Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Changes to Improve Uniformity in the Treatment of Inspection Violation Data |
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Anne S. Ferro
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
December 2, 2013
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72146-72149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28795]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No FMCSA-2013-0457]
Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Changes to
Improve Uniformity in the Treatment of Inspection Violation Data
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces changes to its Motor Carrier Management
Information System (MCMIS) to allow the Agency to upload the results of
associated adjudicated State citations for roadside inspection
violation data. MCMIS will be modified to accept adjudication
information concerning a citation associated with a violation that was
dismissed or resulted in a finding of not guilty; resulted in a
conviction of a different or lesser charge; or resulted in conviction
of the original charge. This action will improve roadside inspection
data quality. In addition, the Agency announces new processes to
provide more uniformity in the way the inspection violation data are
treated in FMCSA data systems. FMCSA seeks public comments on the
prospective application of the changes.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before 2 January 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number FMCSA-
2013-0457 using any one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department
of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' heading under
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on
submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Courtney Stevenson, Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC 20590, telephone 202-366-5241 or by email:
courtney.stevenson@dot.gov. FMCSA office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. If you have
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Docket
Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and
related materials.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2013-0457), indicate the specific section of this
document to which each 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 the Agency can contact you if it has questions regarding
your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and
put the docket number, ``FMCSA-2013-0457'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on ``Comment
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box in the following
screen. Choose
[[Page 72147]]
whether you are submitting your comment as an individual or on behalf
of a third party and then submit. 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. If you
submit comments by mail and would like to know that they reached the
facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or
envelope.
FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the
comment period and may change this notice based on your comments.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov and
insert the docket number, ``FMCSA-2013-0457'' in the ``Keyword'' box
and click ``Search.'' Next, click ``Open Docket Folder'' button and
choose the document listed to review. If you do not have access to the
Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the Docket
Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act
All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have
provided. Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or you may visit
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
II. Executive Summary
As discussed below, States adopt and enforce motor carrier safety
and hazardous materials laws and regulations as an eligibility
requirement for FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP)
and report violations discovered through roadside inspections to FMCSA.
Motor carriers and drivers alleging that errors have occurred may
petition the States for correction. High-quality data that are
complete, timely, accurate, and consistently reported enable FMCSA to
continue to achieve its safety mission by identifying trends in the
violation data.
One of the challenges that the Agency faces in trying to ensure the
data are accurate is how best to consider violations cited during
roadside inspections that are subsequently adjudicated in State and
local courts. This is especially difficult when the roadside inspection
results are uploaded by the State enforcement agency into FMCSA's
information systems and the subsequent adjudication happens much later
with no practical means for the adjudication results to be transmitted
directly to FMCSA. In response to this challenge, FMCSA is modifying
its MCMIS to accept adjudication information concerning a citation
associated with a violation that (1) was dismissed or resulted in a
finding of not guilty; (2) resulted in a conviction of a different or
lesser charge; or (3) resulted in conviction of the original charge.
The Agency's State partners will modify their processes and procedures
to capture the State and local adjudications results associated with
roadside inspection violations and upload the information to FMCSA.
These changes will improve the uniformity and quality of data vital to
improving safety on the Nation's roads.
III. Background
As discussed below, States enforce motor carrier safety laws under
a Federal grant program and report violations discovered through
roadside inspections to FMCSA. Parties alleging that errors have
occurred may petition the States for correction. High-quality data that
are complete, timely, accurate, and consistently reported enable FMCSA
to continue to achieve its safety mission. Therefore, FMCSA announces
changes to MCMIS and processes to append the results of associated
adjudicated State citations to the inspection violation data. These
changes improve the uniformity and quality of data vital to improving
safety on the Nation's roads.
A. Definitions
For the purposes of this notice, the following definitions apply:
Adjudicated Citation: A citation that has been contested
and resolved through a due process proceeding in a State, local, or
administrative tribunal, regardless of how the action is resolved,
whether by a judge or prosecutor or as part of a plea agreement or
otherwise.
Citation: A notice, issued by a law enforcement officer to
a commercial motor vehicle driver for a violation of State law or
State-adopted Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) or
Hazardous Materials Regulation (HMR). The driver may contest the
citation through a State-provided administrative or judicial system.
Conviction (as defined at 49 CFR 383.5 and 390.5): An
unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a person has
violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original
jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated
forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's
appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by
the court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a
condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the
penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.
Unvacated: Refers to an order or judgment that has not
been cancelled or rescinded.
