[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 18, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9702-9703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02707]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 371
[Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0257]
RIN 2126-AC63
Transparency in Property Broker Transactions
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); reopening of comment
period.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA reopens the comment period for its November 20, 2024,
NPRM. FMCSA received a request for a reopening of the comment period
from the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC). The Agency
finds it is appropriate to reopen the comment period to provide
interested parties additional time to submit their responses to the
NPRM. Therefore, the Agency reopens the comment period for 30 days.
DATES: The comment period for the NPRM published November 20, 2024, at
89 FR 91648, is reopened. Comments must be received on or before March
20, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2023-0257 using any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/FMCSA-2023-0257-0001. 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.,
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 Dockets Operations.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Evans, Transportation
Specialist, Commercial Enforcement Division, Office of Safety, FMCSA,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 568-0530;
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, call Dockets Operations at (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
A. Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for the
NPRM (FMCSA-2023-0257), indicate the specific section of the 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.
To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/FMCSA-2023-0257-0001, 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. FMCSA will consider all comments and
material received during the comment period.
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
CBI is commercial or financial information that is both customarily
and actually treated as private by its owner.
[[Page 9703]]
Under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from
public disclosure. If your comments responsive to the NPRM contain
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or
responsive to the NPRM, it is important that you clearly designate the
submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission
that constitutes CBI as ``PROPIN'' to indicate it contains proprietary
information. FMCSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential
under the Freedom of Information Act, and they will not be placed in
the public docket of the NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be
sent to Brian Dahlin, Chief, Regulatory Evaluation Division, Office of
Policy, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001 or
via email at [email protected]. At this time, you need not send a
duplicate hardcopy of your electronic CBI submissions to FMCSA
headquarters. Any comments FMCSA receives not specifically designated
as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking.
B. Viewing Comments and Documents
To view any documents mentioned as being available in the docket,
go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0257/document and
choose the document to review. To view comments, click on the NPRM,
then click ``Browse Comments.'' If you do not have access to the
internet, you may view the docket online by visiting Dockets Operations
on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 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
Dockets Operations.
C. Privacy
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the
public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these
comments, including any personal information the commenter provides, to
www.regulations.gov as described in the system of records notice DOT/
ALL 14 (Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)), which can be reviewed
at https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices. The comments are posted without edits and are
searchable by the name of the submitter.
II. Background
The November 20, 2024, NPRM (89 FR 91648) requested public comment
on FMCSA's proposed amendments to its property broker rules in response
to petitions for rulemaking from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers
Association (OOIDA) and SBTC. Under current regulations, the parties to
a brokered freight transaction have a right to review the broker's
record of the transaction, which stakeholders often refer to as
``broker transparency.'' Contracts between brokers and motor carriers
frequently contain waivers of this right. OOIDA requested that FMCSA
promulgate a requirement that property brokers provide an electronic
copy of each transaction record automatically within 48 hours after the
contractual service has been completed, and explicitly prohibit brokers
from including any provision in their contracts that requires a motor
carrier to waive its rights to access the transaction records. SBTC
requested that FMCSA prohibit brokers of property from coercing or
requiring parties to brokered transactions to waive their right to
review the record of the transaction as a condition for doing business
and prohibit the use of clause(s) exempting the broker from having to
comply with this transparency requirement.
The comment period for the NPRM expired on January 21, 2025. FMCSA
received a request to extend the comment period from SBTC on January
19, 2025. A copy of the request may be found at https://downloadsregulations.gov/FMCSA-2023-0257-4107/attachment_1.pdf. SBTC
requested a 14- to 30-day extension of the comment period, citing the
level of public interest in the topic of broker transparency.
Other potential commenters to the NPRM may benefit from an
extension as well. Accordingly, FMCSA reopens the comment period for
all comments on the NPRM and its related documents for 30 days, ending
March 20, 2025. The Agency will also consider all comments received
between the comment period close date of January 21, 2025, and the
reopening of the comment period on February 18, 2025.
Issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2025-02707 Filed 2-14-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P