[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47306-47308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21892]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2016-0428]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Truck 
Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA)

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

ACTION: Notice of final disposition; grant of application for 
exemption.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to grant the Truck Renting and 
Leasing Association (TRALA) a limited exemption from the requirement to 
use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver's hours-of-
service (HOS) no later than December 18, 2017. This limited exemption 
provides that all drivers of property-carrying commercial motor 
vehicles (CMVs) rented for 8 days or less, regardless of reason, are 
not required to use an ELD in the vehicle. While operating under this 
exemption, drivers will remain subject to the standard hours-of-service 
(HOS) limits, maintain a paper record of duty status (RODS) if 
required, and maintain a copy of the rental agreement on the vehicle. 
FMCSA has analyzed the exemption application and the public comments 
and has determined that the exemption, subject to the terms and 
conditions imposed, will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent 
to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such 
exemption.

DATES: The exemption is applicable from October 11, 2017 through 
October 11, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver 
and Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle 
Safety Standards; Telephone: 614-942-6477. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). 
FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal 
Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public 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)) with the reason for the grant or denial, and, if granted, 
the specific person or class of persons receiving the exemption, and 
the regulatory provision or provisions from which exemption is granted. 
The notice must also specify the effective period of the exemption (up 
to 5 years), and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The 
exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).

Request for Exemption

    TRALA is a national trade association of companies whose members 
engage in commercial truck renting and leasing, vehicle finance 
leasing, and consumer truck rental. Its membership encompasses major 
independent firms such as Ryder System, Penske Truck Leasing, U-Haul, 
Budget, and Enterprise Truck Rental, as well as small and medium-size 
businesses that generally participate as members of four leasing group 
systems: Idealease, NationaLease, PACCAR Leasing Company, and Mack 
Leasing System-Volvo Truck Leasing System. In total, its nearly 500 
member companies operate more than 5,000 commercial leasing and rental 
locations, and more than 20,000 consumer rental locations throughout 
the United States, Mexico and Canada.
    ``Renting'' is a term of art in the vehicle leasing industry, 
generally meaning a transaction granting the exclusive use of a vehicle 
for 30 days or less, whereas a lease generally means a transaction 
granting the exclusive use of a vehicle for more than 30 days. TRALA's 
application is on behalf of all drivers of property-carrying commercial 
motor vehicles (CMVs) rented for 30 days or less.
    While TRALA stated that it fully supports FMCSA's final rule to 
mandate ELDs, it is concerned about the unintended technical and 
operational consequences that will unfairly and adversely affect short-
term rental vehicles. The commercial vehicle rental industry provides 
short-term rental services to a large population of drivers on a daily 
basis. Most of these drivers will normally employ an ELD to comply with 
the new rule. Considering the significant number of different device 
platforms and subscription options, it is unlikely that the driver's 
device would be able to communicate properly with the rental company's 
telematics platform. TRALA states that while FMCSA recognized during 
the rulemaking process these issues associated with a lack of 
interoperability among ELD systems, and required certain technical 
specifications in the final rule, the Agency stopped short of requiring 
full interoperability among ELDs.
    Many commenters to the proposed ELD rule raised similar 
interoperability concerns. However, the rule requires only that ELDs 
can transfer data electronically via either a ``telematics'' approach 
capable of wireless web service, or a ``local'' method capable of 
Bluetooth and USB 2.0 transfer. Furthermore, according to TRALA, the 
Agency decided ``not to require full interoperability between all 
ELDs,'' reasoning that ``[a]lthough full interoperability would have 
some benefits, it would also be complicated and costly'' (80 FR 78327, 
December 16, 2015). According to commenters, the Agency left it to the 
ELD manufacturers to address many concerns regarding non-
interoperability of the various software systems on the market.
    TRALA elaborated on its two primary issues of concern relating to 
the exemption request: (1) Data transfer and, (2) data liability.
    TRALA described two potential data transfer problems. First, a 
customer who is required to use an ELD may rent a truck that has one 
operating system, while the customer may use another operating system 
for its drivers; data cannot be transferred from the rental vehicle to 
the customer's system unless both ELDs are on the same platform. In 
addition, upon request by an authorized safety official, a driver must 
produce and transfer the driver's HOS records from an ELD in accordance 
with 49 CFR 395.24(d). This would include the driver's duty status for 
the current 24-hour period and the prior seven days. However, if the 
driver is operating a rental vehicle with an ELD that is not compatible 
with the driver's normal ELD system, the data will not transfer to the 
new vehicle's ELD system. TRALA states that scenario would be 
considered an ``ELD malfunction'' and the driver would be required to 
reconstruct the RODS for the current 24-hour period and the previous 
seven consecutive days on graph grid paper logs. TRALA's application 
requests that drivers of short-term rental vehicles be allowed to avoid 
the uncertainties of attempting compliance with the HOS rules using 
non-compatible ELD systems, and instead use paper RODS during the 
rental period.
    TRALA contends that CMVs are more prone to break-downs than non-
CMVs because of their heavy use. When CMVs

