[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69449-69450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27256]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0255]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Training Certification for Drivers of Longer 
Combination Vehicles

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

ACTION: Notice; 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 
approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval to renew 
the ICR titled ``Training Certification for Drivers of Longer 
Combination Vehicles (LCVs),'' OMB Control No. 2126-0026. This ICR 
relates to Agency requirements for drivers to be certified to operate 
LCVs, and associated recordkeeping requirements that motor carriers 
must satisfy before permitting their drivers to operate LCVs. Motor 
carriers, upon inquiry by authorized Federal, State or local officials, 
must produce an LCV Driver-Training Certificate for each of their LCV 
drivers.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 18, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2019-0255 by 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 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, 
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: Ms. Pearlie Robinson, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-4325. 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    An LCV is any combination of a truck-tractor and two or more semi-
trailers or trailers that operates on the National System of Interstate 
and Defense Highways (according to 23 CFR 470.107) and has a gross 
vehicle weight greater than 80,000 pounds. To enhance the safety of LCV 
operations on our Nation's highways, Section 4007(b) of the Motor 
Carrier Act of 1991 directed the Secretary of Transportation to 
establish Federal minimum training requirements for drivers of LCVs 
[Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), 
Public Law 102-240, 105 Stat. 1914, 2152]. The Secretary of 
Transportation delegated responsibility for establishing these 
requirements to FMCSA (49 CFR 1.87), and on March 30, 2004, after 
appropriate notice and solicitation of public comment, FMCSA 
established the current training requirements for operators of LCVs (69 
FR 16722). The regulations bar motor carriers from permitting their 
drivers to operate an LCV if they have not been properly trained in 
accordance with the requirements of 49 CFR 380.113. Drivers receive an 
LCV Driver-Training Certificate upon successful completion of these 
training requirements. Motor carriers employing an LCV driver must 
verify the driver's qualifications to operate an LCV, and must maintain 
a copy of the LCV Driver-Training Certificate and present it to 
authorized Federal, State, or local officials upon request.

Renewal of This Information Collection (IC)

    The currently approved burden hour estimate associated with this 
IC, approved by OMB on May 19, 2017, is 5,565 hours. The Agency 
requests a reduction in the burden hour estimates from 5,565 hours to 
4,244 hours. The reduction in burden hour estimates and costs is the 
result of correcting an error; the incorrect growth rate from the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics was previously used to estimate the number 
of new drivers requiring LCV driver training certificates. As a result, 
FMCSA over-estimated the number of new drivers, annual burden hours, 
hours for preparing training certificates, number of drivers who 
undergo the hiring process, number of respondents, number of responses, 
and costs to respondents.
    Separately, the currently approved version of this IC incorrectly 
accounted for LCV driver training costs, estimated to be $7,035,160 
annually. Training is not considered to be an information collection 
burden. For this updated version of the ICR, the Agency is removing the 
costs associated with training. Instead, FMCSA has calculated the labor 
costs associated with the LCV driver training recordkeeping 
requirements. The annual cost burden is estimated to be $135,734.
    The expiration date of the current ICR is May 31, 2020. Through 
this request,

[[Page 69450]]

FMCSA requests a renewal of the paperwork burden associated with the 
ICR titled ``Training Certification for Drivers of Longer Combination 
Vehicles (LCVs),'' OMB Control No. 2126-0026. This ICR corrects and 
updates all of the affected areas, as shown in the table below.

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                                                                      Current        Proposed
                            Estimate                                approved IC     updated IC      Difference
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Number of Drivers Engaged in the Operation of LCVs in the U.S...          44,095          38,503         (5,592)
Total Annual Burden.............................................           5,565           4,244         (1,321)
Number of New Drivers...........................................           2,360             218         (2,142)
Number of Hours for Preparing Training Certificates.............             394              36           (358)
Number of Drivers Who Undergo Hiring Process....................          31,022          25,245         (5,777)
Number of Respondents...........................................          59,684          50,708         (8,976)
Number of Responses.............................................          59,684          50,708         (8,976)
Labor Costs to Respondents......................................              $0        $135,734        $135,734
Annual Costs to Respondents.....................................      $7,035,160              $0    ($7,035,160)
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    Title: Training Certification for Drivers of LCVs.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0026.
    Type of Request: Renewal and correction of a currently-approved 
information collection.
    Respondents: LCV training providers who train new LCV drivers; 
drivers who complete LCV training each year; current LCV drivers who 
submit their LCV Driver-Training Certificate to prospective employers; 
and employers (motor carriers) receiving and maintaining copies of the 
LCV Driver-Training certificates of their drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 50,708, consisting of 218 LCV 
training providers, plus 218 newly-certified LCV drivers, plus 25,027 
currently-certified LCV drivers, plus 25,245 motor carriers employing 
LCV drivers.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes for preparation of LCV 
Driver-Training Certificates for drivers who successfully complete the 
LCV training, and 10 minutes for activities associated with the LCV 
Driver-Training Certificate during the hiring process.
    Expiration Date: May 31, 2020.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,244 hours. The total number of 
drivers who will be subjected to these requirements each year is 
25,245, consisting of 218 newly-certified LCV drivers, and 25,027 
currently-certified LCV drivers obtaining new employment. Additionally, 
218 LCV training providers will be required to prepare the training 
certificates for newly-certified drivers. The total annual information 
collection burden is approximately 4,244 hours, consisting of 36 hours 
for preparation of LCV Driver-Training Certificates [218 drivers 
successfully completing LCV driver training x 10 minutes / 60 minutes/
hour] and 4,208 hours for requirements related to the hiring of LCV 
drivers [25,245 LCV drivers obtaining new employment x 10 minutes / 60 
minutes/hour].
    Estimated Total Cost to Respondents: $135,734.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for FMCSA's performance; (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 December 11, 2019.
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2019-27256 Filed 12-17-19; 8:45 am]
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