New Entrant Safety Assurance Program Operational Test |
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Anne S. Ferro
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
September 4, 2013
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54510-54512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21442]
[[Page 54510]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0298]
New Entrant Safety Assurance Program Operational Test
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
announces an operational test of procedural changes to the New Entrant
Safety Assurance Program. The operational test began in July 2013 and
will be in effect for up to 12 months. It is applicable to new entrant
motor carriers domiciled in the States of California, Florida,
Illinois, Montana, New York and the Canadian Provinces contiguous to
Montana and New York. The operational test procedures allow FMCSA to
complete an off-site safety audit of eligible new entrant motor
carriers that can demonstrate basic safety management controls by
submitting compliance documentation as requested by FMCSA. The purpose
of the operational test is to compare off-site and on-site new entrant
safety audits in terms of resource allocation and subsequent safety
performance of new entrant motor carriers.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bryan Price, Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1300, Pittsburgh, PA
15222, telephone: (412) 395-4816, email: bryan.price@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 210(a) of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999
[Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1748, December 9, 1999] (MCSIA), mandates
that the Secretary of Transportation establish regulations to require
each motor carrier owner and operator granted new operating authority
registration to undergo a safety review within 18 months of starting
interstate operations. [49 U.S.C. 31144(g)]. In issuing these
regulations, the Secretary was required to: (1) Establish the elements
of the safety review, including basic safety management controls; (2)
consider their effects on small businesses; and (3) consider
establishing alternate locations where such reviews may be conducted
for the convenience of small businesses.
In response to the statutory mandate in MCSIA, FMCSA published an
interim final rule titled, ``New Entrant Safety Assurance Process'' on
May 13, 2002 (67 FR 31978), which became effective January 1, 2003.
Subpart D of 49 CFR part 385 requires a safety audit within 18 months
after a new entrant motor carrier begins operations to determine if the
carrier is exercising basic safety management controls. On December 16,
2008 (73 FR 76472), the regulations were strengthened to raise the
standard for passing a new entrant safety audit and to establish
procedures for expedited action if certain violations are discovered
during a roadside inspection while a motor carrier is in the new
entrant program.
The 2008 final rule required compliance beginning on December 16,
2009. These strengthened regulations maintained the requirement to
conduct a safety audit within 18 months of beginning interstate
operations. By policy, FMCSA has also implemented more stringent safety
audit completion deadlines for new entrant passenger carriers,
requiring that they receive a safety audit within 9 months of beginning
interstate operations.
Congress significantly tightened the deadlines for completion of
new entrant safety audits. Section 32102 of the Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) [Pub. L. 112-141, 126 Stat.
778 (July 6, 2012)] requires new entrant motor carriers to ``undergo a
safety review not later than 12 months'' after beginning interstate
operations, and within 120 days for certain passenger carriers [49
U.S.C. 31144(g)(1)]. Section 32102 has an effective date of October 1,
2013.
Need for a More Efficient New Entrant Safety Assurance Process
Under the current New Entrant Safety Assurance Program,
approximately 34,000 safety audits are conducted annually. Significant
FMCSA resources are required to travel to each motor carrier's
principal place of business to conduct these safety audits. As
presented in the table below, the vast majority of the safety audits
have been completed within the 18-month statutory guideline previously
established by Congress. However, the number of new entrant motor
carriers entering the program continues to grow each year and FMCSA's
ability to complete all new entrant safety audits is significantly
impacted by the more stringent MAP-21 deadlines.
The table below (http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/art-safety-progress-report.htm) also indicates that approximately 70
percent of new entrant motor carriers pass their safety audit each year
by demonstrating basic safety management controls in the areas of
driver qualifications, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, accident
register, and controlled substances and alcohol use and testing. Unless
roadside inspection results have indicated evidence of a violation
requiring expedited action as described in 49 CFR 385.308, or a pattern
of poor inspections severe enough to place the carrier in the high-risk
category, the primary consideration for prioritizing safety audits is
the number of months since the new entrant motor carrier received its
USDOT Number. The Agency currently devotes the same resources in travel
costs and staff time to on-site reviews of low-risk and higher-risk new
entrant motor carriers.
The FMCSA believes there are opportunities to increase efficiency
within the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program in a manner that will
enhance safety and improve the Agency's ability to meet the more
stringent MAP-21 safety audit deadlines.