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break-down, they are often replaced temporarily by short-term rental 
vehicles until the original truck can be repaired. TRALA claims that 
these repairs can take days, if not several weeks, to complete. More 
often than not, replacement vehicles come from a third-party rental 
company, which increases the likelihood that the replacement truck 
would have a different ELD operating system than the vehicle it is 
replacing, thus impeding data transfer.
    TRALA's second primary issue involves data liability concerns. 
TRALA states that it has been suggested that rental companies should be 
able to collect and report ELD data to customers, allowing customers to 
access the data seamlessly. However, the final rule does not require 
ELDs to be capable of reading and combining exported data from other 
providers. Furthermore, lessors do not have the ability to combine data 
from different devices into one report. Requiring lessors to bear the 
burden of safeguarding the data for each renter would expose the rental 
company to tremendous risk with respect to data security and 
protection. All parties involved in the business transaction would 
probably reject rental companies' assumption of these risks on behalf 
of their customers.

Public Comments

    On March 22, 2017, FMCSA published notice of this application and 
requested public comment (82 FR 14789). The Agency received 429 docket 
comments, over 95% supporting the TRALA request. Among those in favor 
of the exemption were the following industry trade associations: The 
American Trucking Associations, Inc. (ATA); the National Association of 
Chemical Distributors (NACD), National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), 
National Private Truck Council (NPTC), Truckload Carriers Association 
(TCA), and the National Automobile Dealership Association (NADA). The 
fireworks industry, including the American Pyrotechnics Association 
(APA), filed 30 comments in support of the request. Principal opponents 
of the exemption were the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety 
(Advocates) and the Owner-Operator Independent Driver's Association 
(OOIDA).
    Commenters gave three primary reasons in support of the request. 
First, they believe there is currently a significant technology gap 
that will not allow different ELD systems to communicate and share 
information with each other. As many rental companies must individually 
collect their own data to comply with the International Fuel Tax 
Agreement (IFTA) and International Registration Plan, the 
interoperability of ELD technology will create more challenges than 
solutions for the short-term rental market as compared to the vast 
majority of trucks that are owned or leased.
    Further, all ELDs must be capable of exporting data in a standard 
file format to facilitate importing by other systems. However, devices 
and systems are not required to be capable of importing these records. 
This means that transferring data, whether through ``memory sticks'' or 
other applications, will not work with the technology currently 
available. TRALA states that several ELD manufacturers have already 
commented that ``plug and play'' devices are years away from being 
operational; and given the small percentage of trucks that would be 
impacted by these efforts, it is unlikely that major technological 
advances will occur in the next few years.
    Another benefit of a short-term rental exemption would be a simpler 
roadside inspection process since short-term rentals of 30 days or less 
do not require a truck to display the user's U.S. DOT number. The 
continued use of paper logs would alleviate any confusion in the 
inspection process since a law enforcement officer would immediately 
recognize a short-term rental vehicle when handed the rental agreement. 
That consistency would speed up the process and create less confusion. 
This current rule also requires that a rental contract of 30 days or 
less be carried in the truck at all times. This existing requirement 
can allow authorities to confirm the short-term nature of the rental.
    Those opposing the TRALA request commented that the application 
does not meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for the 
exemption. It fails to consider practical alternatives, justify the 
need for the exemption, provide an analysis of the safety impacts the 
requested exemption may cause, and provide information on the specific 
countermeasures to be undertaken to ensure that the exemption will 
achieve an equivalent or greater level of safety than would be achieved 
absent the exemption.
    A second comment in opposition noted that TRALA cites technical 
concerns regarding interoperability of data between devices, truck 
break-downs, and data transfer and liability concerns as reasons why 
their vehicles should be exempted from the ELD mandate. While these 
points are legitimate, the commenter argued that they are not limited 
to the truck renting and leasing industry. Carriers of all sizes will 
encounter these same problems, along with ELD manufacturers and law 
enforcement agencies. Exempting one segment of the trucking industry 
will not change that.
    All comments are available for review in the docket for this 
notice.

