[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34250-34251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15206]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0180]
Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small
Business in Transportation Coalition
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Application for exemption; final determination.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to deny the application of the
Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) for an exemption from
the electronic logging device (ELD) requirements for all motor carriers
with fewer than 50 employees, including, but not limited to, one-person
private and for-hire owner-operators of commercial motor vehicles
(CMVs) used in interstate commerce. FMCSA has analyzed the exemption
application and public comments, and has determined that it cannot
ensure that granting for the requested exemption would achieve a level
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be
achieved absent such exemption.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning this
notice, contact Ms. LaTonya Mimms, Chief, FMCSA Driver and Carrier
Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety
Standards; Telephone: 202-366-4024. Email: [email protected]. If you have
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact
Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant
exemptions from certain Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
(FMCSRs). FMCSA
[[Page 34251]]
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.
FMCSA reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted, 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 and the reasons for denying an application must be published
in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)).
On December 16, 2015 (80 FR 78292), FMCSA published a final rule
requiring most drivers then required to prepare hours-of-service (HOS)
records of duty status (RODS) to use electronic logging devices (ELDs)
instead of the previous paper logs to document their RODS. The
compliance date for the ELD requirement was December 18, 2017.
III. Request for Exemption
The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) is a non-
profit trade organization with more than 8,000 members. SBTC stated
that it ``represents, promotes, and protects the interest of small
businesses in the transportation industry. Through the exemption
application, SBTC seeks relief from the ELD requirements for small
private, common and contract motor carriers with fewer than 50
employees.'' SBTC contends that:
``[T]he ELD rule is not a `safety regulation' per se as the
FMCSA has concluded. Rather it is a mechanism intended to enforce a
safety regulation by regulating the manner in which a driver records
and communicates his compliance. That is, it is merely a tool to
determine compliance with an existing rule that regulates over-the-
road drivers' driving and on duty time, namely the actual safety
regulation: the [HOS] regulations codified at 49 CFR 395.3 and
395.5. However, the ELD rule is not a safety regulation itself.
Therefore, it is our position that this rule does not itself impact
safety, and that the level of safety will not change based on
whether or not our exemption application is approved. That would
require a change to the [hours-of-service rules].''
SBTC asserts that the exemption would not have any adverse impacts
on operational safety, as motor carriers and drivers would remain
subject to the HOS regulations in 49 CFR 395.3, as well as the
requirements to maintain a paper RODS under 49 CFR 395.8. The applicant
argues that the requested exemption would allow motor carriers with
fewer than 50 employees to maintain their current practices that have
resulted in a proven safety record. A copy of SBTC's application for
exemption is available for view in the docket for this rulemaking.
Public Comments
On June 5, 2018, FMCSA published SBTC's application for exemption
and requested public comment (83 FR 26140). The Agency received more
than 1,900 comments. Although some comments focused more on the HOS
rules than the exemption application and others were simply
unclassifiable, the Agency estimates that over 95 percent of the
comments favored the exemption, while more than 4 percent were opposed.
FMCSA Decision
For the reasons given below, FMCSA denies the SBTC application for
exemption. The SBTC application does not meet the regulatory standards
for an exemption. SBTC failed to provide ``[t]he name of the individual
or motor carrier that would be responsible for the use or operation of
CMVs'' under the exemption [49 CFR 381.310(b)(2)]. SBTC did not provide
the name of a single motor carrier. SBTC failed to ``[p]rovide[] an
estimate of the total number of drivers and CMVs that would be operated
under the terms and conditions of the exemption'' [Sec.
381.310(c)(3)]. Instead, SBTC said ``we defer to FMCSA to determine the
total number of drivers and CMVs that would be operated under the
exemption.'' SBTC failed to ``[e]xplain[] how you would ensure that you
could achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than,
the level of safety that would be obtained by complying with the
regulation'' [Sec. 381.310(c)(5)]. The application said ``we believe
the level of safety is already assured by the pre-existing Hours of
Service rule as opposed to this ELD enforcement mechanism rule.''
Nor did SBTC meet the statutory requirement in 49 U.S.C.
31315(b)(5)(D) to describe ``[t]he specific countermeasures the person
would undertake to ensure an equivalent or greater level of safety than
would be achieved absent the requested exemption.'' SBTC proposed no
countermeasures at all.
For all of these reasons, FMCSA denies SBTC's request for
exemption.
Issued on: July 9, 2019.
Raymond P. Martinez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-15206 Filed 7-16-19; 8:45 am]
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