Hours of Service of Drivers: Association of American Railroads and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; Application for Exemption

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
18 December 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64929-64930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27341]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0367]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Association of American Railroads 
and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; Application 
for Exemption

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 it has received an application from the 
Association of American Railroads and American Short Line and Regional 
Railroad Association (AAR/ASLRRA) requesting a limited exemption from 
the maximum driving time requirements of the hours-of-service (HOS) 
regulations for drivers of property-carrying vehicles. The applicants 
request the exemption to enable affected railroad employees, subject to 
the HOS rule, to respond to an unplanned event that occurs outside of 
or extends beyond the employee's normal work hours. FMCSA requests 
public comment on AAR/ASLRRA's application for exemption.

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before January 17, 2019.

ADDRESSES:  You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2018-0367 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. 
E.T., 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:  Ms. Pearlie Robinson, FMCSA Driver 
and Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle 
Safety Standards; Telephone: (202) 366-4225; 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-2018-0367), 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. 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 comment online, go to www.regulations.gov and put 
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2018-0367'' 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-

[[Page 64930]]

addressed postcard or envelope. FMCSA will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.

II. Legal Basis

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. 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 (up to 5 
years) and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The 
exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).

III. Request for Exemption

    The Association of American Railroads and American Short Line and 
Regional Railroad Association (AAR/ASLRRA) contend that the HOS 
prohibitions on driving after a 14-hour period on duty, and after 60 or 
70 hours on duty in a 7- or 8-day week without the required off-duty 
period, inhibit a railroad's ability to respond expeditiously to 
certain types of emergency situations. For this reason AAR/ASLRAA is 
requesting that a railroad employee responding to an unplanned event 
that affects interstate commerce, service or the safety of railway 
operations, including passenger rail operations, and that occurs 
outside of or extends beyond the employee's normal shift, be exempt 
from the provisions in 49 CFR part 395.3(a) and (b). Unplanned events 
include some of the following: A derailment; a rail failure or other 
report of dangerous track condition; a disruption to the electric 
propulsion system; a bridge-strike; a disabeled vehicle on the track; a 
train collision; weather and storm-related events; a matter of national 
security; or a matter concerning public safety; a blocked grade 
crossing, etc. The applicants request the exemption be granted for five 
years. If the exemption is granted it would cover 21,000 drivers and 
11,000 commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
    In their application, AAR/ASLRRA compare the work of railroad 
employees responding to an emergency situation to that of utility 
employees responding to an emergency situation. The HOS rules do not 
apply to a driver of a utility service vehicle as defined in 49 CFR 
395.2. In the same respect that utility employees use any CMV to repair 
and maintain pertinent services, railroad employees use vehicles as 
mobile supply facilities, transporting personnel, equipment and 
material needed for the driver to use at worksites within a region. 
Like utility employees, railroad employees will have unpredictable work 
hours when needed to address operational emergencies.
    AAR/ASLRRA contend that the work done by these employees supports 
the railroad's effort to restore essential interstate commerce 
passenger rail operations and, in the event of a grade crossing 
incident, restore road and pedestrian access to the public. The 
applicants assert that there is no principled distinction between 
railroad employees responding to an unplanned event and those who 
operate utility service vehicles.
    According to AAR/ASLRRA railroads work with local officials who 
have authority to declare an emergency in the case of unplanned events. 
However, the process is not well-defined and there are no assurances 
that a request made during off-hours would be reviewed in a timely 
manner. For example, one of AAR's member railroads has an internal 
process that often involves coordination among multiple jurisdictions 
due to the nature of the interstate railroad system. Despite the 
railroad's best efforts, a delay in response from a designated official 
outside of the normal work day can reportedly cause up to a five to 
seven-hour delay in the railroad's efforts to resolve the unplanned 
event. According to the applicants, this type of delay can have a 
crippling impact on the rail network, expecially in congested areas of 
the country like the Northeast Corridor and Chicago.

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or Greater Level of Safety

    AAR/ASLRRA explained that ``the requested exemption will allow 
railroad employees to respond timelier to unplanned events to restore 
rail service without incurring extended blocked crossings, cascading 
effects to traffic on the rail network, delays to passenger rail 
operations, and delayed customer service. Additionally, railroads will 
be able to improve public safety to motorists and pedestrians, if they 
are able to expeditiously clear blocked grade crossings.''
    The applicants propose to provide any employee required to drive 
within the terms of the requested exemption additional time off-duty in 
excess of the 10 consecutive hours required by 395.3(a)(1). For ease of 
recordkeeping, the applicants propose that:
     Any employee responding to an unplanned event that exceeds 
his/her 14 hours of duty time for 5 hours or less be given 5 additional 
consecutive hours off-duty for a total of 15 consecutive hours off-duty 
before driving again;
     Any employee responding to an unplanned event that exceeds 
his/her 14 hours of duty time for 5 hours up to a maximum of 10 hours 
be given 10 additional consecutive hours off-duty for a total of 20 
consecutive hours off-duty before driving again; and
     Any employee who exceeds 60 or 70 hours on duty in a 7- or 
8-day week due to responding to an unplanned event be given 34 hours of 
rest as prescribed in section 395.3 (c) prior to driving again.
    A copy of the application for exemption is available for review in 
the docket for this notice.

    Issued on: December 7, 2018.
 Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-27341 Filed 12-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P