B. Databases for Inspection Data
State law enforcement officials routinely conduct roadside
inspections documenting violations of State laws or regulations that
are ``compatible'' with the FMCSRs and HMRs. See 49 CFR 350.105 (which
defines ``compatible or compatibility''). State officials, at their
discretion, may issue State citations for the violations recorded on
the roadside inspection report. States enter roadside inspection and
violation data into SafetyNet, a database management system that allows
entry, access, analysis, and reporting of data from driver/vehicle
inspections, crashes, compliance reviews, assignments, and complaints.
It is operated at State safety agencies and Federal Divisions and
interfaces with roadside inspection software, SAFER,\1\ MCMIS, and
State systems. The MCMIS data are then used in other FMCSA data
systems, including the Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) \2\ and
the Safety Measurement System (SMS).\3\
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\1\ SAFER is FMCSA's Safety and Fitness Electronic Records
(SAFER) system.
\2\ PSP helps motor carriers make more informed hiring decisions
by providing electronic access to a driver's crash and inspection
history from MCMIS. See http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov/Pages/default.aspx.
\3\ SMS is an automated system that quantifies the on-road
safety performance of motor carriers so that FMCSA can identify
unsafe carriers, prioritize them for intervention, and monitor if a
motor carrier's safety and compliance problem is improving. See
http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
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Drivers and motor carriers may challenge citations associated with
violations recorded during roadside inspections through State judicial
or administrative systems. A citation that has been resolved through a
State's judicial or administrative process,
[[Page 72148]]
regardless of outcome, is considered to be adjudicated. Drivers, motor
carriers, and members of the public may file a Request for Data Review
(RDR) in FMCSA's DataQs system for acknowledgement of the adjudication
in the inspection record when the State process does not result in
conviction of the original charge.
C. Motor Carrier Safety Data Correction System
Pursuant to 49 CFR 350.201(s), one of the conditions for
participation in the MCSAP is that a State must establish a program to
ensure that accurate and timely motor carrier safety data are collected
and reported, and ensure the State's participation in a national motor
carrier safety data correction system prescribed by FMCSA. DataQs is
that national motor carrier data correction system (49 CFR 350.211, ]
11).
DataQs is an online system that provides an electronic means for
drivers, motor carriers, and members of the public to submit concerns
about the accuracy of Federal and State crash, inspection, and
violation data in FMCSA data systems. When a request for an RDR is
filed, the DataQs system automatically forwards the request to the
appropriate Federal or State office for processing and resolution
(https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov/).
Presently, SafetyNet and MCMIS record only inspection and violation
data from the initial inspection report, and do not contain a data
field that would allow the State to append the result of an adjudicated
citation to the appropriate violation on the inspection report. There
is some inconsistency in how States address an adjudicated citation for
which an RDR is filed. The DataQs User Guide and Manual, available at:
https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov/Data/Guide/DataQs_Users_Guide_and_Best_Practices_Manual.pdf, describes standardized processes and
techniques to address and resolve RDRs.
FMCSA issued guidance to State DataQs analysts in May 2011,
explaining that the ``. . . DataQs guidance does NOT recommend or
require blanket rejection of DataQs RDRs seeking removal of violations
that have been dismissed by a court. Instead, we [FMCSA] advise that
the analysts exercise discretion and good judgment by carefully
reviewing the reason for the court dismissal based on any and all
available information and determine whether fairness dictates removal
of the violation from the State and Federal database.'' In following
this guidance, some States will automatically remove a violation
associated with an adjudicated citation for which there is no
conviction, while others do not remove the violation unless evidence
submitted to the court supports a finding that the violation did not
occur. Today's notice is intended to create greater uniformity across
the States.
IV. Overview of Changes
A. New Data Field for Adjudicated Citations Results
FMCSA will issue revised direction to the States to document
adjudication results and supplement the initial inspection report when
an RDR containing appropriate documentation is submitted. If the RDR
provides adequate documentation of an adjudicated citation related to a
violation or violations recorded in a roadside inspection report, the
State will enter adjudication results into SafetyNet. State and Federal
data systems will be modified to accept data concerning a citation
associated with a violation that (1) was dismissed or resulted in a
finding of not guilty; (2) resulted in a conviction of a different or
lesser charge; or (3) resulted in conviction of the original charge.
Those adjudications, recorded in SafetyNet, will be uploaded into
MCMIS.
