[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77222-77224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21519]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0097]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection Request: Safe Driver Apprenticeship Driver 
Program

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 review 
and approval. This ICR was previously approved under emergency 
procedures on April 4, 2024, and expires on September 30, 2024. The ICR 
is necessary for FMCSA to continue data collection under a pilot 
program which seeks to determine the safety impacts of allowing 18- to 
20-year-old commercial

[[Page 77223]]

driver's license (CDL) holders to operate commercial motor vehicles 
(CMVs) in interstate commerce. The ICR covers data collected on drivers 
and carriers participating in the pilot program. No comments were 
received in response to the 60-day Federal Register notice.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before October 
21, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted 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: Nicole Michel, Mathematical 
Statistician, Research Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building, 6th Floor, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 202-366-4354; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot 
Program.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0075.
    Type of Request: Renewal of an information collection previously 
approved under emergency authority.
    Respondents: Motor carriers; drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 14,830 total (1,600 motor carriers 
and 13,230 CMV drivers); 5,410 annually (1,000 carriers and 4,410 CMV 
drivers).
    Estimated Time per Response: 20 minutes per response for carrier, 
apprentice, and experienced driver application forms; 15 minutes per 
response for safety benchmark certifications; 60 minutes per month per 
driver for monthly driving and safety data; 90 minutes per month for 
miscellaneous data submission.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2024.
    Frequency of Response: Application (motor carrier, apprentice 
driver, and experienced driver): once; safety benchmark certifications: 
twice per apprentice driver; monthly driving and safety data: carrier 
submits monthly data on each apprentice driver; miscellaneous data 
submissions: monthly.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 169,343 hours total, or 56,448 hours 
annually (motor carriers: 164,933 hours total, or 54,978 hours 
annually; drivers: 4,410 hours total, or 1,470 hours annually).

Background

    Current regulations on driver qualifications (49 CFR part 
391.11(b)(1)) state that a driver must be 21 years of age or older to 
operate a CMV in interstate commerce. Currently, drivers under the age 
of 21 may operate CMVs only in intrastate commerce subject to State 
laws and regulations.
    Section 23022 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), as 
enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, requires the 
Secretary of Transportation to conduct a commercial driver 
Apprenticeship Pilot Program. An apprentice is defined as a person 
under the age of 21 who holds a CDL. Under this program, these 
apprentices will complete two probationary periods, during which they 
may operate in interstate commerce only under the supervision of an 
experienced driver in the passenger seat. An experienced driver is 
defined in section 23022 as a driver who is not younger than 26 years 
old, has held a CDL and been employed for at least the past 2 years, 
and has at least 5 years of interstate CMV experience and meets the 
other safety criteria defined in the BIL.
    The first probationary period must include at least 120-hours of 
on-duty time, of which at least 80 hours are driving time in a CMV. To 
complete this probationary period, the employer must determine 
competency in:
    1. Interstate, city traffic, rural two-lane, and evening driving;
    2. Safety awareness;
    3. Speed and space management;
    4. Lane control;
    5. Mirror scanning;
    6. Right and left turns; and
    7. Logging and complying with rules relating to hours of service.
    The second probationary period must include at least 280 hours of 
on-duty time, including not less than 160 hours driving time in a CMV. 
To complete this probationary period, the employer must determine 
competency in:
    1. Backing and maneuvering in close quarters;
    2. Pre-trip inspections;
    3. Fueling procedures;
    4. Weighing loads, weight distribution, and sliding tandems;
    5. Coupling and uncoupling procedures; and
    6. Trip planning, truck routes, map reading, navigation, and 
permits.
    After completion of the second probationary period, the apprentice 
may begin operating CMVs in interstate commerce unaccompanied by an 
experienced driver.
    In addition to data regarding successful completion of the 
probationary periods, the BIL requires collection of data relating to 
any incident in which a participating apprentice is involved, as well 
as other data relating to the safety of apprentices. Additional 
information collected will include crash data (e.g., incident reports, 
police reports, insurance reports), inspection data, citation data, 
safety event data (as recorded by all safety systems installed on 
vehicles, to include advanced driver assistance systems, automatic 
emergency braking systems, onboard monitoring systems, required 
forward-facing video systems, and optional in-cab video systems, if a 
carrier chooses to provide this data) as well as exposure data (e.g., 
record of duty status logs, on-duty time, driving time, and time spent 
away from home terminal). This data will be submitted monthly through 
participating motor carriers.
    The data collected will be used to report on the following items, 
as required by section 23022 of the BIL:
    1. The findings and conclusions on the ability of technologies or 
training provided to apprentices as part of the pilot program to 
successfully improve safety;
    2. An analysis of the safety record of participating apprentices as 
compared to other CMV drivers;
    3. The number of drivers that discontinued participation in the 
apprenticeship program before completion;
    4. A comparison of the safety records of participating drivers 
before, during, and after each probationary period; and
    5. A comparison of each participating driver's average on-duty 
time, driving time, and time spent away from home terminal before, 
during, and after each probationary period.
    FMCSA will monitor the monthly data being reported by the motor 
carriers and will identify drivers or carriers that may pose a risk to 
public safety. While removing unsafe drivers or carriers may bias the 
dataset, it is a necessary feature for FMCSA to comply with Sec.  
381.505, which requires development of a monitoring plan to ensure 
adequate safeguards to protect the health and safety of pilot program 
participants and the general public. Knowing that a driver or carrier 
was removed from the pilot program for safety reasons will help FMCSA 
minimize bias in the final data analysis.
    The statutory mandate for this pilot program is contained in 
section 23022 of the BIL. FMCSA's regulatory authority for initiation 
of a pilot program is Sec.  381.400. The Apprentice Pilot Program 
supports the DOT strategic goal of economic strength while maintaining 
DOT's and FMCSA's commitment to safety.
    The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 (Pub. L. 118-42) 
revised FMCSA's authority regarding the Safe Driver Apprenticeship 
Pilot (SDAP)

[[Page 77224]]

Program. Section 422 of that Act states that FMCSA may not require the 
use of inward facing cameras or require a motor carrier to register an 
apprenticeship program with the Department of Labor as a condition for 
participation in the SDAP program. As such, the application and monthly 
report forms were revised to remove those two elements as mandatory 
requirements, and this revision was approved under the emergency review 
request. However, the Agency will continue to ask carriers whether they 
use inward facing cameras and whether they have a Registered 
Apprenticeship program approval number and will give carriers the 
option of providing that information. With this request for renewal of 
the approved ICR, FMCSA does not expect to see any change in the number 
of respondents, responses, or the overall burden of this information 
collection.
    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.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2024-21519 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]
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