[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57932-57934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23561]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0239]
Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small
Business in Transportation Coalition
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 the Small Business in Transportation
Coalition (SBTC) seeks reconsideration of its application for exemption
from the electronic logging device (ELD) rule that was denied by the
Agency on July 17, 2019. SBTC has resubmitted its application for
exemption from the 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 used in
interstate commerce. SBTC believes that the exemption would not have
any adverse impacts on operational safety as motor carriers and drivers
would remain subject to the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations as well
as the requirements to maintain paper records of duty status (RODs).
FMCSA requests public comment on SBTC's application for
reconsideration.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 29, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2019-0239 by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. See the
Public Participation and Request for Comments section below for further
information.
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.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Each submission must include the Agency name and the
docket number for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments
received without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 24 hours each
day, 365 days each year.
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
[[Page 57933]]
notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Pearlie Robinson, FMCSA Driver and
Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle
Safety Standards; Telephone: (202) 366-4325; Email: [email protected]. If
you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket,
contact Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and
related materials.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2019-0239), indicate the specific section of this
document to which the comment applies, and provide a reason for
suggestions or recommendations. You may submit your comments and
material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a
mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of
your document so the Agency can contact you if it has questions
regarding your submission.
To submit your comments online, go to www.regulations.gov and put
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2019-0239'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on ``Comment
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box in the following
screen. Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual
or on behalf of a third party and then submit. If you submit your
comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they
reached the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard
or envelope. FMCSA will consider all comments and material received
during the comment period and may grant or not grant this application
based on your comments.
II. Legal Basis
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 (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 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 must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(b)) with the reasons for denying or granting the application
and, if granted, the name of the person or class of persons receiving
the exemption, and the regulatory provision from which the exemption is
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period and explain
the terms and conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed
(49 CFR 381.300(b)).
III. Background
On December 16, 2015, FMCSA published the Electronic Logging
Devices and Hours of Service Supporting Documents final rule (80 FR
78292). The ELD rule applies to most motor carriers and drivers who are
required to keep RODS. The compliance date for the ELD requirement was
December 18, 2017.
On June 5, 2018, FMCSA published SBTC's application for exemption
and requested public comment (83 FR 26140). SBTC reports it is a non-
profit trade organization with more than 8,000 members. SBTC states
that it ``represents, promotes, and protects the interest of small
businesses in the transportation industry. Through the exemption
application, SBTC sought relief from the ELD requirements for small
private, common and contract motor carriers with fewer than 50
employees.'' SBTC argued:
``[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 [hours-of- service] 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].''
On July 9, 2018, FMCSA extended the public comment period at the
request of the SBTC (83 FR 31836). The Agency received more than 1,900
comments to the docket [Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0180]. Most of the
comments favored granting the exemption. On July 17, 2019, the Agency
published notice of its decision to deny SBTC's application for
exemption (84 FR 34250) and listed the following reasons for the
denial:
Failing to provide the 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)];
Failing to provide 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)]; and
Failing to explain how an equivalent level of safety would
be achieved [Sec. 381.310(c)(5)].
IV. Request for Reconsideration of Agency Decision
Through this application SBTC is requesting FMCSA to reconsider its
denial of the exemption from the ELD rule. SBTC provided responses to
each of FMCSA's reasons for denying its application. According to SBTC
the reason for not providing an estimate of the number of drivers and
CMVs that would be operating under the exemption is that SBTC is a
trade group, not a single carrier. SBTC argues that a trade group would
not know the number of employees eligible for the exemption. SBTC
deferred that question to the Agency because FMCSA is the custodian of
MCS-150 industry data. SBTC believes that it has identified the
percentage of carriers that would be affected by the exemption but does
not know a way to extrapolate the number of drivers from the estimated
3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S. without deferring to FMCSA for
that information.
A copy of SBTC's application for reconsideration of the Agency's
denial is available for review in the docket for this notice.
V. Equivalent Level of Safety
To ensure an equivalent level of safety, SBTC suggests a return to
paper logs. According to SBTC, ``Paper logs were deemed sufficient to
ensure adequate levels of safety for generations, more than 80 years.
And the FMCSA has already issued numerous exemptions that require
carriers to revert to tracking their hours of service using paper logs
in lieu of ELDs . . .'' SBTC supports its argument with the belief that
ELDs have caused reckless
[[Page 57934]]
speeding and pose national security threats. SBTC urges FMCSA to look
carefully at the unintended consequences of the ELD rule when deciding
whether or not to grant the exemption. SBTC also suggests that FMCSA
temporarily grant the exemption ``if for no other reason than to press
the pause button while [FMCSA] studies these unintended consequences
and their adverse effects on safety. We contend this would indeed
achieve a greater level of overall safety than the current status
quo.''
Issued on: October 23, 2019.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-23561 Filed 10-28-19; 8:45 am]
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