[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15488-15489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05728]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2021-0189]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces its plan 
to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval 
and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests approval to renew an ICR 
titled, ``Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.'' The HOS 
regulations require a motor carrier to install, and requires each of 
its drivers subject to the record of duty status (RODS) rule to use, an 
electronic logging device (ELD) to report the driver's RODS. The RODS 
is critical to FMCSA's safety mission because it helps enforcement 
officials determine if commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are 
complying with the HOS rules limiting driver on-duty and driving time 
and requiring periodic off-duty time.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before May 18, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2021-0189 using 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 Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 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. To be sure someone is there to help you, please 
call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before visiting Dockets 
Operations.
    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 ``FAQ'' 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, FMCSA Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-4225. 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 16, 2015, the final rule titled ``Electronic Logging 
Devices and Hours of Service Supporting Documents'' was published (80 
FR 78292). It became effective February 16, 2016. The FMCSA established 
minimum performance and design standards for ELDs and mandated use of 
these devices by drivers who are subject to the HOS reporting 
requirements. Drivers using compliant automatic on-board recorders had 
until December 16, 2019, to replace the devices with ELDs. As a 
condition of receiving certain federal grants, States agree to adopt 
and enforce the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, including the 
HOS rules, as State law. As a result, State enforcement inspectors use 
the RODS and supporting documents to determine whether CMV drivers are 
complying with the HOS rules. In addition, FMCSA uses the RODS during 
on-site and offsite investigations of motor carriers. And, Federal and 
State courts rely upon the RODS as evidence of driver and motor carrier 
violations of the HOS regulations. This information collection supports 
the DOT's Strategic Goal of Safety because the information helps the 
agency ensure the safe operation of CMVs in interstate commerce on our 
Nation's highways.

Renewal of This Information Collection (IC)

    The current IC burden estimate of the HOS rules, approved by OMB on 
July 31, 2019, is 41.04 million hours. The expiration date of the 
current ICR is July 31, 2022. Through this ICR renewal, FMCSA requests 
a revision of the paperwork burden of 2126-0001. The agency requests an 
increase in the

[[Page 15489]]

burden hours from 41.04 million hours to 50.37 million hours. The 
increase is the result of the increase in estimated driver population 
as well as the increase in expected industry growth rate for drivers 
from 2020 to 2030. Two types of information are collected under this 
IC: (1) Drivers' RODS commonly referred to as a logbook, and (2) 
supporting documents, such as gasoline and toll receipts, that motor 
carriers use to verify accuracy of RODS and document expense deductions 
for income tax filing purposes. The use of ELDs reduces the driver's 
time to input duty status from 6.5 minutes to 2 minutes. This IC 
includes only the estimate of 2 minutes for drivers and motor carriers.
    Title: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0001.
    Type of Request: Renewal of an information collection.
    Respondents: Motor Carriers of Property and Passengers, Drivers of 
CMVs.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4.24 million CMV drivers; 602,542 
Motor Carriers.
    Estimated Time per Response: CMV drivers using technology: 2 
minutes. Motor Carriers: 2 minutes.
    Expiration Date: July 31, 2022.
    Frequency of Response: Drivers: 240 days per year; Motor carriers 
240 days per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 50.37 million hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the 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 information collected. The agency will summarize or 
include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.
    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on:

Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2022-05728 Filed 3-17-22; 8:45 am]
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