[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 163 (Thursday, August 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58057-58059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18236]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0153]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Truck and Bus Maintenance Requirements and 
Their Impact on Safety

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, 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. FMCSA requests approval 
to renew an ICR titled, ``Truck and Bus Maintenance Requirements and 
Their Impact on Safety'' will allow for a study that focuses on vehicle 
maintenance and aims to determine the impact of vehicle maintenance 
requirements on overall motor carrier safety. This information 
collection supports the DOT Strategic Goal of Safety.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before September 
1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2023-0153 using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets Operations, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 
Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

[[Page 58058]]

To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9317 or 
(202) 366-9826 before visiting Dockets Operations.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Lukuc, Program Manager, 
Technology Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 385-238; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 https://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2023-0153), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which your 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 FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your 
submission. 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.
    To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0153/document, click on this notice, click 
``Comment,'' and type your comment into the text box on the following 
screen.
    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.
    Comments received after the comment closing date will be included 
in the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.

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.

Background

    FMCSA's core mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities 
involving large trucks and buses. To aid in accomplishing this, the 
Agency uses the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) enforcement 
program to prioritize and target interventions of those motor carriers 
who are most likely to be involved in a future crash. As part of the 
CSA program, the Agency deploys the Safety Measurement System (SMS). 
SMS uses inspection, crash, and investigation data captured in the 
Motor Carrier Management Information System to calculate a percentile 
for each motor carrier. A motor carrier's SMS percentile is based on 
its past compliance with a complete range of safety-based regulations 
(such as driver safety, hours of service, driver fitness, and vehicle 
maintenance, among others). The survey described in this notice focuses 
on the vehicle maintenance component of those safety regulations. The 
study goal is to determine what improvements, ranging from better 
compliance interventions to better vehicle maintenance requirements, 
would enhance motor carrier safety.
    In 2014, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center 
conducted a study to assess the effectiveness of SMS in identifying the 
highest risk motor carriers to be targeted for interventions. One 
finding from the study was that motor carriers targeted for 
intervention due to ``vehicle maintenance'' issues (i.e., violations) 
had a 65 percent higher crash rate compared to the national average. 
These violations are based on Federal and state inspections of 
components critical to the safe operation of the vehicle. It is 
important to recognize that proper and regular preventative maintenance 
(i.e., systematic maintenance programs) among carriers--rather than 
Federal and State inspections, which are by nature limited to the most 
visible or obvious safety-related components--should be the primary 
activity applied to ensure safe equipment operation. While these 
initial findings are important, they raise additional questions. One 
such question is prompted by the stipulation in 49 CFR 396.3(a), which 
states that every carrier must have a program to ``systematically 
inspect, repair, and maintain, or cause to be systematically inspected, 
repaired, and maintained, all motor vehicles and intermodal equipment 
subject to its control.'' Though this regulation provides some 
direction, there is no supporting definition of the word systematic, 
and because this term is subjective, it is likely to vary from one 
carrier to another. The lack of specificity regarding standard 
intervals for preventative maintenance makes it difficult for Federal 
and State personnel to evaluate the effectiveness of and compliance 
with a carrier's maintenance program. Furthermore, the lack of 
specificity may make it difficult for carriers to ascertain and 
therefore comply with the regulation's intent.
    The current research effort, augmented by the proposed survey, is 
necessary to improve FMCSA's understanding of the safety impact of 
preventative vehicle maintenance and to clarify the requirements of 
Sec.  396.3(a). The study objectives are as follows:
    1. Develop an operational definition of systematic maintenance.
    2. Evaluate whether current regulations and the intervention 
process could be modified to improve compliance with vehicle 
maintenance requirements. Examples of such requirements are as follows: 
(i) Preventative maintenance intervals, (ii) preventative maintenance 
inspections with adequately trained/equipped mechanics, and (iii) 
adequacy of motor carriers' maintenance facilities. [However, the 
results of the survey will be used only to explore what areas of 
rulemaking and/or other areas, such as policy guidance and training, 
might be useful in the future; the results of the survey will not be 
used for rulemaking, per se.]
    3. Gather information to assist in establishing minimum standards 
for inspection intervals, mechanic qualifications and training, and 
certification of maintenance facilities.
    FMCSA is authorized to conduct this research under 49 U.S.C. 31108, 
Motor Carrier Research and Technology Programs. Under section 
31108(a)(3)(C), FMCSA may fund research, development, and technology 
projects that improve the safety and efficiency of commercial motor 
vehicle operations through technological innovation and improvement. 
This information collection supports the DOT strategic goal of Safety.

