[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 1 (Monday, January 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 179-181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-29062]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0118]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Proposed Regulatory Guidance 
Concerning the Use of a Commercial Motor Vehicle for Yard Moves

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed regulatory guidance; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: FMCSA is proposing to revise the regulatory guidance 
concerning recording time operating a commercial motor vehicle as a 
``yard move.'' This guidance applies to all commercial motor vehicle 
(CMV) drivers required to record their hours of service. The Agency 
requests public comments on the proposed guidance, which includes 
examples of properties that are and are not ``yards.'' Movements of 
CMVs in ``yards'' would be considered ``yard moves'' and could be 
recorded as on-duty not driving time rather than driving time.

DATES: Comments are due by February 3, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2020-0118 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     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: Deliver comments to Docket 
Operations, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., ET, 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 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., ET, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there to help 
you, please call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before visiting 
Docket Operations. Regulations.gov is available 24 hours each day, 365 
days each year. If you would like acknowledgement that we received your 
comments, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope or postcard 
or print the acknowledgement page that appears after submitting 
comments on-line.
    Privacy Act: DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform 
its guidance process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including 
any personal information the commenter provides, to 
www.regulations.gov, as

[[Page 180]]

described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can 
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bill Mahorney, Chief, Enforcement 
Division, FMCSA, 202-493-0001, [email protected]. If you have 
questions about viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Docket Operations at (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and 
related materials.

A. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2020-0118), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. 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 http://www.regulations.gov and 
put the docket number, ``FMCSA-2020-0118'' 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 change this notice based on your comments.
    Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public 
disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain 
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as 
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or 
responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate 
the submitted comments as CBI. FMCSA will treat such marked submissions 
as confidential under the Freedom of Information Act, and they will not 
be placed in the public docket for this guidance publication. Please 
mark each page of your submission that constitutes CBI as ``PROPIN'' to 
indicate it contains proprietary information. Submissions containing 
CBI should be sent to Mr. Brian Dahlin, Chief, Regulatory Analysis 
Division, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Any 
comments FMCSA receives that are not specifically designated as CBI 
will be placed in the public docket for this guidance publication.
    FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period and may make changes based on your comments.

B. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
insert the docket number, ``FMCSA-2020-0118'' in the ``Keyword'' box 
and click ``Search.'' Next, click ``Open Docket Folder'' button and 
choose the document listed to review. If you do not have access to the 
internet, you may view the docket online by visiting Docket Operations 
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone 
is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 
before visiting Docket Operations.

II. Background

    The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require most drivers 
of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to document their hours of service 
(HOS) on records of duty status (RODS), identifying one of four duty 
status options: (1) On-duty not driving, (2) driving, (3) sleeper 
berth, and (4) off-duty (49 CFR 395.8). Drivers are required to 
document their duty status on their RODS irrespective of the method 
used to record the driver's HOS (i.e., whether paper logs or electronic 
logging devices (ELDs)).
    The minimum performance and design standards for ELDs in the 
Agency's December 16, 2015, final rule, ``Electronic Logging Devices 
and Hours of Service Supporting Documents'' (80 FR 78292), require 
manufacturers to include two special driving categories: Authorized 
personal use (``personal conveyance'') and ``yard moves.'' These 
categories may be used by drivers at the motor carrier's discretion (49 
CFR 395.28). FMCSA stated in its Supplemental Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking that the intent of the ``yard move'' category was to capture 
time ``where the CMV may be in motion but a driver is not necessarily 
in a `driving' duty status'' (79 FR 17656, 17668, March 28, 2014). Some 
commenters asked that the term ``yard move'' be defined. Commenters 
generally viewed ``yard moves'' as an on-duty not driving activity 
occurring on private property.
    The Agency declined to define the term ``yard move'' in its final 
rule, noting that ``yard moves'' relate broadly to the HOS rules, not 
just to CMV operations using ELDs. The final rule, however, provides 
that ELDs will record ``yard moves'' as on-duty not driving time (49 
CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A, section 4.4.1.1(b)).
    FMCSA published revised regulatory guidance concerning operating a 
CMV as a ``personal conveyance'' on June 7, 2018 (83 FR 26377). On 
February 28, 2020, FMCSA updated its guidance on ``yard moves'' in the 
U.S. Department of Transportation's guidance portal (85 FR 12663, March 
3, 2020).
    The Federal Highway Administration, FMCSA's predecessor agency, 
issued guidance on ``yard moves'' in a compilation of regulatory 
guidance published on April 4, 1997 (49 CFR 395.2, Question 9, 62 FR 
16370, 16422). The 1997 guidance stated that a driver who jockeys CMVs 
in the yard (private property) on weekends should record that time as 
on-duty (driving) time. The 1997 guidance is no longer in effect. 
FMCSA's revised 2020 guidance provides that the time jockeying CMVs in 
the yard is not driving time. The driver should record that time as on-
duty (not driving) time.
    The 2020 updated guidance is consistent with the principle in the 
ELD rule that time spent performing ``yard moves'' should be recorded 
as on-duty not driving time. Because ``yard moves'' occur on private 
property within the confines of a yard and not on a public road, this 
time does not constitute ``driving time'' within the meaning of 49 CFR 
395.2. The updated guidance is available on the Agency's website in the 
guidance portal at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/guidance as FMCSA-HOS-
395.2-Q09 and reads as follows:
    Question 9: A driver drives on streets and highways during the week 
and jockeys commercial motor vehicles in

