicting requirements of 49 CFR 
383.153(a)(10)(vii). By clarifying the nature of permitted 
transportation, USCHI believes this exemption would not have any impact 
on safe operation of CMVs and is therefore likely to achieve a level of 
safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved 
by the current regulation (49 CFR 391.2(a)).
    USCHI requests the exemption for the maximum available period of 
five years. A copy of USCHI's application for exemption is available 
for review in the docket for this notice.

    Issued on: April 21, 2017.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-08725 Filed 4-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P