Hours of Service of Drivers of Commercial Motor Vehicles: Proposed Regulatory Guidance Concerning the Use of a Commercial Motor Vehicle for Personal Conveyance; Extension of Comment Period

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
19 January 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2873-2874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00878]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0108]


Hours of Service of Drivers of Commercial Motor Vehicles: 
Proposed Regulatory Guidance Concerning the Use of a Commercial Motor 
Vehicle for Personal Conveyance; Extension of Comment Period

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed regulatory guidance; extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA extends the public comment period for the Agency's 
December 19, 2017, notice announcing the proposed regulatory guidance 
concerning the use of a commercial motor vehicle for personal 
conveyance. On December 22, 2017, the American Trucking Associations, 
Inc. (ATA) requested a 30-day extension of the comment period. The 
Agency extends the January 18, 2018, deadline for the submission of 
public comments to February 20, 2018.

DATES: FMCSA extends the comment period for the notice of proposed 
regulatory guidance published on December 19, 2017. You must submit 
comments by February 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may insert comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2017-0108 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, 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 W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, phone (614) 942-6477, email 
MCPSD@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

A. Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number listed 
above, indicate the specific section of this document to which your 
comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation. You may submit your comments and material online or by 
fax, mail, or hand delivery. FMCSA recommends that you include your 
name and a mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the 
body of your document so that FMCSA can contact you if there are 
questions regarding your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
put the docket number, FMCSA-2017-0108, in the keyword box, and click 
``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on the ``Comment Now!'' 
button and type your comment into the text box on the following screen. 
Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual or on 
behalf of a third party and then submit.
    If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them 
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by

[[Page 2874]]

11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit 
comments by mail and would like to know that they reached the facility, 
please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period and may change this guidance based on your comments.

B. Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Insert the 
docket number, FMCSA-2017-0108, in the keyword box, and click 
``Search.'' Next, click the ``Open Docket Folder'' button and choose 
the document to review. If you do not have access to the internet, you 
may view the docket online by visiting the Docket Management Facility 
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

C. Privacy Act

    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these 
comments, without edit, including any personal information the 
commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system 
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.transportation.gov/privacy.

II. Background

    On December 19, 2017 (82 FR 60269), FMCSA published a notice of 
proposed regulatory guidance concerning the use of a commercial motor 
vehicle (CMV) for personal conveyance. This provision is available to 
all CMV drivers required to record their hours of service (HOS) who are 
permitted by their employer to use the vehicle for personal use. The 
proposed regulatory guidance would revise Question 26 to 49 CFR 395.8.
    The existing guidance on personal conveyance (49 CFR 395.8, 
Question 26) was issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), 
FMCSA's predecessor agency, in a memorandum dated November 18, 1996, 
and later published in a compilation of guidance (62 FR 16370, 16426, 
April 4, 1997). The guidance reiterated the basic principle that a 
driver in off-duty status must be relieved from work and all 
responsibility for performing work. It highlighted the use of the CMV 
as a personal conveyance in traveling to and from the place of 
employment (e.g., the normal work reporting location). The 1997 
guidance included discussion of CMVs used to travel ``short distances'' 
from a driver's en route lodgings to restaurants in the vicinity of 
such lodgings. In addition, the 1997 guidance explicitly excluded the 
use of laden vehicles as personal conveyance and the operation of the 
CMV as personal conveyance by drivers who have been placed out of 
service for HOS violations. The guidance has remained unchanged since 
1997.
    In the December 19, 2017, proposed revision to the guidance, the 
Agency focused on the reason the driver is operating a CMV while off 
duty, without regard to whether the CMV is or is not laden. The 
previous guidance, which required the CMV to be unladen, was written 
for combination vehicles, where the driver could readily detach the 
trailer and use the unladen tractor for personal conveyance. This 
interpretation had the inadvertent effect of not allowing drivers of 
single-unit work trucks that carry loads, as well as tools of trade and 
related materials, on the power unit to document this off-duty time on 
the RODS. In the absence of a trailer, these loads, tools, and other 
equipment cannot reasonably be offloaded, left unattended, and reloaded 
after the power unit has been used for personal conveyance. This 
proposed revision to the guidance eliminates the requirement that the 
CMV be unladen and thus the disparate impact created by the previous 
guidance.

Request for Extension of the Comment Period

    On December 22, 2017, the American Trucking Associations, Inc. 
(ATA), asked that the Agency provide a 30-day extension of the comment 
period. ATA expressed concern that end-of-year tasks and holiday 
periods might make it difficult for many interested parties to prepare 
comments by the original January 19, deadline. A copy of the ATA 
request is in the docket identified at the beginning of this notice.
    FMCSA acknowledges ATA's concerns. After reviewing the request, 
FMCSA hereby grants a 30-day extension of the comment period to 
February 20, 2018, to provide all interested parties additional time to 
respond to the notice of proposed regulatory guidance.

    Issued on: January 12, 2018.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-00878 Filed 1-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P