Hours of Service of Drivers: PJ Helicopters, Inc.; 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 12018-12019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06097]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0079]


Hours of Service of Drivers: PJ Helicopters, Inc.; 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 PJ 
Helicopters, Inc. (PJH) requesting an exemption from two provisions of 
the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for its ground support equipment 
operators. PJH requested relief from the 14-hour rule and the 
requirement that drivers have 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end 
of the work shift. The exemption would allow PJH's ground support 
equipment operators a 16-hour window within which to complete all 
driving, and enable these operators to use an 8-consecutive hour off 
duty break, combined with at least two other off duty hours during the 
16-hour window within which driving would be completed, in lieu of 
taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. If granted, the exemption would 
cover PJH's CMV operators only when they are responding to or returning 
from an active incident as requested by an officer of a public agency 
or public utility. PJH believes that granting these exemptions will 
have no adverse safety impacts while its ground support equipment 
operators are responding to said incidents. FMCSA requests public 
comment on PJH's application for exemptions.

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

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2019-0079 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: For information concerning this 
notice, please contact Mr. Richard Clemente, FMCSA Driver and Carrier 
Operations Division; 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-2019-0079), 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-2019-0079'' 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 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

    The exemption application from PJ Helicopters, Inc. (PJH) states 
that the company has been serving the utility helicopter industry as an 
emergency response company for over 45 years. Most of its customers are 
firefighting

[[Page 12019]]

agencies, law enforcement agencies, and public utilities. PJH's 
customers require timely responses and long hours when dealing with 
emergency-related incidents. PJH's helicopters must be fueled and 
serviced in a timely fashion by PJH's ground support crews. PJH is 
requesting an exemption from 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) and 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2), 
for all of its ground support equipment operators.
    The requested exemption would apply to approximately 32 ground 
support equipment operators who all possess commercial driver's 
licenses with applicable endorsements, including the operation of tank 
vehicle combinations. A ground support equipment operator is an 
individual specially trained to work around helicopters performing 
refueling, rigging, reloading and maintenance duties. PJH states in its 
application that if its ground crew cannot legally support the 
helicopter for the duration of the requirements, the firefighters, law 
enforcement and linemen will not have air support and resources at 
remote locations. This in turn, results in communities being under 
greater threat from fires, lawless individuals and destabilized 
electrical grids.
    The first exemption, if granted, would allow PJH's ground support 
equipment operators to drive up until the end of the 16th hour after 
coming on duty instead of 14 hours. PJH states that is an emergency 
response company contracted to agencies focused on public safety, and 
that there currently are no exemption provisions in the Part 395 HOS 
regulations for private companies that assist in emergency efforts. 
PJH's Federal and State government contracts specify that ground 
support equipment operators must be available for a maximum of 14 
hours. On a typical day, at 6:00 a.m., the commercial motor vehicle 
(CMV) is dispatched 100 miles away to a remote landing area. Upon 
arrival, the unit stays at the dispatched location to support efforts 
in extinguishing a fire until 8:30 p.m. The unit is then released by 
the agency to travel to the nearest lodging 1.5 hours away. This would 
result in the driver arriving at 10:00 p.m., and at this point, the 
driver is in violation of the ``14-hour rule'' in 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2). 
In summary, at the end of the day, when the helicopter is finished 
flying, a mechanic is required to inspect and repair the aircraft as 
needed. With a long flight day and these added duties, a PJH mechanic 
is most certainly going to exceed the ``14-hour rule'' when finished 
with maintenance duties and travelling between the helicopter and the 
place of lodging. Without the requested 16-hour exemption, PJH's ground 
crew must be released earlier in the day to get back to the place of 
lodging before reaching the ``14-hour rule'' limit, which decreases the 
availability of the aircraft by a minimum of 14 total hours each week.
    PJH's second exemption request is intended to work in conjunction 
with the first request and would enable its ground support equipment 
operators to have only 8, instead of 10, consecutive hours off duty 
before coming on duty again. Relating to the scenario detailed above, 
in complying with the current ``14-hour rule,'' PJH's employees also 
cannot go on duty to drive until 8:00 a.m. the next morning, at the 
earliest, after a required 10 consecutive hour rest break. As is 
typical with these operations, if the helicopter was dispatched at 6:00 
a.m. to another fire, which resulted in a 3-hour drive time, the PJH 
driver would not arrive until 11:30 a.m. at the earliest. Depending on 
the helicopter model's fuel capacity and burn rate, the average 
helicopter can only fly for 2 hours. Due to the driver's duty 
limitations, the helicopter would be unable to support emergency 
incidents for at least 3.5 hours until the fuel truck arrives to 
refuel. If the driver in this example--a not uncommon one--was able to 
utilize the proposed exemption request of 8 consecutive hours off duty 
instead of 10, the helicopter would have been available to fight fires 
for an additional 2 hours the second day, and the PJH driver would not 
be in violation of the Federal HOS regulations. As a part of this 
exemption request, PJH's ``ground crew members'' would be required to 
have had 8 uninterrupted hours off duty [instead of 10] before driving 
again, provided they have had at least 2 hours off duty during that 16-
hour period PJH they also requested, and are responding to or returning 
from an active incident as requested by an officer of a public agency 
or public utility.
    PJH states that the ground crew members' schedules are 
characterized by daytime hours, low-stress periods of waiting during 
the workday, and very limited hours of actual driving on public roads. 
Ground crew members are relieved of any work--and are off duty--for 
long periods throughout a typical workday, so, relative to the service 
provided, allowing 2 more hours of duty time when coming on duty 
responding to and returning from emergency incidents would, if 
anything, increase the overall safety of the public.
    PJH believes that its application includes simple, alternative HOS 
options; among them not driving after the 16th hour after coming on 
duty and allowing only 8 hours consecutively off duty before coming on 
duty again. In addition, the driver must have at least 2 hours off duty 
during that 16-hour period and be responding to or returning from an 
active incident as requested by an officer of a public agency or public 
utility. PJH's drivers would need to use this exemption, on average, 
once every two weeks during the months of April through October.
    PJH would still be required to use electronic logging devices to 
help track duty hours, and most of the time they would be subject to 
Part 395 HOS rules. PJH has proposed conditional rules that are 
designed to keep the drivers using this exemption from driving 
fatigued. PJH states that when using this proposed exemption, its 
drivers would achieve a level safety that meets or exceeds the current 
regulations. A copy of PJH's application for exemptions is available 
for review in the docket for this notice.

    Issued on: March 22, 2019.
 Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-06097 Filed 3-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P