[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 169 (Friday, August 31, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 50442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17325]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2007-28825]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection: Training Certification for Entry-Level 
Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators

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, 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. The FMCSA requests approval to revise and extend an 
information collection (IC) entitled, ``Training Certification for 
Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Operators,'' that relates to 
the prerequisite training requirements for drivers of vehicles for 
which a commercial driver's license (CDL) is required. On May 23, 2007, 
FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment 
period on the ICR. No comments were received.

DATES: Please send your comments by October 1, 2007. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 Seventeenth 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: DOT/FMCSA Desk Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver 
and Carrier Operations Division, Telephone: 202-366-4235; e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Training Certification for Entry-Level Commercial Motor 
Vehicle Operators.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0028.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Entry-level CDL drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,611.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2007.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 7,602 hours. FMCSA estimates that an 
entry-level driver requires approximately 10 minutes to complete the 
tasks necessary to comply with the regulation. Those tasks are: 
Photocopying the training certificate, giving the photocopy to the 
motor carrier employer, and placing the original of the certificate in 
a personal file. Therefore, the annual burden for all entry-level 
drivers is (45,611 x 10/60) = 7,602 hours (rounded).
    Background: The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA) 
(49 U.S.C. 31301 et seq.) established national minimum testing and 
licensing standards for operators of large trucks and buses. Congress 
sought to ensure that drivers of large trucks and buses possessed the 
knowledge and skills necessary to operate these vehicles. The CMVSA 
established the ``Commercial Drivers License'' program and directed the 
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), FMCSA's predecessor agency, to 
establish minimum Federal standards that States must meet when 
licensing CMV drivers. The CMVSA applies to most operators of CMVs in 
interstate or intrastate commerce, including employees of Federal, 
State and local governments. Section 4007(a)(2) of the Intermodal 
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (Pub. L. 102-240, 
December 18, 1991) directed the FHWA to ``commence a rulemaking 
proceeding on the need to require training of all entry-level drivers 
of CMVs.'' In 1993, the FHWA received public comments and began a study 
of the effectiveness of the training of entry-level drivers by the 
private sector. The study found that the heavy truck, motor coach, and 
school bus segments of the industry were not providing adequate entry-
level training. In 2003, FMCSA proposed mandatory training for 
operators of CMVs, and in 2004, published a final rule on the topic. On 
June 11, 2004, OMB approved the information collection associated with 
the 2004 rule for a period of three years, or until September 30, 2007.
    Definitions: ``Commercial Motor Vehicle'': This rule applies to the 
operators of CMVs for which a CDL is required by 40 CFR part 383; i.e. 
those vehicles (1) having a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 
pounds or more, regardless of actual weight, (2) designed to transport 
16 or more passengers including the driver, or (3) used to transport 
certain placardable and dangerous hazardous materials (49 CFR part 
383.5). The training requirements of this rule apply to drivers with 1 
year or less experience operating a vehicle for which a CDL is required 
(49 CFR 380.502(b)).
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the FMCSA's performance; (2) the accuracy 
of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the 
collected information.

    Issued on: August 21, 2007.
Terry Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology.
 [FR Doc. E7-17325 Filed 8-30-07; 8:45 am]
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