[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 113 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33667-33669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14224]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2010-0177]


Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application 
for an Exemption From the Flatbed Carrier Safety Group

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

ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA requests public comment on an application for exemption 
from the Flatbed Carrier Safety Group (FCSG) regarding the securement 
of metal coils on a flatbed vehicle, in a sided vehicle, or in an 
intermodal container loaded with eyes crosswise, grouped in rows, in 
which the coils are loaded to contact each other in the longitudinal 
direction. FCSG wants to use the pre-January 1, 2004 cargo securement 
regulations for the transportation of groups of metal coils with eyes 
crosswise.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 14, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
FMCSA-2008-0224 by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the Federal electronic docket 
site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room W12-140, DOT Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, 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 this notice. 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 for further information.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to Room W12-140, 
DOT Building, New Jersey Avenue, SE., 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 (65 FR 19476) or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.
    Public participation: The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 
generally available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can get 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of the http://www.regulations.gov Web

[[Page 33668]]

site and also at the DOT's http://docketsinfo.dot.gov 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 
acknowledgement page that appears after submitting comments online.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 
Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, 
MC-PSV, (202) 366-0676; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(TEA- 21) [Pub. L. 105-178, June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 401] amended 49 
U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e) to provide authority to grant exemptions from 
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). On August 20, 
2004, FMCSA published a final rule (69 FR 51589) implementing section 
4007. Under this rule, FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption 
request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must 
provide the public with an opportunity to inspect the information 
relevant to the application, including any safety analyses that have 
been conducted. The Agency must also provide an opportunity for public 
comment on the request.
    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 decision of 
the Agency must be published 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 decision is to grant the exemption, the notice 
must specify the person or class of persons receiving the exemption and 
the regulatory provision or provisions from which an exemption is 
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 be renewed (49 CFR 381.315(c) and 49 CFR 
381.300(b)).

FCSG's Application for Exemption

    On March 30, 2010, FCSG applied for an exemption from 49 CFR 
393.120 to allow motor carriers to comply with the pre-January 1, 2004 
cargo securement regulations (then at 49 CFR 393.100(c)) for the 
transportation of groups of metal coils with eyes crosswise. A copy of 
the application is included in the docket referenced at the beginning 
of this notice.
    On September 27, 2002, FMCSA published a final rule revising the 
regulations concerning protection against shifting and falling cargo 
for commercial motor vehicles engaged in interstate commerce (reference 
67 FR 61212). The new rules were based on the North American Cargo 
Securement Standard Model Regulations, the motor carrier industry's 
best practices, and recommendations presented during a series of public 
meetings involving U.S. and Canadian industry experts, Federal, State, 
and Provincial enforcement officials, and other interested parties. 
Motor carriers were required to ensure compliance with the rule by 
January 1, 2004.
    The September 2002 final rule established detailed requirements for 
a number of specific commodities (logs; dressed lumber; metal coils; 
paper rolls; concrete pipe; intermodal containers; automobiles, light 
trucks and vans; heavy vehicles, equipment and machinery; flattened and 
crushed vehicles; roll-on/roll-off containers; and large boulders) 
that, during the public meetings concerning the development of the 
model regulations, were identified to cause the most disagreement 
between industry and enforcement agencies as to what is required for 
proper securement. The commodity-specific requirements for these items 
take precedence over the general rules when additional requirements are 
given for a commodity listed in those sections. This means all cargo 
securement systems must meet the general requirements, except to the 
extent a commodity-specific rule imposes additional requirements that 
prescribe in more detail the securement method to be used.
    Currently, section 393.120 of the FMCSRs specifies requirements for 
the securement of one or more metal coils which, individually or 
grouped together, weigh 5,000 pounds or more. Metal coils can be 
transported with eyes vertical, eyes lengthwise, or eyes crosswise.
    (1) Section 393.120(b) specifies requirements for the securement of 
coils transported with eyes vertical. Specific requirements are 
provided for the securement of individual coils, and coils grouped in 
rows.
    (2) Section 393.120(d) specifies requirements for the securement of 
coils transported with eyes lengthwise. Specific requirements are 
provided for the securement of individual coils, and rows of coils.
    (3) Section 393.120(c) specifies requirements for the securement of 
coils transported with eyes crosswise as follows:

    393.120(c) Securement of coils transported with eyes crosswise 
on a flatbed vehicle, in a sided vehicle or intermodal container 
with anchor points--(1) An individual coil. Each coil must be 
secured by the following:
    (c)(1)(i) A means (e.g., timbers, chocks or wedges, a cradle, 
etc.) to prevent the coil from rolling. The means of preventing 
rolling must support the coil off the deck, and must not be capable 
of becoming unintentionally unfastened or loose while the vehicle is 
in transit. If timbers, chocks or wedges are used, they must be held 
in place by coil bunks or similar devices to prevent them from 
coming loose. The use of nailed blocking or cleats as the sole means 
to secure timbers, chocks or wedges, or a nailed wood cradle, is 
prohibited;
    (c)(1)(ii) At least one tiedown through its eye, restricting 
against forward motion, and whenever practicable, making an angle no 
more than 45 degrees with the floor of the vehicle or intermodal 
container when viewed from the side of the vehicle or container; and
    (c)(1)(iii) At least one tiedown through its eye, restricting 
against rearward motion, and whenever practicable, making an angle 
no more than 45 degrees with the floor of the vehicle or intermodal 
container when viewed from the side of the vehicle or container.
    (c)(2) Prohibition on crossing of tiedowns when coils are 
transported with eyes crosswise. Attaching tiedowns diagonally 
through the eye of a coil to form an X-pattern when viewed from 
above the vehicle is prohibited.

