[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68136-68137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27115]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0348]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection: Practices of Household Goods Brokers

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. FMCSA requests approval 
to revise an ICR titled ``Practices of Household Brokers'' to no longer 
include one-time costs previously incurred by brokers to come into 
compliance with 49 CFR part 371, and to update other wage related costs 
that have changed since the last approval. This ICR is necessary to 
support the requirements of subpart B of 49 CFR part 371 and FMCSA's 
responsibility to ensure consumer protection in the transportation of 
household goods (HHG).

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before January 13, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2013-0348 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. ET, 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: Mr. Brodie Mack, Commercial 
Enforcement and Investigations Division, Household Goods Team Leader, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-8045; email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: FMCSA, in response to Title IV, Subtitle B of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59) and a petition for rulemaking 
from the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA), amended 49 CFR 
part 371, existing regulations for brokers, with a Final Rule titled, 
``Brokers of Household Goods Transportation by Motor Vehicles'' (75 FR 
72987), November 29, 2010, providing additional consumer protection 
responsibilities for brokers of HHG.
    Section 4212 of SAFETEA-LU directs the Secretary to require HHG 
brokers to provide individual shippers with the following information 
whenever a broker has contact with a shipper or potential shipper:
    1. The broker's USDOT number.
    2. The FMCSA booklet titled ``Your Rights and Responsibilities When 
You Move.''
    3. A list of all authorized motor carriers providing transportation 
of HHG used by the broker and a statement that the broker is not a 
motor carrier providing transportation of HHG.
    FMCSA, as the result of a rulemaking that took effect November 29, 
2010, amended 49 CFR part 371 by adding subpart B, specific consumer 
protection requirements for HHG brokers. The

[[Page 68137]]

collection of information required by this rulemaking assist shippers 
in their business dealings with interstate HHG brokers. The information 
collected is used by prospective shippers to make informed decisions 
about contracts, services ordered, executed, and settled. The HHG 
broker is often the primary contact for individual shippers and in the 
best position to educate shippers and prepare them for a successful 
move. The information collected makes that possible. To combat 
deceptive business practices this helps enforcement personnel to better 
protect consumers by verifying that shippers are receiving information 
they are entitled to by regulation.
    HHG brokers are required to provide individual shippers the ``Your 
Rights and Responsibilities When You Move'' booklet and the ``Ready to 
Move'' brochure. They have the option of providing paper copies or 
presenting the information through a link on their Internet Web site. 
The broker is required to document with signed receipts that the 
individual shipper was provided those materials. HHG brokers are also 
required to provide the list of HHG motor carriers for which it would 
arrange transportation to move a potential individual shipper's HHG, 
and that broker's identification information:
    1. Assigned USDOT number; and
    2. Address.
    Title: Practices of Household Goods Brokers.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0048.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Brokers of Household Goods.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 690.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes per day x 240 workdays for 
household goods broker transactions.
    Expiration Date: February 28, 2014.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 89,607 hours.
    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 reference your comments in 
the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

    Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on: November 
1, 2013.
G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology 
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-27115 Filed 11-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P