[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 37 (Friday, February 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9440-9441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3616]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2005-20140]


Notice of Request for Clearance of a New Information Collection: 
Best Motor Carrier Safety Management Technology Practices

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirement in section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces the 
intention of the FMCSA to request the Office of Management and Budget's 
(OMB) approval of a new information collection related to a study of 
how information technology is being used to improve safety management 
in the motor carrier industry. This study is one element in a larger, 
multi-year study of the safety and financial performance of the motor 
carrier industry by commodity segment. This Motor Carrier Industry 
Profile Study is being performed by the University of Maryland on 
behalf of the FMCSA.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 26, 2005.

ADDRESSES: All signed, written comments should refer to the docket 
number that appears in the heading of this document and must be 
submitted to the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. All comments received 
will be available for examination at the above address between 10 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Those 
desiring notification of receipt of comments must include a self-
addressed, stamped postcard or envelope.
    Electronic Access: An electronic copy of this document may be 
downloaded using the Internet at the Office of the Federal Register's 
Home page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing 
Office's database at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara. For Internet 
users, all comments received will be available for examination at the 
universal source location: http://dms.dot.gov. Please follow the 
instructions on-line for additional information and guidance.
    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 in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dale Sienicki, Program Manager, 
Industry Profile Study, (202) 366-1961, Office of Information 
Management, Analysis Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 400 7th Street SW., Suite 8214, Washington, DC 20590. 
Office hours are from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Motor Carrier Industry Profile.
    Background: The FMCSA is responsible for enhancing the safety of 
motor carrier operations and the nation's highway system through fair, 
uniform and consistent enforcement of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations and applicable Hazardous Materials Regulations, and through 
other innovative programmatic approaches. A complicating factor is the 
sheer size and diversity of the motor carrier industry, and a less than 
thorough understanding of its diversity. Detailed information about the 
safety performance differences among segments, and the practices, 
policies, and programs undertaken by safety leaders within each segment 
will assist FMCSA in its policy and program development and improve the 
safety of the industry. This project is being conducted on behalf of 
FMCSA through a cooperative agreement with the University of Maryland's 
Smith School of Business.
    This project is being conducted in three phases as follows:
    Phase 1 (now completed) involved three analyses of the motor 
carrier industry segmented into its major components. The first 
analysis consisted of developing financial and operating performance 
profiles for each of the 13 for-hire commodity segments (Refrigerated; 
Bulk Materials--Non Tank; Tank Carriers, Moving/Household Goods; 
Building Materials; Heavy Equipment, General Freight Truck-Load 
(subdivided into small, medium and large-sized carriers), General 
Freight Less-Than-Truck-Load, and Other Specialized (subdivided into 
small, medium and large-sized carriers). The second analysis evaluated 
detailed safety performance data for 10 commodity segments, including 
Building Materials, Moving/Household Goods, General Freight (TL and 
LTL),

[[Page 9441]]

Heavy Equipment, Produce, Intermodal, Passenger, Refrigerated (non-
produce), Tank Carriers and Bulk Materials Carriers. Each commodity 
segment was subdivided into its for-hire and private components, and 
each of the 30 segments was evaluated on recent crash, vehicle, driver 
and safety management factors. The third analysis combined the 
financial and safety performance data from the first two analyses to 
create a profile of the financial and safety performance relationship. 
Correlation coefficients were calculated for various financial-safety 
performance measures, and each correlation coefficient was calculated 
for various financial-safety performance measures and tested for its 
statistical significance. Phase 1 results are located on the FMCSA 
Analysis and Information (A&I) online Web site (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov) under ``Analysis Results and Reports.''
    The safety performance results from Phase 1 provided the basis for 
Phase 2 of this study (also complete).
    Phase 2 of the study is an investigation of the safety programs, 
policies, and procedures undertaken by safety leaders in each commodity 
segment (commonly known as the ``Best Practices'' Study). Phase 2 
included individual interviews with several safety leaders in each 
segment. Detailed information was collected on driver screening and 
hiring practices, pre-service and in-service training procedures, 
incentive awards programs and vehicle maintenance policies. Phase 2 
results are also located on FMCSA's A&I Web site (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov) under Analysis Results and Reports.''
    Phase 3: Results from Phase 2 are being shared with FMCSA safety 
investigators and disseminated to many carriers within the industry, 
including new entrants and poor performers. Specifically, copies of the 
``Best Practices'' final report were provided to national-level 
industry associations and FMCSA field offices. Summarized brochures 
have been developed for distribution to the associations, FMCSA field 
offices, and new entrants upon initial registration with FMCSA. The 
hope is that these new motor carriers will incorporate these practices 
into their own safety management programs while they are still in the 
development stage. Additionally, FMCSA hopes to incorporate the results 
in material provided at compliance reviews, so that carriers who rate 
poorly have access to specific, concrete examples of how to revise or 
improve their safety management programs.
    As part of Phase 3, FMCSA and the University of Maryland will seek 
more detailed information from the motor carrier industry on how 
technology is being used to improve safety management. FMCSA and the 
University of Maryland propose to send questionnaires to approximately 
1,000 of the largest for-hire and private carriers in the United 
States. The University of Maryland will also post the questionnaires 
on-line so that the selected carriers can complete the survey via the 
Internet, if desired.
    Respondents: The total number of respondents is 1,000. The 
respondents will be the ten largest for-hire and private motor carriers 
in each State.
    Average Burden Per Response: The estimated average burden per 
response is 45 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden: The estimated 
total annual burden is 750 hours (1,000 questionnaires interviews x 45 
minutes per response/60 minutes = 750 hours).
    Frequency: Once.
    Public Comments Invited: Interested parties are invited to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this information collection, 
including, but not limited to: (1) The necessity and utility of the 
information collection for the proper performance of the functions of 
the FMCSA; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the collected information; 
and (4) ways to minimize the collection burden without reducing the 
quality of the collected information. Comments submitted in response to 
this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB 
clearance of this information collection.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1748 (December 9, 
1999); and 49 CFR 1.73.

    Issued on: February 14, 2005.
Annette M. Sandberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-3616 Filed 2-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P