Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small Business in Transportation Coalition

Raymond P. Martinez
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
17 July 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34250-34251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15206]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0180]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small 
Business in Transportation Coalition

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Application for exemption; final determination.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to deny the application of the 
Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) for an exemption from 
the electronic logging device (ELD) requirements for all motor carriers 
with fewer than 50 employees, including, but not limited to, one-person 
private and for-hire owner-operators of commercial motor vehicles 
(CMVs) used in interstate commerce. FMCSA has analyzed the exemption 
application and public comments, and has determined that it cannot 
ensure that granting for the requested exemption would achieve a level 
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be 
achieved absent such exemption.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning this 
notice, contact Ms. LaTonya Mimms, Chief, FMCSA Driver and Carrier 
Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety 
Standards; Telephone: 202-366-4024. Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 
(FMCSRs). FMCSA

[[Page 34251]]

must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal Register 
(49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an opportunity 
to inspect the information relevant to the application, including any 
safety analyses that have been conducted. The Agency must also provide 
an opportunity for public comment on the request.
    FMCSA reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted, and 
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level 
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be 
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of 
the Agency and the reasons for denying an application must be published 
in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)).
    On December 16, 2015 (80 FR 78292), FMCSA published a final rule 
requiring most drivers then required to prepare hours-of-service (HOS) 
records of duty status (RODS) to use electronic logging devices (ELDs) 
instead of the previous paper logs to document their RODS. The 
compliance date for the ELD requirement was December 18, 2017.

III. Request for Exemption

    The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) is a non-
profit trade organization with more than 8,000 members. SBTC stated 
that it ``represents, promotes, and protects the interest of small 
businesses in the transportation industry. Through the exemption 
application, SBTC seeks relief from the ELD requirements for small 
private, common and contract motor carriers with fewer than 50 
employees.'' SBTC contends that:

    ``[T]he ELD rule is not a `safety regulation' per se as the 
FMCSA has concluded. Rather it is a mechanism intended to enforce a 
safety regulation by regulating the manner in which a driver records 
and communicates his compliance. That is, it is merely a tool to 
determine compliance with an existing rule that regulates over-the-
road drivers' driving and on duty time, namely the actual safety 
regulation: the [HOS] regulations codified at 49 CFR 395.3 and 
395.5. However, the ELD rule is not a safety regulation itself. 
Therefore, it is our position that this rule does not itself impact 
safety, and that the level of safety will not change based on 
whether or not our exemption application is approved. That would 
require a change to the [hours-of-service rules].''

    SBTC asserts that the exemption would not have any adverse impacts 
on operational safety, as motor carriers and drivers would remain 
subject to the HOS regulations in 49 CFR 395.3, as well as the 
requirements to maintain a paper RODS under 49 CFR 395.8. The applicant 
argues that the requested exemption would allow motor carriers with 
fewer than 50 employees to maintain their current practices that have 
resulted in a proven safety record. A copy of SBTC's application for 
exemption is available for view in the docket for this rulemaking.

Public Comments

    On June 5, 2018, FMCSA published SBTC's application for exemption 
and requested public comment (83 FR 26140). The Agency received more 
than 1,900 comments. Although some comments focused more on the HOS 
rules than the exemption application and others were simply 
unclassifiable, the Agency estimates that over 95 percent of the 
comments favored the exemption, while more than 4 percent were opposed.

FMCSA Decision

    For the reasons given below, FMCSA denies the SBTC application for 
exemption. The SBTC application does not meet the regulatory standards 
for an exemption. SBTC failed to provide ``[t]he name of the individual 
or motor carrier that would be responsible for the use or operation of 
CMVs'' under the exemption [49 CFR 381.310(b)(2)]. SBTC did not provide 
the name of a single motor carrier. SBTC failed to ``[p]rovide[] an 
estimate of the total number of drivers and CMVs that would be operated 
under the terms and conditions of the exemption'' [Sec.  
381.310(c)(3)]. Instead, SBTC said ``we defer to FMCSA to determine the 
total number of drivers and CMVs that would be operated under the 
exemption.'' SBTC failed to ``[e]xplain[] how you would ensure that you 
could achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, 
the level of safety that would be obtained by complying with the 
regulation'' [Sec.  381.310(c)(5)]. The application said ``we believe 
the level of safety is already assured by the pre-existing Hours of 
Service rule as opposed to this ELD enforcement mechanism rule.''
    Nor did SBTC meet the statutory requirement in 49 U.S.C. 
31315(b)(5)(D) to describe ``[t]he specific countermeasures the person 
would undertake to ensure an equivalent or greater level of safety than 
would be achieved absent the requested exemption.'' SBTC proposed no 
countermeasures at all.
    For all of these reasons, FMCSA denies SBTC's request for 
exemption.

    Issued on: July 9, 2019.
Raymond P. Martinez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-15206 Filed 7-16-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P