Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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. This ICR is related to the collection of information to determine the effectiveness of (a) third party testing programs as they relate to commercial driver's license (CDL) skills and knowledge tests and (b) minimum testing standards for CDL skills and knowledge tests.

FMCSA solicits public comment on ways to improve the clarity of current regulations on the use of electronic logging devices (ELD) and address certain concerns about the technical specifications raised by industry stakeholders. The Agency seeks comment in five specific areas in which the Agency is considering changes: applicability to pre- 2000 engines; addressing ELD malfunctions; the process for removing ELD products from FMCSA's list of certified devices; technical specifications; and ELD certification.

FMCSA announces its decision to provisionally renew the Truck Renting and Leasing Association, Inc. (TRALA) exemption from the provisions that require a motor carrier to install and require each of its drivers to use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver's hours-of-service (HOS). The exemption allows drivers of property carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) rented for 8 days or less, regardless of reason, to not use an ELD in the vehicle. These drivers remain subject to the standard HOS limits and must maintain a paper record of duty status (RODS) if required. The exemption renewal is for 5 years.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the renewal Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval to renew an ICR titled, ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form.'' This Information Collection (IC) is voluntary and may be utilized by Medical Examiners (MEs) responsible for issuing Medical Examiner's Certificates (MECs) to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. MEs that choose to use this IC do so to communicate with treating healthcare professionals who are responsible for prescribing certain medications, so that the ME fully understands the reasons the medications have been prescribed. The information obtained by the ME when utilizing this IC assists the ME in determining if the driver is medically qualified and ensures that there are no disqualifying medical conditions or underlying medical conditions and prescribed medications that could adversely affect their safe driving ability or cause incapacitation constituting a risk to the public.

On August 31, 2022, FMCSA announced the extension of its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency Declaration which provides regulatory relief for motor carriers and drivers engaged in providing direct assistance in continued support of the Nation's COVID- 19 national emergency. The extension of the emergency declaration expires on October 15, 2022. FMCSA (the ``Agency'') seeks public comment concerning the extent to which motor carriers currently rely on the emergency declaration to deliver certain commodities and whether there has been any impact on safety.

FMCSA amends the regulations for the annual registration fees States collect from motor carriers, motor private carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies for the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan and Agreement for the 2023 registration year and subsequent registration years. The fees for the 2023 registration year would be reduced below the fees for 2022. The reduction in annual registration fees would be between $18 and $17,688 per entity, depending on the applicable fee bracket that is based on the number of vehicles owned or operated by the affected entity.

FMCSA announces that it has received an application from Flat Top Transport requesting an exemption from the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations. Flat Top Transport requests a four-month exemption for ``immediate and emergency delivery of dry and bulk food grade products to locations that supply stores and distribution centers nationally.'' FMCSA requests public comment on the applicant's request for exemption.

FMCSA announces that it has received an application for exemption from The Trucking Alliance, a group comprised of the following motor carriers: Cargo Transporters; Dupr[eacute] Logistics LLC; Frozen Food Express; J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc.; KLLM Transport Services; Knight Transportation; Maverick Transportation LLC; Schneider; Swift Transportation; USXpress; and May Trucking Company. The Trucking Alliance applied for an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) ``to amend the definition of actual knowledge to include the employer's knowledge of a driver's positive hair test, which would require such results be reported to the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (``Clearinghouse'') and to inquiring carriers.'' Although FMCSA lacks the statutory authority to grant the Trucking Alliance's request for exemption until the Department of Health and Human Services has taken certain action, FMCSA requests public comment on the exemption application, as required by statute.

FMCSA announces that Ronnie Brown III requests an exemption from the federal hours of service (HOS) and electronic logging device (ELD) regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. The applicant requests the exemption for himself only for a 5-year period. FMCSA requests public comment on Mr. Brown's request for exemption.

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 review and approval. This notice invites comment on the information collection titled ``Acknowledgement of Use of COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Relief,'' which is currently approved on an emergency basis and allows FMCSA to collect information from motor carriers engaged in providing direct assistance in response to certain emergency declarations issued by the Agency to provide regulatory relief for such carriers in continued support of the Nation's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovery efforts. OMB approved this collection on an emergency basis and subsequently extended that emergency approval. The extension of the emergency approval expires on August 31, 2022. No comments were received in response to the 60-day Federal Register notice.

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from 18 individuals for an exemption from the hearing requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate commerce. If granted, the exemptions would enable these hard of hearing and deaf individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

FMCSA announces that the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) has applied for an exemption for commercial driver's license (CDL) applicants seeking a school bus endorsement, from the engine compartment portion of the pre-trip vehicle inspection skills testing requirement, known as the ``under-the-hood'' testing requirement. Drivers issued a CDL pursuant to the requested exemption would be restricted to the intrastate operation of school buses only. FMCSA requests public comment on the applicant's request for exemption.

