[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 147 (Wednesday, July 30, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 44171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17409]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 385 and 395

[Docket No. FMCSA-2004-19608]
RIN 2126-AB14


Hours of Service of Drivers; Availability of Supplemental 
Documents

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of supplemental documents.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that FMCSA is placing in the 
public docket four additional documents concerning hours of service 
(HOS) for commercial motor vehicle drivers. FMCSA published an interim 
final rule (IFR) on this issue on December 17, 2007. The Agency now 
dockets the supplemental documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver 
and Carrier Operations. Telephone (202) 366-4325 or E-mail 
[email protected]. Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 25, 2005, FMCSA published a final 
HOS rule (``2005 rule'') (70 FR 49978). On July 24, 2007, the D.C. 
Circuit Court vacated the 11-hour driving time and 34-hour restart 
provisions of the 2005 rule (Owner-Operator Independent Drivers 
Association, Inc. v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 494 
F.3d 188 (D.C. Cir. 2007)). In response to the D.C. Circuit Court 
decision, FMCSA published an interim final rule (IFR) on December 17, 
2007 (72 FR 71247) that reinstated the two provisions vacated by the 
Court and sought further comments on those provisions.
    For a full background on this rulemaking, please see the preamble 
to the December 2007 HOS IFR. The docket for this rulemaking (FMCSA-
2004-19608) contains all of the background information for this 
rulemaking, including comments.
    This notice calls attention to four additional supplemental 
documents. FMCSA places the following four electronic files in the 
docket at FMCSA-2004-19608-3488:
     ``HOS Model Description and Guide.doc'' (149 kilobytes) A 
description of the FMCSA HOS Simulation Computer Model and instructions 
for its use.
     ``HOS Simulation Model Sleeper.xls'' (34 megabytes (MB)) 
An FMCSA HOS Simulation Computer Model including sleeper-berth use.
     ``HOS Simulation Model No Sleeper.xls'' (33 MB) An FMCSA 
HOS Simulation Computer Model excluding sleeper-berth use.
     ``HOS Simulation Model Outputs.xls'' (6.4 MB) A subset of 
outputs from the FMCSA HOS Simulation Computer Model, showing details 
of calculations as used in the 2007 Regulatory Impact Analysis in 
Docket Item FMCSA-2004-19608-2529.''
    The HOS Computer Simulation Program is a complex FMCSA computer 
model simulating the movements of a single vehicle (with one or two 
drivers and in different scenarios) operated in compliance with the 
FMCSA HOS regulations. This model was used in the 2007 Regulatory 
Impact Analysis and is Docket Item FMCSA-2004-19608-2529. The HOS 
requirements may be modified by the simulation program user, allowing 
the model to analyze various types of HOS options to show the marginal 
impact on driver productivity, which could be translated into cost 
effects. The computer model uses the Visual Basic programming language 
to operate a macro-driven Microsoft Excel(TM) spreadsheet.

    Issued on: July 23, 2008.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
 [FR Doc. E8-17409 Filed 7-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P