[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18666-18667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07096]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0050]


Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information 
Collection: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles

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 its 
review and approval, and invites public comment. This ICR will enable 
FMCSA to document the burden associated with the marking regulations 
codified in 49 CFR Part 376, ``Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.'' 
These regulations require certain for-hire motor carriers to have a 
formal lease when leasing equipment.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 28, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2013-0050 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 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 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: 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 for the Federal Docket Management System 
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or 
you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8-794.pdf.
    Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available 
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can 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 acknowledgement page that 
appears after submitting comments online. Comments received after the 
comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Kelly, Chief, Compliance 
Division, Office of Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-1812; 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is 
authorized to require a motor carrier that uses motor vehicles not 
owned by it to transport property under an arrangement with another 
party to make the arrangement in writing. This written agreement must 
specify its duration, the compensation to be paid by the motor carrier 
providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under 49 U.S.C. 
14102(a), ``Leased Motor Vehicles'' and signed by the parties. The 
Secretary has delegated authority pertaining to leased motor vehicles 
to FMCSA pursuant to 49 CFR part 1.87(a)(6). The Agency's regulations 
governing leased motor vehicles are at 49 CFR part 376.
    The rules were adopted to ensure that small trucking companies were 
protected when they agreed to lease their equipment and drivers to 
larger for-hire carriers. They also ensure that the government and 
members of the public can determine who is responsible for a property-
carrying commercial motor vehicle. Prior to the regulations some 
equipment was leased without written agreements, leading to disputes 
over which party to the lease was responsible for charges and actions 
and, at times, who was legally responsible for the vehicle. Under 49 
U.S.C. 14102(a), FMCSA ``may require a motor carrier providing for-hire 
transportation that uses motor vehicles not owned by it to transport 
property under an arrangement with another party to--
    (1) Make the arrangement in writing signed by the parties 
specifying its duration and the compensation to be paid by the motor 
carrier;
    (2) carry a copy of the arrangement in each motor vehicle to which 
it applies during the period the arrangement is in effect;
    (3) inspect the motor vehicles and obtain liability and cargo 
insurance on them; and
    (4) have control of and be responsible for operating those motor 
vehicles in compliance with requirements prescribed by the Secretary on 
safety of operations and equipment, and with other applicable law as if 
the motor vehicles were owned by the motor carrier.''
    The rules specify what must be covered in the lease, but not how 
responsibilities must be divided. The parties to the lease determine 
the details between themselves.
    Part 376 applies to only certain motor carriers in interstate 
commerce and only certain leasing situations. The rules cover leasing 
between a for-hire carrier that does not hold an operating authority 
and another for-hire carrier that does hold operating authority. A for-
hire motor carrier with or without operating authority that leases its 
equipment and drivers to a private motor carrier is not covered by the 
rule. A for-hire carrier with operating authority that leases its 
equipment to a non-motor carrier and operates under its own authority 
is also not covered by the rule. Private carriers that lease their 
equipment to for-hire motor carriers and for-hire carriers with their 
own operating authority leasing to another such carrier are subject to 
lesser requirements. For-hire carriers in interstate commerce are 
exempt from the rules if they operate exclusively in commercial zones. 
Commercial zones, last set by the ICC in 1975, are generally defined as 
a municipality and a distance from the limits of the municipality that 
ranges from 3 miles for cities with populations less than 2,500 to 20 
miles for cities of a million or more people.

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Some municipalities have additional areas defined for them.
    Title: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers or shippers authorized by the Secretary 
to transport property that uses leasing equipment.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 16,500.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour 35 minutes [26,000 estimated 
annual burden hours/16,500 respondents = 1.57575 hours or 1 hour 35 
minutes].
    Expiration Date: N/A.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 26,000.
    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 performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for 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. The agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.

    Issued on: March 18, 2013.
 G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology 
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-07096 Filed 3-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P