[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86725-86726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27459]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0159]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Inspection, Repair and Maintenance

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. The information 
collection concerns records of inspection, repair, and maintenance of 
commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). FMCSA is seeking to renew an ICR 
titled, ``Inspection, Repair and Maintenance.''

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before January 
16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jose R. Cestero, Vehicle and 
Roadside Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building, 6th Floor, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590; 202-366-5541; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Inspection, Repair and Maintenance.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0003.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers and CMV drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 757,652 motor carriers and 
5,646,722 drivers.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies according to the requirements 
for specific records.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2023.
    Frequency of Response: Varies according to requirements for 
specific records.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 19,103,153 hours [14,602,802 hours 
for inspection, repair, and maintenance + 3,516,342 hours for driver 
inspection reports + 161,528 hours for disposition of roadside 
inspection reports + 777,864 hours for periodic inspections + 23,571 
hours for records of inspector qualifications + 21,046 hours for 
records of brake inspector qualifications].

Background

    The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is authorized under the 
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 31502 to prescribe requirements for, among 
other things, safety of operations of equipment of motor carriers that 
operate CMVs in interstate commerce. Under 49 U.S.C. 31136, the 
Secretary also has authority to prescribe regulations to ensure that 
CMVs are maintained, equipped, loaded, and operated safely. Under 49 
U.S.C. 31142 the Secretary must establish standards for annual or more 
frequent inspections of CMVs. The Secretary's authority to establish 
improved standards or methods to ensure brakes and brake systems of 
CMVs are inspected by appropriate employees and maintained properly is 
provided under 49 U.S.C. 31137(g).
    Motor carriers must maintain, or require maintenance of, records 
documenting the inspection, repair and maintenance activities performed 
on their owned and leased vehicles. There are no prescribed forms. 
Electronic recordkeeping is allowed (see 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) 390.31(d)). Documents requiring a signature must be capable of 
replication (e.g., photocopy, facsimile, etc.) in such form that will 
provide an opportunity for signature verification upon demand. Also, if 
electronic recordkeeping is used, all the relevant data on the original 
documents must be included in the electronic transmission for the 
records to be valid.
    Most motor carriers would keep some records without any regulatory 
requirements to do so. Records of inspection, repair, and maintenance; 
roadside inspection reports; driver vehicle inspection reports; the 
documentation of periodic inspections; the evidence of the 
qualifications of individuals performing periodic inspections; and the 
evidence of brake inspectors' qualifications contain the minimum amount 
of information necessary to document that a motor carrier has 
established a system of inspection, repair, and maintenance for its 
equipment which meets the standards in 49 CFR part 396.
    FMCSA and its representatives use these records to verify motor 
carriers' compliance with the inspection, repair, and maintenance 
standards in part 396. This ICR supports DOT's strategic goal of 
safety. The ICR also ensures that motor carriers have adequate records 
to document the inspection, repair, and maintenance of their CMVs, and 
to ensure that adequate measures are taken to keep their CMVs in safe 
and proper operating condition at all times. Compliance with the 
inspection, repair, and maintenance regulations helps to reduce the 
likelihood of accidents attributable, in whole or in part, to the 
mechanical condition of the CMV.
    This ICR submittal includes updated data regarding the number of 
motor carriers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 
vehicle counts, inspections, and other underlying data used to estimate 
the total burden hours.
    If the recordkeeping were required to be completed less frequently, 
it would greatly hinder the ability of FMCSA and State officials and 
representatives to ascertain that CMVs are satisfactorily maintained. 
The timely documentation of CMV inspection, repair, and maintenance 
enables FMCSA and State officials to evaluate the present state of a 
motor carrier's CMV maintenance program and to check the current level 
of regulatory compliance at any point in a carrier's maintenance 
schedule or program.
    FMCSA has identified periodic inspection standards of 22 States, 
the District of Columbia, the Alabama Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board, 10 
Canadian Provinces, and one Canadian Territory that are comparable to, 
or as effective as, the Federal periodic inspection requirements. FMCSA 
does not require Federal periodic inspections and the related 
recordkeeping for motor carriers that comply with these equivalent 
periodic inspection programs. FMCSA is not aware of any other 
duplicative standards or recordkeeping requirements that apply to motor 
carriers.

[[Page 86726]]

    On September 25, 2023, FMCSA published a notice in the Federal 
Register with a 60-day public comment period to announce this request 
to update the information collection (88 FR 65764). The Agency received 
one comment from Whip Around in response to the notice. Whip Around 
provided general support for the ICR, however, they suggested the use 
of electronic recordkeeping to reduce the need for frequent inspection, 
repair, and maintenance.
    While this comment does not impact the information collection, 
FMCSA agrees with Whip Around's assessment that the process of 
creating, obtaining, and retaining documents can be improved by 
digitizing and automating vehicle inspection, repairs, and maintenance 
recordkeeping. The Agency has actively pursued this objective, evident 
by the amendment on December 16, 2015 (80 FR 78292). This amendment 
established minimum performance and design standards for electronic 
logging devices (ELDs) related to hours-of-service (HOS), mandating 
their use for drivers preparing HOS records of duty status. The 
amendment aims to enhance CMV safety, reduce paperwork burdens for 
motor carriers and drivers, and improve compliance with applicable HOS 
rules by promoting the use of ELDs.
    Additionally, on April 16, 2018 (83 FR 16210), FMCSA introduced 
amendments permitting the use of electronic records and signatures. 
This aligned, in part, with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act 
and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, as 
it only applies to those documents that FMCSA's regulations obligate 
entities or individuals to retain. The amendment also updated 
references to outdated recordkeeping and reporting methods throughout 
chapter III of subtitle B of 49 CFR (49 CFR parts 300 through 399) to 
make them technologically neutral.
    FMCSA's ongoing efforts include projects related to providing data 
electronically during roadside inspections. One such project is the 
Operational Test of In-Motion CMV Inspections (Level VIII Inspections) 
in collaboration with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which was 
noted by Whip Around in its comment. The project's goal is to transmit 
data through the vehicle's telematics to roadside inspectors while the 
vehicle is in motion. In addition to these efforts, the Agency will 
continue to pursue opportunities to increase safety and reduce the 
burden to motor carriers and CMV drivers.
    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. 2023-27459 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]
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