[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40142-40144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16549]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[FMCSA Dockets No. FMCSA-2008-0078, FMCSA-2011-0376, FMCSA-2011-0084, 
FMCSA-2009-0010]


Applications for Exemption: Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and 
Hours-of-Service (HOS) of Drivers

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

[[Page 40143]]


ACTION: Notice of final dispositions.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces denials of several separate applications for 
exemption from certain provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations (FMCSRs) submitted by five motor carriers on behalf of 
their commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The Agency reviewed each 
application and any public comments received, and rendered each 
decision based upon the merits of the application.

DATES: FMCSA denied the application for exemption of Rotel North 
American Tours, Inc. (Rotel) on May 21, 2012, and of Underwater 
Construction Corporation (Underwater) on May 29, 2012. On June 4, 2012, 
FMCSA denied the applications for exemption of Western Pilot Service 
(Western), Redding Air Service, Inc. (Redding) and Guardian 
Helicopters, Inc. (Guardian).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and 
Operations; Telephone 202-366-4325, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Dockets

    You may read background documents or comments filed to the dockets 
of any of these applications for exemption by going to 
www.regulations.gov at any time, or to Room W12-140, DOT Building, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Background

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant an 
exemption from certain Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 
(FMCSRs) for a maximum 2-year period 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.'' This 
standard must be satisfied before the Agency can grant an exemption [49 
CFR 381.305(a)]. If granted, the exemption may be renewed. An applicant 
is advised in the regulations to carefully review the FMCSRs to 
determine if there are any practical alternatives that would allow it 
to conduct its motor carrier operations without the exemption [49 CFR 
381.305(b)]. The application must include a written assessment of the 
safety impacts the exemption may have. It must also describe how the 
applicant would ensure that it could achieve a level of safety that is 
equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety that would be 
obtained by complying with the regulation [49 CFR 381.310(c)(4) and 
(5)].
    FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption application in the 
Federal Register [49 CFR 381.315(a)]. The Agency must invite the public 
to comment on the merits of the application, and provide the public an 
opportunity to inspect the application, the safety assessment, and all 
other information relevant to the application. The Agency must publish 
a notice announcing its decision on the applications. A notice is 
required for granting an exemption but the Agency may issue denial 
letters with the publication of a notice at a later date, as is the 
case with the denials announced today.

Applications for Exemption

    Rotel, Underwater, Western, Guardian and Redding filed applications 
for exemption from certain FMCSRs on behalf of their CMV drivers. 
Guardian and Redding, under common ownership, filed jointly. FMCSA 
published Federal Register notices requesting public comment on each 
application. Each notice established a docket to provide the public an 
opportunity to inspect the application and other docketed information, 
such as the comments of others submitted to the docket. Table 1 
provides, for each application, the docket number where the complete 
record can be examined, and the FMCSR from which exemption was sought.

                                 TABLE 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Applicant                 Docket No.       Exemption sought
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rotel...........................  FMCSA-2008-0078...  CMV drivers must
                                                       possess a
                                                       commercial
                                                       driver's license.
                                                       49 CFR part 383
Underwater......................  FMCSA-2011-0376...  CMV drivers must
                                                       maintain a record
                                                       of duty status.
                                                       49 CFR 395.8
Western Pilot...................  FMCSA-2011-0084...  CMV drivers may
                                                       not drive a CMV
                                                       after
                                                       accumulating 70
                                                       hours of ``on
                                                       duty'' time in an
                                                       8-day period. 49
                                                       CFR 395.3(b)(2)
Guardian and Redding (joint       FMCSA-2009-0010...
 application).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rotel

    Rotel provides motorcoach tours of the United States for residents 
of Germany, and, for business reasons, prefers to employ residents of 
Germany to drive the motorcoaches. It sought renewal of an exemption 
from the commercial driver's license (CDL) requirements for 22 of its 
drivers who do not hold a CDL issued by one of the States, as required 
by 49 CFR part 383. On May 21, 2012, FMCSA denied Rotel's application 
for exemption renewal because it found that the applicant had not 
pursued all practical alternatives available to it, including hiring 
U.S. CDL drivers. A copy of the denial letter has been placed in the 
docket identified in Table 1.

