Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small Business in Transportation Coalition

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
5 June 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26140-26141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12037]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0180]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Application for Exemption; Small 
Business in Transportation Coalition

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

ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that the Small Business in Transportation 
Coalition (SBTC) has requested an exemption from the electronic logging 
device (ELD) requirements for all motor carriers with fewer than 50 
employees, including, but not limited to, one-person private and for-
hire owner-operators of commercial motor vehicles used in interstate 
commerce. SBTC believes that the exemption would not have any adverse 
impacts on operational safety as motor carriers and drivers would 
remain subject to the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations as well as the 
requirements to maintain paper RODS. FMCSA requests public comment on 
SBTC's application for exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2018-0180 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. See the 
Public Participation and Request for Comments section below for further 
information.
     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, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
docket number for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments 
received without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140 
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 24 hours each 
day, 365 days each year.
    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 described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning this 
notice, contact Mr. Tom Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver and Carrier 
Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety 
Standards; Telephone: 614-942-6477. Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and 
related materials.

Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2018-0180), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which the comment applies, and provide a reason for 
suggestions or recommendations. You may submit your comments and 
material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of these means.

[[Page 26141]]

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 the 
Agency can contact you if it has questions regarding your submission.
    To submit your comments online, go to www.regulations.gov and put 
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2018-0180'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and 
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on ``Comment 
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box in 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 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 grant or not grant this application 
based on your comments.

II. Legal Basis

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations (FMCSRs). FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption 
request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must 
provide the public an opportunity to inspect the information relevant 
to the application, including any safety analyses that have been 
conducted. The Agency must also provide an opportunity for public 
comment on the request.
    The Agency reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted, 
and determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a 
level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be 
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of 
the Agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR 
381.315(b)) with the reasons for denying or granting the application 
and, if granted, the name of the person or class of persons receiving 
the exemption, and the regulatory provision from which the exemption is 
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period and explain 
the terms and conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed 
(49 CFR 381.300(b)).

III. Request for Exemption

    SBTC reports that it is a non-profit trade organization with more 
than 8,000 members. SBTC states that it ``represents, promotes, and 
protects the interest of small businesses in the transportation 
industry. Through the exemption application, SBTC seeks relief from the 
ELD requirements for small private, common and contract motor carriers 
with fewer than 50 employees. SBTC argues:

    ``[T]he ELD rule is not a ``safety regulation'' per se as the 
FMCSA has concluded. Rather it is a mechanism intended to enforce a 
safety regulation by regulating the manner in which a driver records 
and communicates his compliance. That is, it is merely a tool to 
determine compliance with an existing rule that regulates over-the-
road drivers' driving and on duty time, namely the actual safety 
regulation: the [hours-of-service] regulations codified at 49 CFR 
395.3 and 395.5. However, the ELD rule is not a safety regulation 
itself. Therefore, it is our position that this rule does not itself 
impact safety, and that the level of safety will not change based on 
whether or not our exemption application is approved. That would 
require a change to the [hours-of-service rules].''

    SBTC asserts that the exemption would not have any adverse impacts 
on operational safety, as motor carriers and drivers would remain 
subject to the HOS regulations in 49 CFR 395.3, as well as the 
requirements to maintain a paper RODS under 49 CFR 395.8. The exemption 
would allow motor carriers with fewer than 50 employees to maintain 
their current practices that have resulted in a proven safety record. 
The term of the requested exemption, if granted, would be for five 
years, subject to renewal upon application.
    A copy of SBTC's application for exemption is available for review 
in the docket for this notice.

    Issued on: May 30, 2018.
 Larry W. Minor,
 Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-12037 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P