[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20776-20777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10209]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2008-0078]


Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Standards; Rotel North American 
Tours, LLC; Amendment of Exemption

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

ACTION: Notice of amendment; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that the Rotel North American Tours, LLC 
(Rotel), has applied for amendment of its existing exemption that 
permits 22 named drivers, employed by Rotel and possessing German CDLs, 
to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the U.S. without a CDL 
issued by one of the States. Rotel proposes to amend the roster of 22 
exempt Rotel drivers in order to substitute three new Rotel drivers for 
three drivers no longer employed by Rotel. The new Rotel drivers would 
be subject to all the terms and conditions of the current exemption, 
including its expiration date of July 30, 2010.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 20, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2008-0078 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Telefax: 1-202-493-2251.

[[Page 20777]]

     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 
9 a.m. and 5 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the exemption process, see the Public 
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov, and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street 
address listed above.
    Privacy Act: You may 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 the 
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published 
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19476) or you may visit http://DocketInfo.dot.gov.
    Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available 
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You may obtain electronic 
submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the ``help'' section 
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site. If you want us to notify 
you that we received your comments, please include a self-addressed, 
stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgment page that 
appears after submitting comments online. Comments received after the 
comment closing date will be included in the docket, and we will 
consider late comments to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert F. Schultz, Jr., FMCSA 
Driver and Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck 
Standards and Operations: Telephone: 202-366-4325. 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) amended 49 U.S.C. 31315 
and 31136(e) to provide FMCSA authority to grant exemptions from its 
motor carrier safety regulations, including the HOS rules. The 
procedure for requesting an exemption is prescribed in 49 CFR part 381. 
FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal 
Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an 
opportunity to inspect the information relevant to the application, 
including any safety analyses that have been conducted, and to comment 
on the request.
    The Agency must review the safety analyses and public comments. 
Then it may grant the exemption for up to 2 years if it finds ``such 
exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, 
or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such 
exemption'' (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of the Agency must be 
published in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)) with the reason 
for denying or, in the alternative, the specific person or class of 
persons receiving the exemption, and the regulatory provision or 
provisions from which the exemption is granted. The notice must also 
specify the effective period of the exemption and its terms and 
conditions.
    Rotel provides seasonal motorcoach tours for non-English speaking 
tourists. The service is unique because the drivers of these buses 
serve as the tour guides, providing oral commentary to the passengers 
in their native language, usually German. Rotel states that none of the 
States of the U.S. will issue CDLs to these drivers because they are 
not State residents. Until recent years, Rotel drivers were able to 
obtain a non-resident CDL from certain States. Rotel asserts that 
without the exemption from the requirement that its drivers have a CDL 
issued by a State, it would have to terminate these tour operations. 
Complete details of Rotel's operations can be found in its original 
application, dated August 27, 2007, which is contained in the docket of 
this notice.
    On July 30, 2008, FMCSA granted, after notice and comment, Rotel's 
request to allow 22 drivers, each holding a German CDL, to operate 
Rotel motor coaches in the U.S. without a CDL issued by one of the 
States as required by 49 CFR 383.23 (73 FR 44313). FMCSA found that 
these drivers, operating specialty tour buses in the U.S., would 
``likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater 
than, the level that would be achieved absent such exemption,'' in 
accordance with 49 CFR 381.305. The 2-year exemption expires on July 
30, 2010.

Rotel's Request for Amendment

    By letter dated February 6, 2009, supplemented by an e-mail message 
dated April 9, 2009, Rotel applied for an amendment to its exemption 
for the sole purpose of replacing three drivers on the original roster 
of 22 Rotel drivers approved for this exemption. Both documents are 
available in the docket for this notice. Rotel asks that Jens Radloff, 
Christian Hafner, and Ludwig Gerlsberger be dropped from that roster, 
and that, in their place, Rotel employees Klaus Endres, Sebastian 
Nicki, and Karl-Heinz Schmitz, non-residents of the U.S. and holders of 
German CDLs, be added to the roster as drivers exempt from the CDL 
licensing requirement. Rotel believes these three new drivers, like the 
non-resident Rotel drivers already operating under this exemption, 
possess sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience to ensure a level 
of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety 
that would be obtained by complying with the requirement for a U.S. 
CDL. If the Agency determines that this amendment should be granted, 
the three new drivers would be subject to the terms and conditions of 
the original Rotel exemption.
    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(4) and 31136(e), FMCSA 
requests public comments on Rotel's request for amendment of its 
exemption to allow it to substitute three new Rotel CDL drivers for 
three of the 22 original Rotel CDL drivers granted exemption from 49 
CFR 383.23 on July 30, 2008. FMCSA will consider all comments received 
by close of business on May 20, 2009. All comments will be available 
for examination in the docket at the location listed under the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice. The Agency will consider to the 
extent practicable comments received in the public docket after the 
closing date of the comment period.

    Issued on: April 28, 2009.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
[FR Doc. E9-10209 Filed 5-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P