Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of a New Information Collection Request: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles |
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G. Kelly Leone
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
March 27, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 59 (Thursday, March 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17226-17227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06839]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0050]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of a New
Information Collection Request: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (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 review
and approval, and invites public comment. This ICR will enable FMCSA to
document the burden associated with the for-hire truck leasing
regulations codified in 49 CFR part 376, ``Lease and Interchange of
Vehicles.'' These regulations require certain for-hire motor carriers
to have a formal lease when leasing equipment.
DATES: Please send your comments by April 28, 2014. OMB must receive
your comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.
ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2013-0050. 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, or faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC
20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Rodgers, Chief, Commercial
Enforcement and Investigations Division, Office of Enforcement and
Compliance, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-0073; Email: kenneth.rodgers@dot.gov.
Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal Holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.
OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX.
Type of Request: New information collection.
Respondents: Motor carriers authorized by the Secretary to
transport property that use leased equipment.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,100 for-hire motor carriers.
Estimated Time per Response: 2 hour 7 minutes [68,100 estimated
annual burden hours/32,100 respondents = 2.121495327 or 2 hour 7
minutes].
Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new information collection.
Frequency of Response: One-time.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 68,100 (16,500 carriers x 0.5 hours
x 2 entities + 311,000 vehicles x 0.083 hours x 2 entities = 68,126
hours, rounded to the nearest hundred).
Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is
authorized to require a motor carrier that uses motor vehicles not
owned by it to transport property under an arrangement with another
party to make the arrangement in writing. This written lease agreement
must specify its duration, the compensation to be paid by the motor
carrier providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under 49
U.S.C. 14102(a), ``Leased Motor Vehicles'' and signed by the parties.
The Secretary has delegated authority pertaining to leased motor
vehicles to FMCSA pursuant to 49 CFR 1.87(a)(6). The Agency's
regulations governing leased motor vehicles are at 49 CFR part 376.
The rules were adopted to ensure that small trucking companies were
protected when they agreed to lease their equipment and drivers to
larger for-hire carriers. They also ensure that the government and
members of the public can determine who is responsible for a property-
carrying commercial motor vehicle. Prior to the regulations, some
equipment was leased without written agreements, leading to disputes
over which party to the lease was responsible for charges and actions
and, at times, who was legally responsible for the vehicle. Under 49
U.S.C. 14102(a), FMCSA ``may require a motor carrier providing for-hire
transportation that uses motor vehicles not owned by it to transport
property under an arrangement with another party to--
(1) make the arrangement in writing signed by the parties
specifying its duration and the compensation to be paid by the motor
carrier;
(2) carry a copy of the arrangement in each motor vehicle to which
it applies during the period the arrangement is in effect;
(3) inspect the motor vehicles and obtain liability and cargo
insurance on them; and
(4) have control of and be responsible for operating those motor
vehicles in compliance with requirements prescribed by the Secretary on
safety of operations and equipment, and with other applicable law as if
the motor vehicles were owned by the motor carrier.''
The rules specify what must be covered in the lease, but leave open
how many responsibilities must be divided. The parties to the lease
determine numerous details between themselves.
Part 376 applies only to certain motor carriers in interstate
commerce and only to certain leasing situations. The rules cover
leasing between a for-hire carrier that does not hold operating
authority and another for-hire carrier that does hold operating
authority. A for-hire motor carrier with or without operating authority
that leases its equipment and drivers to a private motor carrier is not
covered by the rule. A for-hire carrier with operating authority that
leases its equipment to a non- for hire motor carrier and operates
under its own authority is also not covered by the rule. Private
carriers that lease their equipment to for-hire motor carriers and for-
hire carriers with their own operating authority leasing to another
such carrier are subject to lesser requirements. For-hire carriers in
interstate commerce are exempt from the rules if they operate
exclusively in commercial zones. Commercial zones, last set by the ICC
in 1975, are generally defined as a municipality and a distance from
the limits of the municipality that ranges from 3 miles for cities with
populations less than 2,500 to 20 miles for cities of a million or more
people. Some municipalities have additional areas defined for them.
Section 376.11 requires the following when the carrier leases
equipment (Lessee) from a party supplying the equipment (Lessor), but
does not hold
[[Page 17227]]
its own operating authority: (1) The lessor and lessee enter into a
formal agreement that includes certain provisions (49 CFR 376.12); and
(2) the lessee provides the lessor receipts specifying the equipment
being leased at the beginning and end of the lease. These two
provisions account for the burden in this information collection.