FMCSA Decision

    FMCSA has evaluated TRALA's application and the public comments and 
decided to grant a limited exemption for the driver and carrier of a 
CMV rented for 8 days or fewer, regardless of reason. FMCSA has 
determined that an exemption period of up to 30 days, as requested, is 
unnecessarily long given the importance of ELDs to ensure the accuracy 
of HOS records. One condition of the exemption is that a copy of the 
rental agreement must be carried on the vehicle and made available to 
law enforcement. Another is that the driver must possess copies of his 
or her RODS for the current and prior 7 days, if required on those 
days.
    A high proportion of the comments supported the exemption. The 
Agency believes that an exemption period of up to 8 days for drivers of 
rental CMVs would give most carriers sufficient time to repair or 
replace their usual vehicles while minimizing any temptation to extend 
non-ELD operations. The use of paper records of duty status (RODS) will 
not create an undue risk of non-compliance when limited to this short 
period. An 8-day exemption period coincides with 49 CFR 395.34(d), 
which provides that a motor carrier that receives or discovers 
information about an ELD malfunction must correct it within 8 days. 
During that 8-day malfunction window, the driver must reconstruct the 
RODS for the current 24-hour period, and the previous seven consecutive 
days. The 8-day exemption for rental CMVs would follow that pattern. 
The exempt driver must have a copy of his/her RODS for the current day 
and the prior seven days. Under these conditions, FMCSA believes that 
exempt drivers and carriers--like those operating under section 
395.34(d)--are likely to achieve a level of safety that is equivalent 
to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption 
(49 CFR 381.305(a)). In addition, the 2014 ``The Rental Truck Safety 
Study Report to Congress,'' prepared by FMCSA,\1\ found no problem with 
rental trucks. In the period 2005-2010, the Trucks Involved in Fatal 
Accidents (TIFA) database recorded no instances in which the critical 
reason

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for the crash was assigned to the rental truck driver.
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    \1\ www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/policy/rental-truck-safety-study-report.
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Terms and Conditions of the Exemption

Terms of the Exemption

     This exemption from the requirements of 49 CFR 
395.8(a)(1)(i) is effective from October 11, 2017 through October 11, 
2022.
     This exemption covers a rental period of 8 days or fewer, 
regardless of reason for the rental. Evidence that a carrier has 
replaced one rental CMV with another on 8-day cycles or attempted to 
renew a rental agreement for the same CMV for an additional 8 days will 
be regarded as a violation of the exemption and subject the carrier to 
the penalties for failure to use an ELD.
     Drivers must have a copy of this notice or equivalent 
signed FMCSA exemption document in their possession while operating 
under the terms of the exemption. The exemption document must be 
presented to law enforcement officials upon request.
     Drivers must have a copy of the rental agreement in the 
CMV, and make it available to law enforcement officers on request. The 
agreement must clearly identify the parties to the agreement, the 
vehicle, and the dates of the rental period.
     Driver must possess copies of their RODS for the current 
day and the prior 7 days, if required on those days.

Preemption

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31313(d), as implemented by 49 CFR 
381.600, during the period this exemption is in effect, no State shall 
enforce any law or regulation applicable to interstate commerce that 
conflicts with or is inconsistent with this exemption with respect to a 
firm or person operating under the exemption. States may, but are not 
required to, adopt the same exemption with respect to operations in 
intrastate commerce.

Notification to FMCSA

    Carriers operating under this exemption must notify FMCSA within 5 
business days of any accident (as defined in 49 CFR 390.5), involving 
any of the motor carrier's drivers operating under the terms of this 
exemption. The notification must include the following information:
    (a) Identity of Exemption: ``TRALA''
    (b) Date of the accident,
    (c) City or town, and State, in which the accident occurred, or 
closest to the accident scene,
    (d) Driver's name and license number,
    (e) Co-driver's name and license number,
    (f) Vehicle number and State license number,
    (g) Number of individuals suffering physical injury,
    (h) Number of fatalities,
    (i) The police-reported cause of the accident,
    (j) Whether the driver was cited for violation of any traffic laws, 
motor carrier safety regulations, and
    (k) The total driving time and total on-duty time period prior to 
the accident.
    Accident notifications shall be emailed to [email protected].

Termination

    FMCSA believes that drivers of short-term rental vehicles will 
continue to maintain their previous safety record while operating under 
this exemption. However, should problems occur, FMCSA will take all 
steps necessary to protect the public interest, including revocation or 
restriction of the exemption. FMCSA will immediately restrict 
participation in the exemption for failure to comply with its terms and 
conditions.

    Issued on: September 28, 2017.
Daphne Y. Jefferson,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-21892 Filed 10-10-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P