[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 234 (Friday, December 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78404-78406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26668]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0165]


Nationwide Freight Systems, et al.; Petition for Determination of 
Preemption

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

ACTION: Notice of petition for determination of preemption; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA requests comments on a petition submitted by Nationwide 
Freight Systems, Inc., Leader U.S. Messenger, Inc., and Stott 
Contracting, LLC, requesting a determination that certain carrier 
identification requirements imposed by the Illinois Commerce Commission 
are preempted by 49 U.S.C. 14506.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2019-0165 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. 
E.T., 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederic L. Wood, Legislative and 
Regulatory Affairs Division; FMCSA

[[Page 78405]]

Office of Chief Counsel; Telephone: (202) 493-0349; 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-2019-0165), 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 comment online, go to www.regulations.gov and put 
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2019-0165'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and 
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on the ``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.
    Comments received after the closing date will be considered to the 
extent practicable. FMCSA may, however, issue a final determination at 
any time after the close of the comment period. In addition to late 
comments, FMCSA will also continue to file in the public docket 
relevant information that becomes available after the comment closing 
date. Interested persons should monitor the public docket for new 
material.
    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 DOT Headquarters 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: DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform 
its preemption determinations. 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.transportation.gov/privacy.

Background

    On May 26, 2017, Nationwide Freight Systems, Inc., Leader U.S. 
Messenger, Inc., and Stott Contracting, LLC (``petitioners'') submitted 
a petition to FMCSA requesting a determination that certain 
identification requirements imposed on motor carriers by the Illinois 
Commerce Commission are preempted by Federal law. Petitioners are motor 
carriers operating both in interstate commerce and in intrastate 
commerce within Illinois.
    The provisions of an Illinois statute are involved in this matter. 
Specifically, 625 ILCS 5/18c-4104, entitled ``Unlawful Operations,'' 
states, in part:

    (1) Prohibition. Except as provided in Article I of this Sub-
chapter [625 ILCS 5/18c-4101 et seq.], and subject to the provisions 
stated herein, it shall be unlawful for any person to:
    (a) Operate as an intrastate motor carrier of property without a 
license from the Commission; or as an interstate motor carrier of 
property without a registration from the Commission.


* * * * *
    (c) Operate, as an intrastate motor carrier of property, any 
motor vehicle which does not carry a copy of a valid, current 
license issued by the Commission to such carrier; or operate, as an 
interstate motor carrier of property, any motor vehicle which does 
not carry a copy of a valid, current registration issued by the 
Commission to such carrier; or fail to produce such copy on request; 
provided that an authorized interstate motor carrier of property 
shall be exempted from the requirement that a copy of its 
registration be carried in each motor vehicle.


* * * * *
    (f) Operate, as an intrastate motor carrier of property, any 
motor vehicle for which the carrier has not executed a prescribed 
intrastate cab card, with current Illinois intrastate identifier 
printed thereon; or, as an interstate motor carrier of property, any 
motor vehicle for which the carrier has not executed a prescribed 
interstate cab card, with current Illinois interstate identifier 
affixed or printed thereon.
    (g) Operate, as an intrastate motor carrier of property, any 
motor vehicle which does not carry the properly executed intrastate 
cab card, with current Illinois intrastate identifier printed 
thereon; or, as an interstate motor carrier of property, any motor 
vehicle which does not carry the properly executed interstate cab 
card, with current Illinois interstate identifier affixed or printed 
thereon.


* * * * *
The proviso at the end of subsection (c) above exempts interstate motor 
carriers of property from the requirement to carry a copy of their 
registration in each vehicle such carriers operate. But there is no 
exemption provided in the statute for such carriers from the 
requirement to execute and carry a cab card in each vehicle, as 
provided in subsections (f) and (g).
    Illinois Commerce Commission regulations also include requirements 
for executing and carrying cab cards in motor vehicles operated by 
motor carriers:

    (a) Cab cards/identifiers shall be executed, carried, or 
presented in satisfaction of the requirements of the Illinois 
Commercial Transportation Law . . ., [92 Ill. Administrative Code] 
Part [1302], or Commission orders no earlier than December 1 
preceding the calendar year for which fees were paid, and no later 
than February 1 of the calendar year for which fees were paid . . ..
    (b) A vehicle operated in both intrastate and interstate 
commerce must carry both an intrastate and an interstate cab card/
identifier.