Comments From the Public
General Summary
FMCSA received three comments to the 60-day Federal Register notice
published on March 27, 2013 (78 FR 18666), regarding the Agency's
Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection: Lease
and Interchange of Vehicles. Comments were received from the Owner
Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. (OOIDA), Transportation
Intermediaries Association (TIA), and Sharp Auto Transport. Comments
and responsive considerations are as follows:
OOIDA provided detailed comments, though they concluded that the
burden estimates are justified and the burden of compliance with truck
rules are ``minimal.'' OOIDA asked several questions. First, OOIDA
asked why FMCSA initiated a request for comments on this ICR, as well
as who, or what prompted the ICR, and what is the ICR's purpose.
FMCSA Response
In 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
recommended to FMCSA that the Agency require passenger motor carriers
be subject to the same limitations on the leasing of equipment as
interstate for-hire motor carriers of cargo (NTSB Recommendation H-09-
33).\1\ Since 2012, the OMB has published an FMCSA Unified Agenda entry
entitled ``Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of
Passengers,'' RIN 2126-AB44, addressing regulations governing the lease
and interchange of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles similar
to the leasing of equipment by interstate for-hire motor carriers of
cargo.\2\ FMCSA published a notice of public rulemaking (NPRM)
entitled, ``Lease and Interchange of Vehicles: Motor Carriers of
Passengers,'' (bus carrier NPRM) under RIN 2126-AB44 on September 20,
2013 (78 FR 57822). The proposal for bus carriers to address the NTSB
recommendation has similar information collection requirements as the
truck leasing rules. Therefore, FMCSA will coordinate the bus and truck
ICRs accordingly.
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\1\ National Transportation Safety Board. 2009. Motorcoach
Rollover on U.S. Highway 59 near Victoria, Texas, 2 January 2008.
Highway Accident Summary Report. NTSB/HAR-09/03/SUM. Washington, DC.
\2\ http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201210&RIN=2126-AB44.
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In addition, the bus carrier NPRM is necessary to ensure that
unsafe passenger carriers cannot evade FMCSA oversight and enforcement
by operating under the authority of another carrier that exercises no
actual control over those operations. This action will enable the
FMCSA, the NTSB and our Federal and State partners to identify motor
carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce and correctly
assign responsibility to these entities for regulatory violations
during inspections, compliance investigations, and crash studies. It
also provides the general public with the means to identify the
responsible motor carrier at the time of motorcoach transportation.
``Why is FMCSA attempting to study an area of regulation that Congress
largely left in the hands of private parties and that FMCSA has
steadfastly refused to become involved in despite several entreaties by
OOIDA in the past?''
FMCSA Response
The detailed lease and interchange regulations for cargo-carrying
vehicles have been in effect since 1950 and are not within the scope of
the bus carrier NPRM. The ICR in this truck leasing ICR action will be
coordinated with that of the bus leasing NPRM to eventually calculate a
total burden for all regulations covering all leases and interchanges
of CMVs regulated by FMCSA.
OOIDA correctly pointed out a mistake in the 60-day notice. ``This
ICR will enable FMCSA to document the burden associated with the
marking regulations codified in 49 CFR part 376. FMCSA incorrectly
identified a CMV marking notice instead of the lease and interchange
regulations that are codified in 49 CFR part 376. This error has been
corrected in this notice and the associated Supporting Statement for
this ICR.
Sharp Transport and TIA both believe the elimination of written
lease and interchange requirements would be a mistake. TIA believes
that leasing requirements alleviate concerns within the transportation
industry of fraudulent entities in the supply chain, by placing
safeguards in the industry. TIA believes if this requirement is
eliminated it will make it easier for carriers who are illegally
brokering to continue the detrimental practice. Sharp Transport
believes removal of the provisions will make enforcement impossible.
FMCSA Response
FMCSA has not proposed elimination of written leasing agreements.
FMCSA is merely attempting to comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 requirements and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
regulations at 5 CFR 1320 to calculate an accurate estimate of the time
and cost burdens to for-hire freight motor carriers to collect
information during lease negotiations and document the lease, receipts,
and other paperwork required by 49 CFR part 376. The 60-day notice
published on March 27, 2013 was FMCSA's first required step in getting
OMB to approve the part 376 estimates of time and cost burdens. This
30-day notice is the second required step in the OMB approval process
for the part 376 estimates.
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.
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: March 12, 2014.
G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-06839 Filed 3-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P