60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Pilot Program To Allow 18- to 21-Year-Old Persons With Military Driving Experience To Operate Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) in Interstate Commerce

Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
6 July 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31631-31633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14028]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA--2017-0196]


60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Pilot Program 
To Allow 18- to 21-Year-Old Persons With Military Driving Experience To 
Operate Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) in Interstate Commerce

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA is seeking approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, FMCSA is requesting 
comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of 
information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of 
public comment.
    Pursuant to Section 5404 of the Fixing America's Surface 
Transportation Act, 2015 (FAST Act), FMCSA proposes a 3-year period of 
information collection to determine whether the safety outcomes (to 
include crashes, moving violations, inspection violations, and safety 
critical events as available) of drivers under the age of 21 with 
military experience in the operation of heavy vehicles (i.e., ``covered 
drivers'') participating in interstate commerce are similar to the 
safety outcomes of commercial motor vehicle drivers (CMV) drivers 
between the ages of 21 and 24 operating freight-carrying CMVs, and how 
training and experience impact the safety of the 18- to 20-year-old 
driving population. FMCSA proposed this pilot program and solicited 
public comment on August 22, 2016. The prior 60-day notice sought 
comment on program operations, including whether any additional 
safeguards are needed to ensure that the pilot program provides a level 
of safety equivalent to current safety levels. Additional details on 
the broader pilot program are available through a separate notice 
published in today's Federal Register.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2017-0196 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West 
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590 between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and the 
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: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as

[[Page 31632]]

described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can 
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
    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 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: Nicole Michel, Research Division, 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001, by email at nicole.michel@dot.gov, or by 
telephone at (202) 366-4354. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, contact Docket Services, telephone 
(202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Proposed Information Collection for a Pilot Program to Allow 
18- to 21-Year-Old Persons with Military Driving Experience to Operate 
CMVs in Interstate Commerce.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-00XX.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers; 21- to 24-year-old entry-level CMV 
drivers with valid commercial drivers' licenses (CDLs) operating in 
freight-carrying interstate commerce (control group drivers); 18- to 
20-year-old freight-carrying CMV drivers with a valid CDL operating in 
intrastate commerce (intrastate group drivers); 18- to 20-year-old 
current or former military personnel with training in heavy-duty 
vehicle operations (covered drivers) and valid CDLs with a K-
restriction.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,570. [Motor carriers: 70 in 
total; 50 at any given time. Control group drivers: 1,500 in total 
(Year 1 = 300; Year 2 = 100; Year 3 = 100; Annualized = 166.7). 
Intrastate group drivers: 500 in total (Year 1 = 300; Year 2 = 100; 
Year 3 = 100; Annualized = 166.7). Covered group drivers: 500 in total 
(Year 1 = 300; Year 2 = 100; Year 3 = 100; Annualized = 166.7).]
    Estimated Time per Response: Motor Carriers: application--20 
minutes (one-time response); monthly data submission--45 minutes (per 
participating driver); miscellaneous additional data submissions--60 
minutes per month (e.g. notification of a crash with injury or 
fatality, notification of a driver leaving the carrier or study); 
monthly supporting information--15 minutes (per sponsored participating 
driver, monthly; e.g., optional on-board monitoring system [OBMS] logs, 
investigation findings for crashes). Drivers: background information 
and informed consent forms--20 minutes (one-time response).
    Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new information collection request 
(ICR).
    Frequency of Response: This is a one-time pilot program that will 
span a 3-year period of data collection. Throughout the 3-year pilot 
program, the response frequencies are: Motor-carrier applications: one-
time response. Driver demographic and release forms: one-time response. 
Motor carrier driver data submission: monthly (see ``Estimated Time per 
Response'' for more details).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 7,974.5 hours annualized. [This 
includes 7.8 hours annualized for motor carrier applications; 166.67 
hours annualized for driver information and informed consent forms; 
5,400 hours annualized for monthly driver activity and safety data; 600 
hours annualized for miscellaneous tasks; and 1,800 hours annualized 
for additional supporting data]

I. Background

Applicable Regulations

    Drivers of CMVs engaged in interstate commerce must be at least 21 
years of age (49 CFR 391.11(b)(1)). This includes CMVs for which CDLs 
are required and certain other CMVs for which a CDL is not required.
    In the May 9, 2011, final rule on ``Commercial Driver's License 
Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards,'' (76 FR 26854), the 
Agency set a minimum age of 18 for an individual to obtain a CDL. A CDL 
holder under the age of 21 must have a ``K'' restriction on their CDL, 
which limits the driver to operating in intrastate commerce. Therefore, 
the proposed pilot program requires that participating drivers be 
provided relief from sections of 49 CFR parts 383 and 391 concerning 
minimum age requirements so that the covered drivers may operate in 
interstate commerce.

FAST Act Requirements

    On December 4, 2015, the FAST Act was signed into law. Section 5404 
of the FAST Act (Pub. L. 114-94, 129 Stat. 1312, 1549, Dec. 4, 2015) 
requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a commercial driver 
pilot program to ``. . . study the feasibility, benefits, and safety 
impacts of allowing a covered driver to operate a commercial motor 
vehicle in interstate commerce.'' A ``covered driver'' is defined as a 
current or former member of the armed forces or reserve components 
between the ages of 18 and 21, who is qualified in a Military 
Occupational Specialty (MOS) to operate a CMV or similar vehicle.
    Section 5404 of the FAST Act requires the establishment of a data 
collection program to collect and analyze data regarding crashes 
involving covered drivers participating in the pilot program and 
drivers under the age of 21 operating CMVs in intrastate commerce. A 
report detailing the findings will be submitted to Congress no later 
than one year after completing data collection.