92 Ill Administrative Code 1302.15.

Applicable Law

    Petitioners have requested a determination that both the licensing 
and registration (public carrier certificate) and cab card requirements 
of the statute and the Illinois Commerce Commission regulations are 
preempted under 49 U.S.C. 14506. This statute provides that no State, 
political subdivision of a State, interstate agency, or other political 
agency of two or more States may enact or enforce any law, rule, 
regulation standard, or other provision having the force and effect of 
law that requires a motor carrier, motor private carrier, freight 
forwarder, or leasing company to display any form of identification on 
or in a commercial motor vehicle (``CMV,'' as defined in 49 U.S.C. 
14504a(a)(1)), other than forms of identification required by the 
Secretary of Transportation under 49 CFR 390.21.\1\
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    \1\ 49 U.S.C. 14506(a) enacted by section 4306(a) of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Pub. Law 109-59, 119 Stat. 1773 (Aug. 10, 
2005).

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[[Page 78406]]

    The applicable definition of CMV for section 14506 is in section 
14504a(a)(1) (which incorporates the CMV definition in 49 U.S.C. 
31101), and states that a CMV is a self-propelled or towed vehicle used 
on the highways in commerce principally to transport passengers or 
cargo, if the vehicle: (1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross 
vehicle weight of at least 10,001 pounds, whichever is greater; (2) is 
designed to transport more than 10 passengers including the driver; or 
(3) is used in transporting material determined to be hazardous under 
49 U.S.C. 5103 and in a quantity requiring placarding as provided in 
regulations prescribed under 49 U.S.C. 5103.
    There are two important aspects of this definition that are 
relevant to any determination under section 14506: (1) It applies to a 
CMV used ``in commerce,'' which means that it applies to vehicles 
operated either in intrastate or in interstate transportation; (2) the 
definition is slightly different from the definition of CMVs used to 
transport property subject to safety regulation under 49 U.S.C. 31131-
51. See 49 U.S.C. 31132(1). Note also that provisions relating to CMVs 
used to transport passengers are not relevant to the preemption 
determination under consideration here, as the Illinois statutes and 
regulations in question apply only to vehicles transporting property 
(including hazardous materials).
    Section 14506 also includes several exceptions to its general 
prohibitions. A State may continue to require display of credentials 
that are required: (1) Under the International Registration Plan under 
49 U.S.C. 31704; (2) under the International Fuel Tax Agreement under 
49 U.S.C. 31705, or under an applicable State law if, on October 1, 
2006, the State had a form of highway use taxation not subject to 
collection through the International Fuel Tax Agreement; (3) under a 
State law regarding motor vehicle license plates or other displays that 
the Secretary determines are appropriate; (4) in connection with 
Federal requirements for hazardous materials transportation under 49 
U.S.C. 5103; or (5) in connection with the Federal vehicle inspection 
standards under 49 U.S.C. 31136. 49 U.S.C. 14506(b).

Request for Comments

    FMCSA seeks comments in response to this petition. Comments are 
specifically requested on whether the registration and cab card 
requirements involved (625 ILCS 5/18c-4104(c), (f) and (g)) should be 
determined to be ``appropriate'' under the discretionary authority in 
49 U.S.C. 14506(b)(3) providing that a State may require display of 
credentials under a State law requiring motor vehicle license plates or 
other displays the Secretary deems appropriate. Commenters are also 
encouraged to submit information on the effects of the requirements on 
safety, operations, and the economics of motor carriers operating in 
the State of Illinois.
    FMCSA requests commenters to limit their submissions to these 
issues and to submit data supporting their positions. The Agency has 
placed the petition in the docket (No. FMCSA-2019-0165).

James W. Deck,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-26668 Filed 12-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P