Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration May 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to grant Daimler Trucks North America's (Daimler) application for an exemption for two Daimler drivers to drive commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States without possessing the requisite commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. George Weiberg and Klaus-Dieter Holloh are field test engineers who will be test-driving Daimler vehicles on U.S. roads in order to meet future vehicle safety and environmental regulatory requirements and to promote the development of technology advancements in vehicle safety systems and emissions reductions. Each of these drivers holds a valid German CDL but lacks the U.S. residency necessary to obtain a CDL issued by one of the States. FMCSA believes that the process for obtaining a German-issued CDL is comparable to or is as effective as the U.S. CDL requirements and ensures that these drivers will likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to or greater than the level of safety that would be obtained in the absence of the exemption.

FMCSA announces that the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has applied for exemptions on behalf of 45 individuals from the hearing requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). In accordance with the statutory requirements concerning applications for exemptions, FMCSA requests public comments on NAD's request. The statute and implementing regulations concerning exemptions require that exemptions must provide an equivalent or greater level of safety than if they were not granted. If the Agency determines the exemptions would satisfy the statutory requirements and decides to grant the NAD's request after reviewing the public comments submitted in response to this notice, the exemptions would enable these 45 individuals to qualify as drivers of CMVs in interstate commerce without meeting the Federal hearing standard.

On May 9, 2011, FMCSA published a final rule titled ``Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards.'' Among other things, the rule revised the definition of ``tank vehicle.'' The change required additional drivers, primarily those transporting certain tanks temporarily attached to the commercial motor vehicle (CMV), to obtain a tank vehicle endorsement on their commercial driver's license (CDL). The Agency has since received numerous questions and requests for clarification. This notice responds to questions about the new definition and the compliance date for drivers to obtain the tank vehicle endorsement.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 18 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.

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 has developed an improved estimate of the number of annual responses to this information collection. The result is an increase in the Agency's estimate of the total annual burden hours of this collection.

This final rule rescinds the final rule published on April 5, 2010, entitled ``Electronic On-Board Recorders for Hours-of-Service Compliance'' and amended by a September 13, 2010, technical amendment. This action responds to a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that vacated the April 2010 final rule.

FMCSA announces that MCSAC will hold a meeting on Monday - Wednesday, May 21-23, 2012. On Monday and Tuesday, May 21 and 22, MCSAC will consider ideas and concepts to address certain open recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Wednesday, May 23, will be reserved for MCSAC's Cross-Border trucking subcommittee and the Motorcoach Hours-of-Service (HOS) subcommittee. All three days of the meeting will be open to the public.