II. Purpose of Proposed ICR

    The primary purpose of the proposed ICR is to support research to 
determine whether the safety outcomes of covered drivers participating 
in interstate commerce are similar to the safety outcomes of older 
entry-level drivers (i.e., CDL drivers between the ages of 21 and 24) 
and how training and experience impact the safety of the 18- to 20-
year-old driving population. For the purposes of this ICR, safety 
outcomes refer to crashes, driver moving violations, total number of 
inspections for the month, violations from inspections, and any safety-
critical events captured via OBMS, such as hard braking or sudden lane 
changes. This research effort will allow FMCSA to fulfill the 
requirements of Section 5404 of the FAST Act.

III. Data Collection Plan

    Details of the data collection plan for this pilot program are 
subject to change based on comments to the docket and further review by 
analysts. FMCSA will encourage motor carriers to participate in the 
pilot who will then identify and employ covered, intrastate, and/or 
control group drivers and report participating drivers' safety and 
activity data to the project team.
    The plan for the data collection task is to have approximately 50 
motor carriers participating in the pilot program at a time (some 
carriers may wish to depart the study before the 3-year data collection 
period is complete; FMCSA intends to replace them as needed and as 
possible) who will then identify and employ at least one covered group 
driver, as well as intrastate drivers, and/or control group drivers and 
report their safety and activity data to FMCSA. Note that while only 50 
carriers are expected to participate at

[[Page 31633]]

any given time, an estimated 70 carriers will participate throughout 
the 3-year study due to carriers leaving the study and needing to be 
replaced.
    FMCSA expects to include an average of 600 drivers in the study per 
year (200 control group, 200 intrastate, and 200 covered drivers). 
Because of relatively high turnover in the motor carrier industry and 
given that many covered drivers will turn 21 through the course of the 
pilot program (and therefore no longer be considered covered drivers), 
participating motor carriers will need to work with the project team to 
add additional drivers to the program over time. An estimated 300 
replacement drivers (100 control group, 100 intrastate, and 100 
covered) will participate during each year of the 3-year program due to 
expected turnover.
    The information collection can be summarized by the following:
     A motor carrier application (completed once at the time of 
application) for participation in the pilot program will provide the 
project team with the carrier's contact information and demographic 
data.
     Each participating driver will need to complete a driver 
background information form and sign an informed consent form, which 
the motor carrier will submit on the driver's behalf. This is a one-
time task for each driver.
     On a monthly basis, carriers will submit data on driver 
activity (e.g., duty hours, driving hours, off-duty time, restart 
breaks), safety outcomes (e.g., crashes, violations, and safety-
critical events) and any additional supporting information (e.g., OBMS 
logs, investigative reports from previous crashes).
     Carriers will be required to notify FMCSA within 24 hours 
of: any injury or fatality crashes involving a participating driver, a 
participating driver receiving an alcohol-related citation (e.g., 
driving under the influence, driving while intoxicate), a participating 
driver choosing to leave the pilot program, a participating driver 
leaving the carrier, or a participating driver failing a random or 
post-crash drug/alcohol test.
    This pilot limits the definition of CMVs to large trucks and does 
not include passenger-carrying vehicles, such as buses. In addition, 
the definition of CMVs is limited to trucks not in special 
configurations or involved in the transport of hazardous materials.

IV. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) 
prohibits agencies from conducting information collection (IC) 
activities until they analyze the need for the collection of 
information and how the collected data will be managed. Agencies must 
also analyze whether technology could be used to reduce the burden 
imposed on those providing the data. The Agency must estimate the time 
burden required to respond to the IC requirements, such as the time 
required to complete a particular form. The Agency submits its IC 
analysis and burden estimate to OMB as a formal ICR; the Agency cannot 
conduct the information collection until OMB approves the ICR.

V. Request for Public Comments

    FMCSA asks for comment on the IC requirements of this pilot. 
Comments can be submitted to the docket as outlined under ADDRESSES at 
the beginning of this notice. You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including:
    1. Whether there are specific criteria that should make a driver 
ineligible to participate in the program.
    2. Whether there are specific criteria that should make a carrier 
ineligible to participate in the program.
    3. Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the performance 
of FMCSA's functions.
    4. Whether additional items should be reported to FMCSA within 24 
hours other than a driver being involved in a crash with injury or 
fatality, a driver receiving an alcohol-related citation, a driver 
choosing to leave the study, a driver leaving a carrier, or a driver 
failing a random or post-crash drug/alcohol test.
    5. The accuracy of the estimated burdens.
    6. Ways for FMCSA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity 
of the collected information.
    7. Ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the 
quality of the collected information.
    8. Whether the data collection efforts proposed for carriers and 
drivers are burdensome enough to discourage their participation.
    9. Whether a comparison of the control group, intrastate driver 
group, and covered driver group is likely to produce valid conclusions.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: June 15, 2018.
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2018-14028 Filed 7-3-18; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P