[[Page 181]]

the yard (private property) on weekends. How is the yard time to be 
recorded?
    Guidance: On-duty (not driving).
    FMCSA also published guidance in the guidance portal on February 
28, 2020, that distinguishes between movements of the CMV that may be 
considered as off-duty ``personal conveyance'' and movements that are 
on-duty ``yard moves.'' This guidance is available on the Agency's 
website in the guidance portal at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/when-can-movement-cmv-during-duty-period-be-considered-personal-conveyance and reads as follows:
    FAQ 12: When can a movement of a CMV during an off-duty period be 
considered personal conveyance?
    Answer: A move may be considered as personal conveyance if the 
driver is off-duty and the movement is not for the motor carrier, 
shipper or receiver's commercial benefit. Examples include moving a CMV 
from one parking space to another at a shipper or port, or driving to a 
truck stop, rest area or any other location. In these situations, the 
CMV movement is made in the off-duty period. However, the CMV should be 
moved no farther than the nearest reasonable and safe location to 
complete the rest period.
    An on-duty yard move, such as moving the vehicle a short distance 
while waiting to load, would not qualify as personal conveyance.

III. Proposed Guidance Language

    FMCSA proposes to clarify when a driver may record time performing 
``yard moves'' as on-duty not driving time by providing examples of 
properties that qualify as yards. Therefore, the movement of a CMV on 
these properties would qualify as a ``yard move'' and be recorded as 
on-duty not driving time.
    FMCSA proposes to replace Question 9 to 49 CFR 395.2 at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/ss3952-definitions with the 
following revised Question 9 and seeks comments on this proposed 
guidance.
    This guidance, if finalized, lacks the force and effect of law and 
is not meant to bind the public in any way. This guidance document is 
intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding the Agency's 
interpretation of its existing regulations.
    Question 9: Under what circumstances may a driver classify the 
operation of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) as a yard move and record 
it as on-duty not driving time?
    (a) Guidance: A driver may record time operating a CMV for yard 
moves as on-duty not driving under 49 CFR 395.8(b) only if the movement 
of the CMV occurs in a confined area on private property (or intermodal 
facility or briefly on public roads, as described below). Examples of 
properties that may qualify as yards include, but are not limited to:
    1. An intermodal yard or port facility.
    2. A motor carrier's place of business.
    3. A shipper's privately-owned parking lot.
    4. A public road, but only if and while public access to the road 
is restricted through traffic control measures such as lights, gates, 
flaggers or other means. For example, if a driver must operate on a 
public road briefly to reach different parts of a private property, the 
movement may be considered a yard move if public access is restricted 
during the move.
    (b) Examples of properties that do not qualify as yards, include, 
but are not limited to:
    1. A public road without the traffic control measures in paragraph 
(a)(4) above.
    2. Public rest areas.

IV. Expiration Date of the Proposed Regulatory Guidance

    In accordance with section 5203(a)(2)(A) and (a)(3) of the Fixing 
America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, Public Law 114-94, 129 
Stat. 1312, 1535 (Dec. 4, 2015), 49 CFR part 5, subpart C, and 
Executive Order 13891, the proposed regulatory guidance will be posted 
on FMCSA's website in the guidance portal, https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/guidance, if finalized. It would be reviewed by the Agency no later 
than 5 years after it is finalized. The Agency would consider at that 
time whether the guidance should be withdrawn, reissued for another 
period up to 5 years, or incorporated into the safety regulations.

V. Request for Comments

    Refer to the ADDRESSES section above for instructions on submitting 
comments to the public docket concerning this regulatory guidance. 
FMCSA will consider comments received by the closing date of the 
comment period to determine whether any further clarification of these 
regulatory provisions is necessary. In addition to general comments 
concerning the guidance, the Agency requests responses to the following 
questions:
    1. Would defining ``yard moves'' in the Agency's regulations 
provide necessary clarification and therefore benefit carriers and 
drivers?
    2. Are there other properties or situations where drivers may be in 
a ``yard move'' status that should be included as examples in this 
guidance?
    3. Would adding examples of ``yard moves'' be beneficial for this 
guidance (e.g., moving a CMV for maintenance)? If so, please provide 
examples for consideration.
    4. How should ``yard'' be defined for the purposes of this 
guidance?

James W. Deck,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-29062 Filed 12-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P