[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35768-35769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12113]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2005-20946]


Notice of Request for Approval 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 Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval and comment. The ICR 
is related to a study of how information technology is being used to 
improve safety management in the motor carrier industry. On February 
25, 2005, the agency published a Federal Register notice (70 FR 9440) 
with a 60-day comment period to solicit the public's views on the 
information collection noted below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 21, 2005. A comment 
to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of this 
publication.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2005-20946 by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the DOT 
electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management System (DMS) Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 
Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking process. Note that all comments received will be posted 
without change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading under Regulatory Notes.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-
401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: 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 at 65 FR 19477 or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Angeli Sebastian, Division Chief, 
Information Systems, (202) 366-4023, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration (MC-RIS), 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: 

[[Page 35769]]

    Title: ``Motor Carrier Industry Profile.''
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: 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), 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: 1,000. The respondents will be from the ten largest 
for-hire and private motor carriers in each State.
    Average Burden Per Response: The estimated average time to complete 
the questionnaire is 45 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: The estimated total annual burden is 
750 hours.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology. All responses to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval.

    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: June 13, 2005.
Annette M. Sandberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-12113 Filed 6-20-05; 8:45 am]
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