    Unlike the requirements for securing coils with eyes vertical 
(section 393.120(b)) and eyes lengthwise (section 393.120(d)), section 
393.120(c) only specifies requirements for the securement of individual 
coils; there are no specific requirements for securing rows of coils. 
As such, a motor carrier transporting a row of coils with eyes 
crosswise must treat each coil as an individual coil, and secure each 
in accordance with the requirements outlined in section 393.120(c) as 
above.
    Whereas the current commodity-specific regulations at section 
393.120 for securing metal coils do not address the securement of 
groups of coils loaded with eyes crosswise, FCSG notes that the cargo 
securement regulations that were in place prior to January 1, 2004 
directly addressed this specific loading configuration. Section 
393.100(c) of the pre-January 2004 cargo securement rules reads as 
follows:

393.100(c)(ii) Coils with eyes crosswise: Each coil or transverse 
row of coils loaded side by side and having approximately the same 
outside diameters must be secured by--
    (a) A tiedown assembly through the eye of each coil, restricting 
against forward motion and making an angle of less than 45[deg] with 
the

[[Page 33669]]

horizontal when viewed from the side of the vehicle;
    (b) A tiedown assembly through the eye of each coil, restricting 
against rearward motion and making an angle of less than 45[deg] 
with the horizontal when viewed from the side of the vehicle; and
    (c) Timbers, having a nominal cross section of 4 x 4 inches or 
more and a length which is at least 75 percent of the width of the 
coil or row of coils, tightly placed against both the front and rear 
sides of the coil or row of coils and restrained to prevent movement 
of the coil or coils in the forward and rearward directions.
    (d) If coils are loaded to contact each other in the 
longitudinal direction and relative motion between coils, and 
between coils and the vehicle, is prevented by tiedown assemblies 
and timbers--
    (1) Only the foremost and rearmost coils must be secured with 
timbers; and
    (2) A single tiedown assembly, restricting against forward 
motion, may be used to secure any coil except the rearmost one, 
which must be restrained against rearward motion. [Emphasis added]

    FCSG states without the temporary exemption, adherence to the 
existing regulations at 393.120(c) for the securement of rows of coils 
loaded with eyes crosswise--i.e., treating each coil as an individual 
coil--places a burden on the motor carrier to carry significantly more 
coil bunks and timbers to secure each coil in a raised bunk off the 
deck. If permitted to secure loads of coils with eyes crosswise in rows 
in which the coils are loaded to contact each other in the longitudinal 
direction, FCSG states that because the coils are grouped and secured 
together, i.e., ``unitized,'' there is no additional safety benefit to 
justify the additional coil bunks and timbers. FCSG states that 
securing groups of coils in this manner allows the load to be unitized 
in a secure manner while still meeting all of the aggregate working 
load limit requirements of 49 CFR 393.106(d).
    FCSG notes that it intends to work cooperatively with the North 
American Cargo Securement Harmonization Forum to effect these changes 
in the North American Cargo Securement Model Regulation, which is the 
document that both the U.S. and Canada have committed to use to update 
the cargo securement requirements in both the FMCSRs and the Canadian 
National Safety Code. FCSG states that this will enable CMV operators 
to continue to secure groups of coils with eyes crosswise in a manner 
that unitizes adjacent coils and was previously deemed adequate and 
secure prior to the January 2004 revisions to the cargo securement 
regulations.
    For the reasons stated above, FCSG requests that motor carriers be 
permitted to secure metal coils loaded with eyes crosswise, in rows in 
which the coils are loaded to contact each other in the longitudinal 
direction, in accordance with the pre-January 2004 cargo securement 
requirements (then 393.100(c)) instead of using the current 
requirements of 393.120(c) which effectively require each coil in a row 
of coils to be treated as an individual coil for the purposes of 
securement. While the current commodity-specific regulations for the 
securement of metal coils at 49 CFR 393.120 specify the securement 
requirements for individual coils loaded with eyes crosswise, these 
regulations do not provide guidance regarding the securement of coils 
with eyes crosswise, grouped in rows, in which the coils are loaded to 
contact each other in the longitudinal direction. FCSG is making this 
request because it believes that utilization of the pre-January 2004 
regulations--which specifically addressed coils transported with eyes 
crosswise, grouped in rows, in which the coils are loaded to contact 
each other in the longitudinal direction--will maintain a level of 
safety that is equivalent to the level of safety achieved without the 
exemption.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests 
public comment from all interested persons on FCSG's application for an 
exemption from 49 CFR 393.120. All comments received before the close 
of business on the comment closing date indicated at the beginning of 
this notice will be considered and will be available for examination in 
the docket at the location listed under the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice. Comments received after the comment closing date will be filed 
in the public docket and will be considered 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 continue to examine the 
public docket for new material.

    Issued on: June 4, 2010.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2010-14224 Filed 6-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P