Underwater

    Underwater sought exemption for 165 of its CMV drivers from a 
provision of the hours-of-service (HOS) rules (49 CFR part 395) 
requiring CMV drivers to maintain a record of duty status (RODS) on 
board the CMV they are operating (49 CFR 395.8). However, operators of 
``utility service vehicles'' (USVs) are exempt from all the HOS rules 
[49 CFR 395.1(n)], including the RODS requirement. Underwater stated 
that its drivers operate USVs for all but a portion of their overall 
driving time in a given week. The rest of their driving involves 
operation of CMVs that do not qualify as USVs; at these times, the 
Underwater drivers must maintain a RODS on board the CMV. Underwater 
sought exemption from the RODS requirement of 49 CFR 395.8 for its 
drivers at all times, so that they would always be exempt from the RODS 
requirement, even when not operating a USV. On May 29, 2012, FMCSA 
denied Underwater's application for exemption because Underwater failed 
to demonstrate how it would achieve the level of safety equivalent to, 
or greater than, the level of safety that would be obtained by 
complying with the RODS

[[Page 40144]]

requirement. A copy of the denial letter has been placed in the docket 
identified in Table 1.

Western Pilot Service

    Western sought exemption for 15 CMV drivers who transport aviation 
fuel for aircraft engaged in firefighting operations in remote areas. 
Western asked for exemption from the provision of the HOS rule that 
limits CMV drivers to a maximum of 70 on-duty hours in any period of 8 
consecutive days [49 CFR 395.3(b)(2)]. When the 70-hour limit is 
reached, this provision bars CMV drivers from operating a CMV on a 
public highway until they attain the amount of off-duty time prescribed 
by the HOS regulations. Western proposed that it be given an exemption 
that would permit its CMV drivers to satisfy the off-duty requirement 
by being off duty for 2 consecutive days in any 14-day period. Thus, 
Western drivers could be eligible to drive a CMV when their hours on 
duty exceeded 70 hours in the most recent 8-day period. Western sought 
this exemption so that the work schedules of its CMV drivers would more 
closely correspond with the work schedules of its aircraft pilots. 
FMCSA reviewed the application and the two public comments submitted. 
On June 4, 2012, FMCSA concluded that Western had not demonstrated how 
it would achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the 
level of safety that would be obtained by complying with the limit of 
70 on-duty hours in 8 days. A copy of the denial letter has been placed 
in the docket identified in Table 1.

Redding Air Service/Guardian Helicopters

    These two entities, owned by the same individual, filed a joint 
application seeking relief for 20 CMV drivers who transport jet fuel in 
tank CMVs in support of aircraft engaged in firefighting operations. 
The applicants asked for exemption from the HOS rule that prohibits a 
driver from operating a CMV after accumulating 70 on-duty hours in an 
8-day period [Sec.  395.3(b)(2)]. The applicant sought the exemption so 
that the work schedules of its ground support employees would more 
closely correspond to the work schedules of its aircraft employees. On 
June 4, 2012, the Agency concluded that the applicant failed to explain 
how it would ensure that drivers operating tank vehicles laden with 
hazardous materials beyond the 70-hour/8-day limit of section 
395.3(b)(2) would achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater 
than, the level that would be achieved by compliance with that 
limitation. Section 381.305(a) requires that the Agency be satisfied 
that this standard would be met before granting an exemption from the 
FMCSRs. A copy of the denial letter has been placed in the docket 
identified in Table 1.

Conclusion

    FMCSA reviewed each application and all public comments received. 
The Agency concluded in each case that the application for exemption 
lacked sufficient merit to justify the exemption sought. Accordingly, 
FMCSA denied the applications for exemption of Rotel, Underwater, 
Western, Redding and Guardian.

    Issued on: June 27, 2012.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2012-16549 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P