[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65757-65758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26271]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0322]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Application of B.R. Kreider & Son, 
Inc. for Exemption From the 12-Hour Limit on the Duty Day of Short-Haul 
Drivers

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

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

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has received an application from B.R. 
Kreider & Son, Inc., (Kreider) for an exemption from the requirement 
that drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) must be released from 
work within 12 consecutive hours in order to take advantage of the 
exception to the record of duty status (RODS) rule for short-haul 
operations. Drivers qualifying for the short-haul exception are subject 
to the hours of service limits but are not required to maintain a RODS 
during the duty day. Kreider asks that its drivers be allowed to 
operate under the short-haul exception when their duty day exceeds 12 
hours, and states that the same level of safety would be achieved with 
the exemption in place as would be achieved without the exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 5, 2014

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2014-0322 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.

[[Page 65758]]

     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, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 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 www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please also see the Privacy Act heading below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to 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 a 
Privacy Act notice regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 
2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
    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. Robert F. Schultz, FMCSA Driver 
and Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle 
Safety Standards; Telephone: 202-366-4325. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations. Before doing so, the Agency must provide an opportunity 
for public comment. The Agency is required to publish a notice of each 
exemption request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)), 
providing the public an opportunity to inspect the information relevant 
to the application, including any safety analyses that have been 
conducted, and an opportunity to comment on the request. FMCSA must 
review the safety analyses and public comments submitted and determine 
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 Agency must publish its 
decision in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)) and state the 
reasons for denying or granting the application. If the exemption is 
granted, the notice must include the name of the person or entity, or 
class of persons, receiving the exemption, and the regulation from 
which the exemption is granted. The notice must also specify the 
effective period of the exemption and state the terms and conditions of 
the exemption, if any. The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 
381.300(b)).
    The hours-of-service (HOS) rules (49 CFR part 395) require 
operators of CMVs to maintain a RODS on board the CMV at all times 
(Sec.  395.8(a)). However, the HOS rules provide an exception to this 
requirement for qualifying CMV drivers engaged in short-haul operations 
(Sec.  395.1(e)). Section 395.1(e) states in pertinent part: ``(e) 
Short-haul operations--(1) 100 air-mile radius driver. A driver is 
exempt from [maintaining a RODS] if: (i) The driver operates within a 
100 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location; (ii) The 
driver . . . returns to the work reporting location and is released 
from work within 12 consecutive hours; (iii)(A) A property-carrying 
commercial motor vehicle driver has at least 10 consecutive hours off 
duty separating each 12 hours on duty; . . . (iv)(A) A property-
carrying commercial motor vehicle driver does not exceed [11 hours] 
driving . . . following 10 consecutive hours off duty; . . . and (v) 
The motor carrier that employs the driver maintains and retains for a 
period of 6 months accurate and true time records showing: (A) The time 
the driver reports fur duty each day; (B) The total number of hours the 
driver is on duty each day; (C) The time the driver is released from 
duty each day . . .''
    A driver who expects to qualify for the short-haul exception does 
not maintain a RODS on board the CMV. However, if the driver discovers 
later in the day that he or she is not going to qualify for the short-
haul exception, the driver must immediately begin to prepare a RODS for 
the day. The RODS must cover the entire day, even if the driver has to 
record retroactively changes in duty status that occurred earlier in 
the day. See Q.21 under 49 CFR 395.1 at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/part395?guidance.

Request for Exemption

    Kreider is an interstate motor carrier engaged in the short-haul 
transportation of materials such as topsoil, fill, and stone. Kreider 
drivers do not go beyond a 100 air-mile radius of their normal work-
reporting location during their duty day. Kreider states that its 
drivers make frequent deliveries during their duty day, and thus are 
``in and out of the truck all day long.'' Kreider states that it is 
often not possible for its CMV drivers to complete their duty day 
within the 12-hour limit. The applicant believes that it is impractical 
to require these drivers to prepare a RODS when this occurs. Kreider 
states that the 12-hour requirement ``affects the driver's pay, 
production rates and makes for a very sloppy log book with so many 
lines between driving and on duty.'' It believes that the same level of 
safety would be achieved with this exemption in place as would be 
achieved in the absence of the exemption. A copy of the applicants' 
application for exemption is available for review in the docket for 
this notice.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315(b)(4), FMCSA 
requests public comment on this application for an exemption from Sec.  
395.1(e)(1)(ii) so that its CMV drivers who are not released from duty 
within 12 consecutive hours can qualify for the short-haul exception.
    The Agency will consider all comments received by close of business 
on December 5, 2014. 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: October 27, 2014.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2014-26271 Filed 11-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P