Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal and Revision of an Approved Information Collection: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations

Kenneth Riddle
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
19 June 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28616-28617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13015]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0023]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal and Revision of 
an Approved Information Collection: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers 
Regulations

AGENCY: FMCSA, 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 FMCSA requests 
approval to renew an ICR titled, ``Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers 
Regulations.'' With some exceptions, the HOS regulations require a 
motor carrier to install and require each of its drivers subject to the 
record of duty status (RODS) rule to use an electronic logging device 
(ELD) to report the driver's RODS. The RODS is critical to FMCSA's 
safety mission because it helps enforcement officials determine if CMV 
drivers are complying with the HOS rules limiting driver on-duty and 
driving time and requiring periodic off-duty time.

DATES: Please send your comments by July 19, 2019. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management 
System Docket Number FMCSA-2019-0023. Interested persons are invited to 
submit written comments on the proposed information collection to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention of the Desk 
Officer, Department of Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, and sent via electronic mail to 
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov, faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget,

[[Page 28617]]

Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Pearlie Robinson, FMCSA Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division Department of Transportation, FMCSA, West 
Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: 202-366-4325. Email: MCPSD@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers Regulations.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0001.
    Type of Request: Renewal and revision of an information collection.
    Respondents: Motor Carriers of Property and Passengers, Drivers of 
CMVs.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3.42 million CMV drivers; 540,000 
Motor Carriers.
    Estimated Time per Response: CMV drivers using technology: 2 
minutes.
    Estimated Time per Response: Motor Carriers reviewing 50 percent of 
RODS: 2 minutes.
    Frequency of Response: Drivers: 240 days per year; Motor carriers 
240 days per year.
    Driver Burden Hours: 27.36 million = 3.42 million RODS x 2 minutes/
60 x 240 days.
    Motor Carrier Burden Hours: 13.68 million = 27.36 million x 50%.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 41.04 million hours. = 27.36 million 
+ 13.68 million.
    Expiration Date: June 30, 2019.

Background

    On December 16, 2015, the final rule titled ``Electronic Logging 
Devices and Hours of Service Supporting Documents'' was published and 
became effective February 16, 2016 (80 FR 78292). The FMCSA established 
minimum performance and design standards for ELDs and the mandatory use 
of these devices by drivers who are subject to the HOS reporting 
requirements. Drivers who have continuously used compliant automatic 
on-board recorders (AOBRDs) since December 17, 2017, have until 
December 16, 2019, to replace the devices with ELDs. The number of 
AOBRDs still in use is unknown. As a condition of receiving certain 
federal grants, States agree to adopt and enforce the Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Regulations, including the HOS rules, as State law. As a 
result, State enforcement inspectors use the RODS and supporting 
documents to determine whether CMV drivers are complying with the HOS 
rules. In addition, FMCSA uses the RODS during on-site and offsite 
investigations of motor carriers. And Federal and State courts rely 
upon the RODS as evidence of driver and motor carrier violations of the 
HOS regulations. This information collection supports the DOT's 
Strategic Goal of Safety because the information helps the Agency 
ensure the safe operation of CMVs in interstate commerce on our 
Nation's highways.

Renewal of This IC

    The current IC burden estimate of the HOS rules, approved by OMB on 
June 13, 2016, is 99.46 million hours. The expiration date of the 
current ICR is June 30, 2019. Through this ICR, FMCSA requests a 
renewal and revision of the paperwork burden of 2126-0001. The Agency 
requests a reduction in the burden hours from 99.46 million hours to 
41.03 million hours. The reduction is the result of amendments of the 
HOS rules in which the burden estimate for most drivers and motor 
carriers is based on compliance with the ELD final rule during the 
three-year ICR period. Two types of information are collected under 
this IC: (1) Drivers' RODS (electronic records or, in some cases, paper 
logbooks), and (2) supporting documents, such as fuel and toll 
receipts, that motor carriers use to verify accuracy of RODS and for 
other business purposes. The use of ELDs reduces the driver's time to 
input duty status from 6.5 minutes to 2 minutes. Because motor carriers 
use supporting documents that drivers are required to maintain for 
other business purposes, the Agency excludes this task because it is a 
usual and customary activity.
    On March 8, 2019, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice 
allowing for a 60-day comment period on this ICR. The agency received 
three comments in response to that notice. One commenter, Aaron 
Pettigrew, expressed concern that the ELDs and vendor fees for data 
management service vendors are burdensome to small companies. Mr. 
Pettigrew did not comment on the reasonableness of these estimated 
costs.
    The Agency finds that the benefits and costs of complying with the 
ELD rule are outside the scope of a request for approval of this 
information collection request. The Agency's supporting statement 
includes an estimate of the cost of ELDs and data management fees used 
to estimate non-labor related costs of the ICR. The supporting 
statement included equipment costs and data management fees posted on 
vendors' websites.
    Two commenters, Toni Smith and TruckerNation, stated that the 2-
minute response time for collecting and filing records underestimates 
the burden hours and costs of complying with the HOS reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements. Mr. Smith stated that the 2-minute response 
time is not sufficient to account for the time to audit and file RODS 
and supporting documents.
    TruckerNation submitted the results of a survey in which 62 percent 
of respondents indicated it takes more than 6.5 minutes to input daily 
duty status to complete electronic RODS. The Agency finds that 
TruckerNation did not provide a discussion of the survey methods, the 
margin of error, or a mean response time that is statistically 
significant and different from a 2-minute response time.
    The Agency finds that the 2-minute response time in the supporting 
statement is applied to driver burden hours to monetize the cost of 
drivers' time on task to prepare daily RODS. It is not applicable to 
administrative time incurred by motor carrier staff to audit and file 
RODS. The Agency finds that these are usual and customary costs that 
motor carriers would incur in the absence of the HOS reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements. For example, motor carriers might collect 
and audit RODS and certain supporting documents for other business uses 
to estimate deductible expenses for income tax purposes.
    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 the 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 information collected. The Agency will summarize or 
include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.

    Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on: June 11, 
2019.
Kenneth Riddle,
Director, Office of Registration and Safety Information.
[FR Doc. 2019-13015 Filed 6-18-19; 8:45 am]
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