Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved Information Collection: Training Certification for Drivers of Longer Combination Vehicles |
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Kenneth Riddle
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
21 April 2020
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 77 (Tuesday, April 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22244-22245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08358]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0255]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved
Information Collection: Training Certification for Drivers of Longer
Combination Vehicles
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; 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
approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval to renew
the ICR titled ``Training Certification for Drivers of Longer
Combination Vehicles (LCVs),'' OMB Control No. 2126-0026. This ICR
relates to Agency requirements for drivers to be certified to operate
LCVs, and associated reporting and recordkeeping requirements that
motor carriers must satisfy before permitting their drivers to operate
LCVs. Motor carriers, upon inquiry by authorized Federal, State or
local officials, must produce an LCV Driver-Training Certificate for
each of their LCV drivers.
DATES: Please send your comments by May 21, 2020. OMB must receive your
comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Pearlie Robinson, Driver and
Carrier Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-4325.
Email: MCPSD@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Training Certification for Drivers of LCVs.
OMB Control Number: 2126-0026.
Type of Request: Renewal and correction of a currently-approved
information collection.
Respondents: LCV training providers who train new LCV drivers;
drivers who complete LCV training each year; current LCV drivers who
submit their LCV Driver-Training Certificate to prospective employers;
and employers (motor carriers) receiving and maintaining copies of the
LCV Driver-Training certificates of their drivers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 50,708, consisting of 218 LCV
training providers, plus 218 newly-certified LCV drivers, plus 25,027
currently-certified LCV drivers seeking new employment, plus 25,245
motor carriers hiring certified and newly-certified LCV drivers seeking
new employment.
Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes for training providers to
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prepare LCV Driver-Training Certificates for drivers who successfully
complete the LCV training; 5 minutes for newly-certified drivers, as
well as 5 minutes for currently-certified drivers, to provide LCV
Training Certification documents to motor carriers; and 5 minutes for
motor carriers to retain the LCV training certifications.
Expiration Date: May 31, 2020.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,244 hours. The total number of
drivers who will be subjected to these requirements each year is
25,245, which consists of 218 newly-certified LCV drivers seeking
employment, and 25,027 currently-certified LCV drivers obtaining new
employment. Also, there are 218 LCV training providers who will be
required to prepare the training certificates for newly-certified
drivers. Additionally, there are 25,245 (218 + 25,027) motor carriers
who will hire the drivers. The total annual information collection
burden is approximately 4,244 hours = 36 hours for preparation of LCV
Driver-Training Certificates [218 training providers prepare
certificates for drivers successfully completing training x 10 minutes
/ 60 minutes/hour] + 18 hours for newly-certified LCV drivers to
provide certification documents to motor carriers [218 drivers x 5
minutes / 60 minutes/hour] + 2,086 hours for currently-certified LCV
drivers to provide certification documents to motor carriers [25,027
drivers x 5 minutes / 60 minutes/hour] + 2,104 hours for currently-
certified LCV drivers to provide certification documents to motor
carriers [25,245 drivers x 5 minutes / 60 minutes/hour].
Estimated Total Cost to Respondents: $135,734.
Background
An LCV is any combination of a truck-tractor and two or more semi-
trailers or trailers that operates on the National System of Interstate
and Defense Highways (according to 23 CFR 470.107) and has a gross
vehicle weight greater than 80,000 pounds. To enhance the safety of LCV
operations on our Nation's highways, Section 4007(b) of the Motor
Carrier Act of 1991 directed the Secretary of Transportation to
establish Federal minimum training requirements for drivers of LCVs
[Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), Pub.
L. 102-240, 105 Stat. 1914, 2152]. The Secretary of Transportation
delegated responsibility for establishing these requirements to FMCSA
(49 CFR 1.87), and on March 30, 2004, after appropriate notice and
solicitation of public comment, FMCSA established the current training
requirements for operators of LCVs (69 FR 16722). The regulations bar
motor carriers from permitting their drivers to operate an LCV if they
have not been properly trained in accordance with the requirements of
49 CFR 380.113. Drivers receive an LCV Driver-Training Certificate upon
successful completion of these training requirements. Motor carriers
employing an LCV driver must verify the driver's qualifications to
operate an LCV, and must maintain a copy of the LCV Driver-Training
Certificate and present it to authorized Federal, State, or local
officials upon request.
Renewal of This Information Collection (IC)
The currently approved burden hour estimate associated with this
IC, approved by OMB on May 19, 2017, is 5,565 hours. The Agency
requests a reduction in the burden hour estimates from 5,565 hours to
4,244 hours. The reduction in burden hour estimates and costs is the
result of correcting an error; the incorrect growth rate from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics was previously used to estimate the number
of new drivers requiring LCV driver training certificates. As a result,
FMCSA over-estimated the number of new drivers, annual burden hours,
hours for preparing training certificates, number of drivers who
undergo the hiring process, number of respondents, number of responses,
and costs to respondents.
Separately, the currently approved version of this IC incorrectly
accounted for LCV driver training costs, estimated to be $7,035,160
annually. Training is not considered to be an information collection
burden. For this updated version of the ICR, the Agency is removing the
costs associated with training. Instead, FMCSA has calculated the labor
costs associated with the LCV driver training recordkeeping
requirements. The annual cost burden is estimated to be $135,734.
The expiration date of the current ICR is May 31, 2020. Through
this request, FMCSA requests a renewal of the paperwork burden
associated with the ICR titled ``Training Certification for Drivers of
Longer Combination Vehicles (LCVs),'' OMB Control No. 2126-0026. This
ICR corrects and updates all of the affected areas, as shown in the
table below.
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Current Proposed
Estimate approved IC updated IC Difference
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Number of Drivers Engaged in the Operation of LCVs in the U.S... 44,095 38,503 (5,592)
Total Annual Burden............................................. 5,565 4,244 (1,321)
Number of New Drivers........................................... 2,360 218 (2,142)
Number of Hours for Preparing Training Certificates............. 394 36 (358)
Number of Drivers Who Undergo Hiring Process.................... 31,022 25,245 (5,777)
Number of Respondents........................................... 59,684 50,708 (8,976)
Number of Responses............................................. 59,684 50,708 (8,976)
Labor Costs to Respondents...................................... $0 $135,734 $135,734
Annual Costs to Respondents..................................... $7,035,160 $0 ($7,035,160)
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On December 18, 2019, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice
allowing for a 30-day comment period on this ICR. There were no
comments submitted to the docket in response to that notice.
Public Comments Invited:
You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information
collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary
for FMCSA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3)
ways for 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. The Agency
will summarize or include your comments in the request for OMB's
clearance of this information collection.
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Kenneth Riddle,
Acting Associate Administrator for Registration and Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-08358 Filed 4-20-20; 8:45 am]
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