Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved Information Collection Request: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test Standards

Thomas P. Keane
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
3 September 2021

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 169 (Friday, September 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49595-49597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19080]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2021-0081]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection Request: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test 
Standards

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 
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 for its review 
and approval and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests approval to 
revise and renew an ICR titled, ``Commercial Driver Licensing and Test 
Standards,'' due to an increase in the number of commercial driver's 
license records. This ICR is needed to ensure that drivers, motor 
carriers and the States are complying with notification and 
recordkeeping requirements for information related to testing, 
licensing, violations, convictions, and disqualifications and that the 
information is accurate, complete, transmitted, and recorded within 
certain time periods as required by the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety 
Act of 1986 (CMVSA), as amended.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before November 2, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2021-0081 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room 12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9:00 
a.m. and 5:00 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see 
the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street 
address listed above.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket Management System 
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or 
you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8-794.pdf.
    Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available 
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain electronic 
submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the ``help'' section 
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal website. If you want us to notify you 
that we received your comments, please include a self-addressed, 
stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgement

[[Page 49596]]

page that appears after submitting comments online. Comments received 
after the comment closing date will be included in the docket and will 
be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Isabella Marra, Office of Safety 
Programs, Commercial Driver's License Division (MC-ESL), Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-9579; email: 
isabella.marra@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The licensed drivers in the United States deserve reasonable 
assurances that their fellow motorists are properly qualified to drive 
the vehicles they operate. Before the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety 
Act of 1986 (CMVSA or the Act) (Pub. L. 99-570, Title XII, 100 Stat. 
3207-170, codified at 49 U.S.C. chapter 313) was signed by the 
President on October 27, 1986, 18 States and the District of Columbia 
authorized any person licensed to drive an automobile to also legally 
drive a large truck or bus. No special training or special license was 
required to drive these vehicles, even though it was widely recognized 
that operation of certain types of vehicles called for special skills, 
knowledge, and training. Even in the 32 States that had a classified 
driver licensing system in place, only 12 of these States required an 
applicant to take a skills test in a representative vehicle. Equally 
serious was the problem of drivers possessing multiple driver licenses. 
By spreading their convictions among several States, commercial motor 
vehicle (CMV) drivers could avoid punishment for their infringements, 
and stay behind the wheel.
    The CMVSA addressed these problems by requiring the Federal 
government to act and place minimum standards on all jurisdictions, 
including the District of Columbia. Section 12002 of the Act made it 
illegal for a CMV operator to have more than one driver's license. 
Section 12003 required the CMV driver conducting operations in commerce 
to notify both the designated State of licensure official and the 
driver's employer of any convictions of State or local laws relating to 
traffic control (except parking tickets). This section also required 
the promulgation of regulations to ensure each person who applies for 
employment as a CMV operator to notify prospective employers of all 
previous employment as a CMV operator for at least the previous 10 
years.
    In section 12005 of the Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
(Secretary) is required to develop minimum Federal standards for 
testing and licensing of operators of CMVs. Section 12007 of the Act 
also directed the Secretary, in cooperation with the States, to develop 
a clearinghouse to aid the States in implementing the one driver, one 
license, and one driving record requirement. This clearinghouse is 
known as the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS).
    The CMVSA further required each person who has their commercial 
driver's license (CDL) suspended, revoked or canceled by a State, or 
who is disqualified from operating a CMV for any period, to notify his 
or her employer of such actions. Drivers of CMVs must notify their 
employers within 1 business day of being notified of the license 
suspension, revocation, and cancellation, or of the lost right to 
operate or disqualification. These requirements are reflected in 49 CFR 
part 383, titled ``Commercial Driver's License Standards; Requirements 
and Penalties.''
    Specifically, section 383.21 prohibits a person from having more 
than one license; Section 383.31 requires notification of convictions 
for driver violations; section 383.33 requires notification of driver's 
license suspensions; section 383.35 requires notification of previous 
employment; and section 383.37 outlines employer responsibilities. 
Section 383.111 requires the passing of a knowledge test by the driver 
and section 383.113 requires the passing of a skills test by the 
driver; section 383.115 contains the requirement for the double/triple 
trailer endorsement; section 383.117 contains the requirement for the 
passenger endorsement; section 383.119 contains the requirement for the 
tank vehicle endorsement; and section 383.121 contains the requirement 
for the hazardous materials endorsement.
    The 10-year employment history information supplied by the CDL 
holder to the employer upon application for employment (49 CFR 383.35) 
is used to assist the employer in meeting his/her responsibilities to 
ensure that the applicant does not have a history of high safety risk 
behavior.
    State officials use the information collected on the license 
application form (49 CFR 383.71), the medical certificate information 
that is posted to the driving record, and the conviction and 
disqualification data posted to the driving record (49 CFR 383.73) to 
prevent unqualified and/or disqualified CDL holders from operating CMVs 
on the nation's highways. State officials are required to adopt and 
administer an FMCSA approved program for testing and ensuring the 
fitness of persons to operate a commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) (49 
CFR 384.201). State officials are also required to administer knowledge 
and skills tests to CDL driver applicants (49 CFR 384.202). The driver 
applicant is required to correctly answer at least 80 percent of the 
questions on each knowledge test to achieve a passing score on that 
test. To achieve a passing score on the skills test, the driver 
applicant must demonstrate that he/she can successfully perform all the 
skills listed in the regulations. During State CDL program reviews, 
FMCSA officials review this information to ensure that the provisions 
of the regulations are being carried out.
    Without the aforementioned requirements, there would be no uniform 
control over driver licensing practices to prevent unqualified and/or 
disqualified drivers from being issued a CDL and to prevent unsafe 
drivers from spreading their convictions among several licenses in 
several States and remaining behind the wheel of a CMV. Failure to 
collect this information would render the regulations unenforceable.
    Title: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test Standards.
    OMB Number: 2126-0011.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Drivers with a commercial learner's permit (CLP) or 
CDL and State driver licensing agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,696,360 driver respondents and 
22,886 State respondents.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies and can range from 5 seconds to 
40 hours.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2021.
    Frequency of Response: Varies and can range from 51 to 8,696,120.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 2,700,901 hours, which is the total 
of four tasks for CDL drivers (2,062,676 hours), added to a total of 
eight tasks for State driver licensing agency CDL activities (638,225 
hours).
    Information collection tasks and associated burden hours are as 
follows:

IC-1.1 Driver Notification of Convictions/Disqualifications to 
Employer: 503,771 hours
IC-1.2 Driver Providing Previous Employment History to New Employer: 
316,742 hours
IC-1.3 Driver Completion of the CDL Application Form: 43,527 hours

[[Page 49597]]

IC-1.4 Driver Completion of Knowledge and Skills Tests: 1,198,636 hours
IC-2.1 State Recording of Medical Examiner's Certificate Information: 
90,202 hours
IC-2.2 State Recording of the Self Certification of Commercial Motor 
Vehicle (CMV) Operation: 2,987 hours
IC-2.3 State Verification of Medical Certification Status: 5,330 hours
IC-2.4 Annual State Certification of Compliance: 1,632 hours
IC-2.5 State Preparing for and Participating in Annual Program Review: 
10,200 hours
IC-2.6 CDLIS/PDPS/State Recordkeeping: 289,254 hours
IC-2.7 Knowledge and Skills Test Recordkeeping: 49,721 hours
IC-2.8 Knowledge and Skills Test Examiner Certification: 188,899 hours

    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. The agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2021-19080 Filed 9-2-21; 8:45 am]
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