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. FMCSA requests approval to renew an ICR entitled ``Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight Forwarders,'' OMB control number 2126-0015. This is necessary to provide motor carriers, property brokers, and freight forwarders a means of meeting process agent requirements.

FMCSA requests public comment on an application for exemption from Daimler Coaches North America, LLC to allow its driver assistance camera technology to be mounted higher in the lower area of the windshield on commercial motor vehicles than is currently permitted.

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt 12 individuals from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate commerce. They are unable to meet the vision requirement in one eye for various reasons. The exemptions enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce without meeting the vision requirement in one eye.

This final rule provides the statutorily-prescribed 2022 adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations. In addition, this rule notes new DOT civil penalties authority provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL, enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (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 approval to renew an ICR titled, ``Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.'' The HOS regulations require a motor carrier to install, and requires each of its drivers subject to the record of duty status (RODS) rule to use, an electronic logging device (ELD) to report the driver's RODS. The RODS is critical to FMCSA's safety mission because it helps enforcement officials determine if commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are complying with the HOS rules limiting driver on-duty and driving time and requiring periodic off-duty time.

FMCSA amends its regulations to eliminate the requirement that drivers operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce prepare and submit a list of their convictions for traffic violations to their employers annually. This requirement is largely duplicative of a separate rule that requires each motor carrier to make an annual inquiry to obtain the motor vehicle record (MVR) for each driver it employs from every State in which the driver holds or has held a CMV operator's license or permit in the past year. To ensure motor carriers are aware of traffic convictions for a driver who is licensed by a foreign authority rather than by a State, the Agency amends the rule to provide that motor carriers must make an annual inquiry to each driver's licensing authority where a driver holds or has held a CMV operator's license or permit.

FMCSA is withdrawing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to allow driver applicants to take the commercial driver's license (CDL) general and specialized knowledge tests in a State (the testing State) other than the applicant's State of domicile. The NPRM also proposed that the applicant's State of domicile would be required to accept knowledge test results from the testing State. As explained further below, FMCSA is taking this action after considering the comments received following the publication of the NPRM.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (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. FMCSA requests approval to renew an ICR titled, ``Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Vendor Registration.'' This ICR is necessary for ELD vendors to register their ELDs with the Agency.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew exemptions for 91 individuals from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The exemptions enable these individuals to continue to operate CMVs in interstate commerce without meeting the vision requirement in one eye.

FMCSA announces its decision to deny the exemption request from Mountain Blade Runner Helicopters, LLC (MBR Helicopters) for an exemption from the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for operators of its ground support equipment. MBR Helicopters requested relief from the 14-hour ``driving window'' rule and the requirement that drivers have 10 consecutive hours off duty at the end of the work shift. The exemption would allow drivers of MBR Helicopters' ground support equipment a 16-hour window to complete all driving and enable them to use an 8-consecutive hour off-duty break, combined with at least 2 additional off-duty hours during the 16-hour driving window. FMCSA analyzed the exemption application and public comments, and determined that the application lacked evidence that the exemption would ensure a level of safety equivalent to or greater than that which would be achieved absent such exemption.

FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval and invites public comment. This renewal collection of information is for the National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB), which is an online interface allowing consumers, drivers, and others to file complaints against unsafe and unscrupulous companies and/or their employees, including shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries, depending on the type of complaint. These complaints cover a wide range of issues, including but not limited to driver harassment, coercion, movement of household goods, financial responsibility instruments for brokers and freight forwarders, Americans with Disability Act (ADA) compliance, Electronic Logging Device (ELD), Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT), Medical Review Officer (MRO), and Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) complaints. FMCSA requests approval to renew the ICR titled ``National Consumer Complaint Database'' covered by OMB Control Number 2126-0067 in order to continue to collect consumer complaint information so FMCSA can use this data to take enforcement action, better inform FMCSA policies for safer motor carrier operations, and improve consumer protection.

FMCSA requests public comment on an application for exemption from Pi Variables, Inc. (Pi Variables) to allow sequential flashing light emitting diode (LED) flare warning devices to be deployed when CMVs are stopped upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder of a highway for any cause other than necessary traffic stops.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2022, FMCSA amended its regulations to permit individuals who do not satisfy, with the worse eye, either the existing distant visual acuity standard with corrective lenses or the field of vision standard, or both, to be physically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce under specified conditions. The document included an incorrect date for grandfathered drivers who participated in a vision waiver study program to come into compliance with the provisions in the final rule.