[[Page 58059]]

    Under contract to FMCSA, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute 
(VTTI) at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will 
use online surveys to obtain the data required to address the study 
objectives. The information collection will be administered in two 
phases:
    Phase I: Online Recruitment Survey. This voluntary, seven-question 
survey will screen carriers and verify their eligibility for Phase II 
participation. To be eligible for Phase II participation, carriers must 
fall into one of two groups: (a) The Recommended Practices (RP) Group, 
which includes carriers with the lowest Vehicle Maintenance and Crash 
Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASIC) 
percentiles (i.e., less than or equal to the 33rd percentile); or (b) 
the Intervention Effects (IE) Group, which includes carriers that have 
experienced Federal or State interventions in the last 24 months due to 
vehicle maintenance violations. The BASICs are Unsafe Driving, Crash 
Indicator, Hours-of-Service (HOS) compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, 
Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance, and 
Driver Fitness. More information on the SMS methodology can be found at 
https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMSMethodology.pdf.
    Phase II: Carrier Maintenance Management Survey. This voluntary, 
108-question survey will include questions about demographics; 
maintenance practices, intervals, personnel, and facilities; and State 
and Federal inspections, among other things. The Phase II survey will 
employ branch logic; as such, carriers will be prompted to complete 
different sections based on their survey group (and for one section, 
carrier size). Consequently, no participating carrier will be asked to 
complete all 108 questions.
    In the Phase II survey, carriers (of all sizes) in the RP Group 
will be asked to provide additional information about maintenance 
personnel and facilities (e.g., mechanic training levels, tools 
required for adequate inspection, and certification of facilities) and 
vehicle maintenance issues that may impact safety. Information from the 
RP Group will seek to address Objective 1, relating to development of 
an operational definition of systematic maintenance, Objective 2, and 
Objective 3, relating to establishment of minimum standards for 
inspection intervals, mechanic qualifications and training, and 
certification of maintenance facilities.
    Carriers in the IE Group will be asked to complete the section on 
intervention effects, which includes questions about the status of 
active interventions or investigations; results of closed interventions 
or investigations; interactions with State versus Federal agencies; 
intervention activities experienced; the accuracy of violations leading 
to interventions; actions taken in response to interventions; changes 
in carrier vehicle maintenance practices as a result of an 
intervention; significant benefits of interventions; and ways the 
intervention process could be improved. Information provided by the IE 
Group will address the portion of Objective 2 regarding sufficiency of 
regulations and where interventions need to be improved to facilitate 
complying with these regulations.
    Survey responses will be summarized and reported using plots, 
tables, content analysis, and calculated summary statistics. Plots and 
tables will provide a visual comparison of multiple choice and checkbox 
survey responses for successful carriers (i.e., carriers in the RP 
Group) and those receiving interventions in the last 24 months (i.e., 
carriers in the IE Group). These methods will also allow researchers to 
summarize responses by carrier operation type (i.e., truck or bus) and 
size. Bar charts will be used to plot responses to many survey 
questions. Some survey responses may be summarized with tables with 
rows for each of the carrier operation types (truck or bus) and each 
carrier-size subgroup. To explore and summarize responses to open-ended 
survey questions, researchers will use content analysis methods. An 
illustration of an open-ended question in the survey is ``List examples 
of critical safety-related maintenance activities for trailer vehicle 
milestones.'' The goal of content analysis of open-ended questions will 
be to identify common answers.
    The results of this information collection will be documented in a 
technical report to be delivered to and published by FMCSA. In 
addition, the results will be used to create a ``recommended best 
practices'' report that will outline minimum standards for inspection 
intervals, mechanic qualifications and training, and certification of 
maintenance facilities. Finally, VTTI is required under the contract 
with FMCSA to compile and analyze the collected information and develop 
a public-use data set.
    If this data collection does not take place, the truck and bus 
industry would continue to operate with the uncertainty of what a 
``systematic maintenance'' program, as currently worded in Sec.  
396.3(a), consists of. This term's ambiguous definition makes it 
difficult for Federal and State inspectors to evaluate the 
effectiveness of a carrier's maintenance program or its compliance with 
this provision. Furthermore, this uncertainty may make it difficult for 
carriers to ascertain and therefore comply with the regulation's 
intent.
    Title: Truck and Bus Maintenance Requirements and Their Impact on 
Safety.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0069.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents: Freight motor carriers and passenger carriers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 578 respondents [578 respondents 
will complete the Online Recruitment Survey. Of those 578 respondents, 
289 will also complete the Carrier Maintenance Manager Survey].
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies [Online Recruitment Survey: 5 
minutes. Carrier Maintenance Manager Survey: 45 minutes.]
    Expiration Date: November 30, 2023.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 265 hours [Online Recruitment 
Survey: 578 respondents x (5 minutes / 60 minutes) = 48 hours; Carrier 
Maintenance Manager Survey: 289 respondents x (45 minutes / 60 minutes) 
= 217 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 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 ICR.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2023-18236 Filed 8-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P