Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

G. Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
December 15, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 240 (Monday, December 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74158-74159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29292]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0237]


Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information 
Collection: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

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 its 
review and approval and invites public comment. Executive Order 12862 
directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches 
or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order 
to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet 
our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 
(FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect 
feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that 
provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not 
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population of study. On August 29, 2014, FMCSA 
published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 51639) allowing for a 
60-day comment period on this ICR. The agency received no comments in 
response to that notice.

DATES: Please send your comments by January 14, 2015. 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-2014-0237. 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: Mr. Brian Ronk, Program Manager, 
FMCSA, Office of Enforcement and Program Delivery, Outreach Division/
MC-ESO. Telephone (202) 366-1072; or email brian.ronk@dot.gov. 
Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
    Mr. Jeff Loftus,, Supervisory Transportation Specialist, Technology 
Division/MC-RRT, Office of Analysis, Research and Technology, Telephone 
(202) 385-2363; or email jeff.loftus@dot.gov, Department of 
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-00XX.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Respondents: State and local agencies, general public and 
stakeholders, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to 
the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry, fleets, owner-operators, 
state CMV safety agencies, research organizations and contractors, news 
organizations, safety advocacy groups, and other Federal agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,900.
    Estimated Time per Response: Range from 10--120 minutes per 
response.
    Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new ICR.
    Frequency of Response: Generally, on an annual basis.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 5,274 hours.

Background

    Executive Order 12862 ``Setting Customer Service Standards,'' 
direct Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches 
or exceeds the best service available in the private sector (58 FR 
48257, September 11, 1993). In order to work continuously to ensure 
that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, FMCSA 
seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect 
qualitative feedback from our customers on our service delivery. The 
surveys covered in this generic clearance will provide a means for 
FMCSA to collect this data directly from our customers. By qualitative 
feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on 
perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield 
quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perception, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas of communication, 
training or changes in operations that might improve delivery of 
products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, 
collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its 
customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute 
directly to the improvement of program management.
    The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or 
maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this 
information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.
    The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collections are voluntary.
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government.
     The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies.
     Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have 
experience with the program in the near future.

[[Page 74159]]

     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained.
     Information gathered is intended to be used only 
internally for general service improvement and program management 
purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if 
released, the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the 
information).
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalized to the 
population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information, but does not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results. As a general matter, information collections will not result 
in any new system of records containing privacy information and will 
not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and 
attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly 
considered private.
    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 FMCSA to perform its 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 collected information.

    Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on December 
8, 2014
G. Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology, 
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-29292 Filed 12-12-14; 8:45 am]
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