[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 146 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43277-43278]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12162]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2005-24231]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; FedEx 
Ground Package System, Inc.

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 it has received an application from FedEx 
Ground Package System, Inc. (FedEx) requesting an exemption from the 
on-duty time definition under the Federal drivers hours-of-service 
(HOS) regulations for drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles 
(CMVs). If granted, the exemption would allow FedEx's home-delivery 
drivers to operate property-carrying CMVs to and from their residence, 
without being considered ``on duty.'' FedEx states the subject property 
is normally a package or packages which were expected to be delivered 
during the workday but, for one reason or another, could not be 
delivered that day. Thus, the drivers would operate laden CMVs from the 
point where the final home delivery was made for that workday to their 
residence, and from their residence the following workday to a FedEx 
terminal. FedEx believes its drivers would maintain a level of safety 
equivalent to, or greater than, the level achieved without the 
exemption. FMCSA requests public comment on the FedEx application for 
exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 30, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by FMCSA Docket Number 
FMCSA-2005-24231 by any of the following methods:
     Web Site: http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments to the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: 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.
     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 for this notice. 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 for further 
information.
    Docket: For access to the Docket Management System (DMS) to read 
background documents or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at 
any time or 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. The DMS is available 24 hours 
each day, 365 days each year. If you want us to notify you that we 
received your comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped 
envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement page that appears 
after submitting comments on-line.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of DOT's dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, or other 
entity). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 
2000). This statement is also available at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and 
Operations, MC-PSD, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-
4009. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107, June 9, 1998), which amended 49 U.S.C. 
31315 and 31136(e), provided authority to grant exemptions from motor 
carrier safety regulations. On December 8, 1998, FMCSA's predecessor 
published an interim final rule implementing section 4007 (63 FR 
67600). On August 20, 2004, FMCSA issued a final rule (69 FR 51589) 
which requires FMCSA to publish a notice of each exemption request in 
the Federal Register (49 CFR 315(a)). The agency must provide an 
opportunity for public comment on the request and to inspect the 
information relevant to the application, including

[[Page 43278]]

any safety analyses that have been conducted.
    The agency reviews the safety analyses and the public comments 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 agency must 
publish its decision in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)). If 
the agency denies the request, it must state the reason for doing so. 
If the agency grants the exemption, the notice must specify the person 
or class of persons receiving the exemption, and the regulatory 
provision or provisions from which exemption is being granted. The 
notice must also specify the effective period of the exemption (up to 2 
years), and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The 
exemption may also be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).

Request for Exemption

    FedEx requested an exemption to modify the hours-of-service (HOS) 
standard for determining whether the final ``leg'' of a FedEx driver's 
day, driving the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) from the point of the 
last delivery to the driver's residence, as well as the first leg of 
the following day driving the CMV from the residence to a FedEx 
terminal, is ``on duty time'' as defined in 49 CFR 395.2. FedEx is 
engaged in the delivery of packages by CMV in interstate commerce. In 
the morning FedEx drivers operate company CMVs from their residence to 
company terminals to begin their workday. Their FedEx truck is loaded 
with packages to be delivered, and the drivers then deliver packages to 
nearby residences. The drivers do not pick-up packages or take on 
additional cargo during the day. Following the final delivery of the 
day and a post-trip vehicle inspection, the drivers are relieved of all 
responsibility to FedEx and are free to pursue their own personal 
activities and to use the FedEx CMV to do so. The following morning the 
drivers are permitted to operate the FedEx vehicle from their residence 
to the FedEx terminal to begin a new workday.
    The HOS rules define ``on-duty time'' as ``all time from the time a 
driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until 
the time the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for 
performing work'' (49 CFR 395.2). FMCSA permits time spent going to and 
from a residence in a CMV to be treated as ``off-duty time'' if two 
conditions are met. First, the driver must be relieved from work and 
all responsibility for work while operating the CMV. Second, the CMV 
must be ``unladen,'' or empty (49 CFR 395.8, Question 26, Regulatory 
Guidance). If both these conditions are met, the CMV is viewed as a 
personal conveyance, and the time spent may be treated as ``off-duty 
time.''
    FedEx seeks exemption for itself and its 4,136 drivers from the 
requirement that the CMV be unladen in order for the time to be 
considered ``off-duty time.'' FedEx states that at the end of the 
workday these CMVs occasionally contain a package or packages that 
could not be delivered that day. It may be that the package was 
misaddressed, or the addressee was not home. Delivery of the package is 
usually attempted again the following day.
    FedEx believes that granting the exemption would not adversely 
affect its safety performance, and that it would be able to maintain a 
level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level achieved 
without the exemption.
    A copy of the FedEx exemption application is available for review 
in the docket for this notice.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests 
public comment on FedEx's application for exemption from the definition 
of ``on-duty time'' in 49 CFR 395.2, and the Guidance provided in 
Question 26 under 49 CFR 395.8, to the extent that the CMV must be 
unladen. The Agency will consider all comments received by close of 
business on August 30, 2006. Comments will be available for examination 
in the docket at the location listed under the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice. The Agency will file comments received after the comment 
closing date in the public docket, and will consider them to the extent 
practicable. In addition to late comments, FMCSA will also continue to 
file, in the public docket, relevant information that becomes available 
after the comment closing date. Interested persons should monitor the 
public docket for new material.

    Issued on: July 21, 2006.
David H. Hugel,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-12162 Filed 7-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P