FMCSA is revising the MCMIS database and creating a new data field
to allow inclusion of adjudicated citation results associated with
violations documented during an inspection. The results of adjudicated
citations recorded in MCMIS will be reflected in FMCSA's SMS and PSP.
The following table indicates how the adjudication outcomes
documented in MCMIS will impact the use of the cited violation in
FMCSA's SMS and PSP databases:
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Result of adjudicated citation
associated with a violation Violation in SMS: Violation in PSP:
uploaded to MCMIS:
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(1) Convicted of original charge Retain violation.. Retain violation.
(2) Not guilty/Dismissed........ Remove violation.. Remove violation.
(3) Convicted of different Retain AND Retain AND
charge. indicate indicate
violation as violation as
``Resulted in ``Resulted in
conviction of a conviction of a
different different
charge'';. charge''.
SMS severity
weight set to
lowest value in
BASIC*.
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* SMS quantifies motor carrier performance in seven Behavioral Analysis
Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). The SMS methodology, including
a description of severity weights used in the methodology, is provided
at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMSMethodology.pdf.
As required by FMCSA's MCSAP regulations (i.e., 49 CFR part 350)
States must follow the Agency's regulatory definition of ``conviction''
as outlined in the definitions section in this notice and in 49 CFR
383.5 and 390.5 and address RDRs accordingly. Thus, when an RDR
indicates that a State court dismissed a citation while still imposing
a fine or court cost, the outcome will be recorded in SafetyNet as a
conviction by the State.
Upon implementing the MCMIS policy discussed in this notice, FMCSA
will update the DataQs guidance manual to reflect these changes.
B. Prospective Application of the MCMIS Changes
The primary purpose of these changes is to improve uniformity in
the treatment of violation data associated with adjudicated citations.
FMCSA intends that States record adjudicated citation results only for
citations associated with, and issued during, a roadside inspection
that occurs on or after the implementation date. This prospective
approach is consistent with all of FMCSA's previous system changes
designed to improve data quality.
FMCSA believes the prospective application will mitigate the
potential for significantly increased numbers of RDRs, based on
hundreds--potentially thousands--of past adjudicated citations, which
could quickly exhaust States' DataQs capability. Such a drain on State
DataQs staffs could prevent States from promptly acting on other RDR
requests and/or could create a need to redirect scarce State resources
from roadside enforcement to DataQs processing, adversely affecting
motor carrier safety enforcement. In addition, the prospective
application will (1) provide a uniform and orderly process for the
States to incorporate recording adjudicated citations into their State
MCSAP Commercial Vehicle Safety Plans and budgets (see 49 CFR 350.213
[[Page 72149]]
for description of CVSP); (2) provide an effective process that the
Agency can test to ensure system effectiveness and data quality; and
(3) reduce the cost of applying and implementing these changes across
the Agency and the States. FMCSA seeks comments on the prospective
application of the changes.
C. Prohibition on Masking Convictions
The FMCSA emphasizes the importance of accurate information
concerning traffic violations in addition to roadside inspection
violations. The Agency will continue its work with the States to ensure
that commercial learner's permit (CLP) and commercial driver's license
(CDL) holders who are found to have engaged in unsafe driving behaviors
are not provided with relief from the consequences of these unsafe
actions through masking of their convictions by the States. Masking
convictions allows commercial drivers to accumulate multiple serious
traffic safety violations without the driver's State of licensure or
other States being aware of the driver's actual driving history.
FMCSA regulation at 49 CFR 384.226 prohibits States from masking
convictions, deferring imposition of judgment, or allowing an
individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CLP
or CDL holder's conviction for any violation, in any type of motor
vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law (other than parking,
vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations) from appearing on the
Commercial Driver's License Information System driving record, whether
the driver was convicted for an offense committed in the State where
the driver is licensed or another State. The Agency views the practice
of State courts dismissing citations after a guilty plea has been
entered or following payment of a fine or mandatory contribution to a
State program as a condition of dismissal, as ``masking'' of a
commercial driver's violation of State or local traffic control laws.
The changes to State and FMCSA data systems outlined in this notice
will enable both the Agency and the State licensing agencies to better
track and document patterns and practices that are inconsistent with 49
CFR 384.226 concerning the masking prohibition. States found to have
used masking or other diversionary programs may be found in substantial
noncompliance and could risk decertification of their CDL programs,
which could impact grant funding.
Issued on: November 26, 2013.
Anne S. Ferro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-28795 Filed 11-26-13; 4:15 pm]
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