[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 24, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17884-17885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08525]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0087]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles

AGENCY: 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 for-hire truck leasing 
regulations codified in 49 CFR part 376, ``Lease and Interchange of 
Vehicles'' and passenger carrier regulations codified at 49 CFR part 
390, subpart F, ``Lease and Interchange of Passenger-Carrying 
Commercial Motor Vehicles.'' These regulations require certain for-hire 
motor carriers to have a formal lease when leasing equipment. The FMCSA 
requests approval to renew an ICR titled, ``Lease and Interchange of 
Vehicles.''

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 25, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2018-0087 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 Operations; 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: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC, 20590-0001 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 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: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy.
    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 website. 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: Crystal Frederick, Compliance 
Division, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-2904; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 17885]]

    Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is 
authorized to require a motor carrier that uses commercial motor 
vehicles not owned by it to transport property under an arrangement 
with another party to make the arrangement in writing. This written 
lease 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 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 leave open 
how many responsibilities must be divided. The parties to the lease 
determine numerous details between themselves.
    Part 376 applies only to certain motor carriers in interstate 
commerce and only to certain leasing situations based on exemptions set 
forth in 49 CFR 376.11, which cross references other provisions in part 
376. Section 376.11 requires that authorized carriers (a person or 
persons authorized to engage in the transportation of property as a 
motor carrier under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13901 and 13902) may 
perform authorized transportation using equipment it does not own only 
when the following conditions are met: (1) There shall be a written 
lease granting the use of the equipment and meeting the requirements 
contained in 376.12; and (2) Receipts, specifically identifying the 
equipment to be leased and stating the date and time of day possession 
is transferred, shall be given; and (3) The authorized carrier 
acquiring the use of equipment under this section shall identify the 
equipment as being in its service.
    Comments to the part 390 rulemaking on passenger carrier leasing 
caused FMCSA to reduce the regulatory and paperwork burden on passenger 
carrier vehicles in certain ways. First, vehicles exchanged between or 
among commonly owned and controlled motor carriers will not be required 
to have leases and receipts. Second, leases and receipts will not be 
required when passenger carriers party to a revenue pooling agreement 
approved by the Surface Transportation Board exchange or interchange 
passenger vehicles between or among themselves on routes subject to the 
pooling agreement. A simple statement affirming responsibility for 
regulatory compliance and marking the vehicle appropriately will be 
required for these: (1) Exchanges of passenger vehicles among commonly 
owned and controlled motor carriers; and (2) parties to revenue pooling 
agreement approved by the Surface Transportation Board.
    These property and passenger carrier provisions account for the 
burden in this information collection.
    This program change increase of 527,214 estimated annual burden 
hours (1,136,114 proposed estimated annual burden hours--608,900 
currently approved estimated annual burden) is due to updated estimates 
of the number of respondents and responses. Previous estimates were 
based on 2014 data. Current estimates are based on September 26, 2017, 
Motor Carrier Management Information System and Safety Measurement 
System snapshots. The data pulled for the current ICR shows an increase 
in the overall number of carriers since the data used in the previous 
ICR. The increased carriers resulted in an increase in the overall 
burden hours associated with this ICR.
    Title: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0056.
    Type of Request: Renewal of currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers authorized by the Secretary to 
transport property and passengers that use leased equipment.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,213,193 [18,820 lessees (IC-1) + 
18,820 lessors (IC-1) + 5,175,552 carrier representatives (IC-2)].
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies from 5 to 30 minutes.
    Expiration Date: August 31, 2018.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1,136,114 hours [18,820 master lease 
(ICR Component 1 (IC-1)) + 62,236 standard statement (IC-1) + 13,478 
master lease (ICR Component 2 (IC-2)) + 862,592 negotiation (IC-2) + 
143,190 documentation (IC-2) + 0 (negligible) copying (IC-2) + 35,798 
charter group notification (IC-2)].
    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 under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: April 18, 2018.
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2018-08525 Filed 4-23-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P