Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved Information Collection Request: Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight Forwarders

Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
15 November 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62564-62565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24791]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0152]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection Request: Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, 
Brokers and Freight Forwarders

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA 
announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its 
review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval 
to renew an ICR titled ``Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers 
and Freight Forwarders,'' which is used to provide registered motor 
carriers, property brokers, and freight forwarders a means of meeting 
process agent requirements.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before December 16, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2019-0152 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 Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. e.t., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
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 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: Lorenzo Allen, Office of Registration 
and Safety Information, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-385-2465; email: 
Lorenzo.allen@dot.gov. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight 
Forwarders.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0015.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 39,047.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Expiration Date: January 31, 2020.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion. Form BOC-3 must be filed by all 
motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers when the transportation 
entity first registers with the FMCSA. All brokers must make a 
designation for each State in which it has an office or in which 
contracts are written. Subsequent filings are made only if the motor 
carrier, broker or freight forwarder changes process agents.

[[Page 62565]]

    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 6,508 hours [39,047 respondents x 10 
minutes per response].

Background

    The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is authorized to 
register motor carriers under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13902; 
freight forwarders under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13903; and 
property brokers under provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13904. These persons may 
conduct transportation services only if they are registered pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 13901. The Secretary delegated authority pertaining to these 
registration requirements to FMCSA in 49 CFR 1.73(a)(5).
    Registered motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders must 
designate an agent on whom service of notices in proceedings before the 
Secretary may be made (49 U.S.C. 13303). Registered motor carriers must 
also designate an agent for every State in which they operate and 
traverse in the United States during such operations, agents on whom 
process issued by a court may be served in actions brought against the 
registered motor carrier (49 U.S.C. 13304, 49 CFR 366.4T). Every broker 
shall make a designation for each State in which its offices are 
located or in which contracts are written (49 U.S.C. 13304, 49 CFR 
366.4T). Regulations governing the designation of process agents are 
found at 49 CFR part 366. This designation is filed with FMCSA on Form 
BOC-3, ``Designation of Agents for Service of Process.'' The program 
decrease in annual burden hours from 18,395 to 6,508 is due to revised 
estimates of the number of respondents and responses. Previous 
estimates were based on 2014 data. Current estimates are based on May 
2019 Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) and Safety 
Measurement System (SMS) data snapshots.

Public Comments Invited:

    You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information 
collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary 
for the FMCSA to perform it's functions; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the 
collected information.

    Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on: November 
7, 2019.
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2019-24791 Filed 11-14-19; 8:45 am]
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