Hours of Service of Drivers: National Waste & Recycling Association; Application for Exemption

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
29 March 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 61 (Friday, March 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12019-12021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06094]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0085]


Hours of Service of Drivers: National Waste & Recycling 
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 
National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) requesting an exemption 
from one of the criteria for using the ``short-haul--100 air-mile 
radius driver'' exception to the requirement for the preparation and 
retention of records of duty status (RODS). NWRA asks that all short-
haul commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in the waste and recycling 
industry be allowed up to 14 hours (instead of the current 12 hours) to 
return to the original work reporting location without losing their 
short-haul status. FMCSA requests public comment on NWRA's application 
for exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket

[[Page 12020]]

Management System Number FMCSA-2019-0085 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 
of this notice. DOT posts all comments received without change to 
www.regulations.gov, including personal information in a comment. 
Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
    Docket: To read background documents or comments, go to 
www.regulations.gov 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 personal information the 
commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system 
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS) at www.dot.gov/privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Clemente, FMCSA Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle 
Safety Standards; Telephone: (202) 366-2722; 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-2019-0085), the specific section of this document to 
which the comment applies, and provide reasons for suggestions or 
recommendations. You may submit 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 your document so the Agency can contact you if it has 
questions about your submission.
    To submit your comments online, go to www.regulations.gov and put 
the docket number, ``FMCSA-2019-0085'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and 
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on the ``Submit a 
Formal Comment'' button and type your comment into the text box in the 
following screen. Indicate 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 deny 
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 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 (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

    Under FMCSA's current hours-of-service (HOS) rules, drivers are not 
required to prepare and maintain records of duty status (RODS) provided 
that (among other things) they return to their normal work reporting 
location and are released from work within 12 hours after coming on 
duty (49 CFR 395.1(e)(1)). A driver who exceeds the 12-hour limit loses 
the short-haul exception and must immediately prepare RODS for the 
entire day, often by means of an electronic logging device (ELD) (49 
CFR 395.8(a)(1)(i)).
    NWRA represents approximately 700 publicly traded and privately-
owned local, regional, national and international waste and recycling 
companies. These motor carriers operate more than 100,000 waste and 
recycling collection trucks and employ an even greater number of CMV 
drivers. NWRA indicated its members represent approximately 70 percent 
of the private sector waste and recycling market.
    The industry's fleet includes, but is not limited to, waste and 
recycling collection trucks, roll-off trucks, post collection tractor 
trailers, container delivery vehicles, and grapple trucks. Their 
drivers routinely qualify for the short-haul HOS exception in 49 CFR 
395.1(e)(1). Waste and recycling companies operate local route service 
trucks with drivers starting and ending their days at the same location 
and their drivers rarely travel beyond a 40-mile radius from the work-
reporting location.
    Residential collection route trucks repeatedly stop and start while 
on-route in order to collect a load of waste or recyclable materials, 
with an average of 400 to 600 stops at residences each day. Commercial 
collection route trucks tend to have fewer stops than those on 
residential routes, but can average more than 80 stops per day at 
business addresses. On occasion, drivers in this industry cannot 
complete their duty day within 12 hours. The drivers may exceed the 12-
consecutive hour limitation of the short-haul exception more than 8 
times in any 30-day period due to operating restrictions placed upon 
the industry by States and localities, inclement weather, traffic 
congestion, and other circumstances beyond their control. Once they 
exceed the 8-in-30-day threshold, NWRA's companies must install 
electronic logging devices (ELDs) to document drivers's duty status 
(see 49 CR 395.8(a)(1)(iii)(A)(1)). Therefore, NWRA's application for 
an exemption to allow waste and recycling industry

[[Page 12021]]

drivers and companies to continue to qualify for the short-haul 
exception, up to the 14th hour after coming on duty, would help some of 
petitioner's drivers avoid the economic burden of installing ELDs when 
they occasionally exceed the 8-in-30-day threshold for the ELD mandate.
    While NWRA recognizes the safety benefits that ELDs present for 
other industry sectors, it claims that these devices are actually 
counterproductive for the waste and recycling industry due to the 
frequency with which these drivers must interact with them. Waste and 
recyclable collection CMV drivers are required to interact with and 
make duty status changes in the ELD or RODS when stopping at one-third 
to one-half of their 400 to 600 stops per day or every 22 seconds--the 
average time to service a customer--before then driving to the next 
residence, which could be less than 100 feet away.
    NWRA notes that certain CMV drivers may already operate up to 14 
hours without forfeiting short-haul status. Drivers in the asphalt-
paving business were granted a similar exemption [83 FR 3864, Jan. 26, 
2018], and 49 CFR 395.1(e)(1)(ii)(B) reflects a statutory exemption for 
the ready-mixed concrete industry. NWRA further notes that FMCSA 
recently granted one of its member companies--Waste Management 
Holdings, Inc.--a similar exemption [83 FR 53940, Oct. 25, 2018]. NWRA 
argues that granting a broader exemption would create regulatory 
consistency across the entire waste and recycling industry.
    NWRA asserts that waste and recycling carriers have virtually no 
record of HOS violations in the Agency's Compliance, Safety, 
Accountability (CSA) Safety Measurement System (SMS) HOS BASIC scores, 
nor is there a history of CSA intervention consequences for HOS non-
compliance with these carriers. NWRA further adds that there is no 
equivalent or greater level of safety that ELDs would bring to the 
waste and recycling industry. The waste and recycling industry 
recognizes and agrees with the need for ELDs for drivers and carriers 
in long haul, over-the-road, and regional operations, as well as for 
those carriers with Unsatisfactory safety ratings and that are over the 
threshold in their CSA HOS BASIC score. For these reasons, NWRA states 
that the agency should not require CMV drivers and companies 
transporting waste and recyclable material to invest in ELDs by 
granting this exemption request.
    NWRA's application for exemption is available for review in the 
docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.

    Issued on: March 22, 2019.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-06094 Filed 3-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P