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FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
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New Entrant Safety Audits Conducted...................................... 34,140 34,276 34,349
Percentage of New Entrants That Pass the Safety Audit.................... 72.6% 65.0% 74.1%
Percentage of New Entrant Safety Audits Completed within Statutory/Policy 92.5% 87.2% 88.3%
Timeframes..............................................................
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Operational Test of Procedural Changes
FMCSA began the operational test of procedural changes to the New
Entrant Safety Assurance Program in July 2013. These alternate
procedures apply to new entrant motor carriers domiciled in the States
of California, Florida, Illinois, Montana, and New York. In addition,
FMCSA staff based in Montana and New York are using these procedures to
conduct safety audits on the Canadian new entrant motor carriers
domiciled in the Provinces contiguous to their States. There will be no
regulatory relief provided during the operational test, and the test is
being carried out in
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accordance with existing regulations in subpart D of 49 CFR part 385.
During the test, certain motor carriers are automatically flagged
for an on-site new entrant safety audit at their principal place of
business, as is current practice. These motor carriers include:
Passenger carriers, carriers with evidence of roadside inspection
activity while transporting a placardable quantity of hazardous
materials; motor carriers with one or more Safety Measurement System
(SMS) Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC)
measurement above FMCSA's intervention threshold; and motor carriers
with evidence of an expedited action violation as described in 49 CFR
385.308.
All other new entrant motor carriers will be contacted by letter
and asked to electronically submit legible copies of documentation to a
new entrant safety audit Web site (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/newentrant).
The requested documentation allows FMCSA to initiate the safety audit
process remotely off-site through verification of compliance with basic
safety management controls related to driver qualification, driver duty
status, vehicle maintenance, the accident register, and controlled
substances and alcohol use and testing consistent with 49 CFR 385.311.
The letter describes requested documents and explains that
submission of these documents preclude the need for a safety audit at
the new entrant carrier's place of business. In addition, the letter
explains that failure to submit the requested documentation or failure
to respond to the letter will be treated as a refusal to undergo a
safety audit and could constitute a failure to permit the safety audit
in accordance with 49 CFR 385.337(b), which could result in revocation
of the carrier's registration and issuance of an order prohibiting
interstate operations. Carriers who are unable to submit the requested
documentation may submit an explanation in writing to FMCSA within 10
days from the service date of FMCSA's request.
A new entrant safety auditor subsequently reviews the submitted
documentation and either:
(1) Prepares a report to document that the motor carrier has passed
the new entrant safety audit;
(2) Contacts the motor carrier to request additional documentation;
or
(3) Schedules a safety audit at the motor carrier's principal place
of business as soon as practicable, based upon violations observed in
the submitted documentation.
FMCSA believes that these test procedures will more efficiently
verify the safety status of new entrant carriers, resulting and allow
the Agency to better utilize its resources for on-site safety audits of
higher-risk (e.g., passenger and HM) carriers, and carriers that are
non-compliant. The test procedure will also provide a more effective
process for those unable or unwilling to provide the requested
documents. These test procedures will help the Agency meet the MAP-21
safety audit deadlines.
This table shows how the new entrant operational test differs from
the current new entrant safety audit process:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN04SE13.000
Test Metrics
FMCSA will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency,
innovation, and flexibility of the operational test procedures in
contrast to the current new entrant safety assurance program during and
after the test through examination of several performance metrics. The
metrics may include but are not limited to:
Effectiveness Metrics
Crash rates.
Roadside inspection violation and out-of-service (OOS)
rates.
Motor carrier SMS scores.
Expedited Action violation rates.
Safety audit failure rates and number of processed
corrective action plans (CAPs) submitted by carriers following failed
safety audits.
Efficiency Metrics
Total safety audits performed.
Time elapsed between entry into the new entrant program
and completion of a safety audit.
Time required to conduct a safety audit.
Number and percentage of past-due safety audits.
Total travel costs.
Total travel time.
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Innovation Metrics
New entrant Web site use.
Ease of document submission as determined by the number
and percentage of carriers that submit documentation electronically.
Flexibility Metrics
Number and percentage of safety audits that had to be
converted to the motor carrier's principal place of business.
Reason for conversion to a safety audit at the motor
carrier's principal place of business.
Issued On: August 27, 2013.
Anne S. Ferro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-21442 Filed 9-3-13; 8:45 am]
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