Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection

G. Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
2 May 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 85 (Thursday, May 2, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18916-18918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08964]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0356]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a 
Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Transportation of 
Household Goods; Consumer Protection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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[[Page 18917]]

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (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. The information collected will be used to 
help regulate motor carriers transporting household goods (HHG) for 
individual shippers. FMCSA requests approval to extend an ICR titled 
``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.''

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2018-0356 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, 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 and 
additional information on the exemption process, 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: Monique Riddick, Lead Transportation 
Specialist, Commercial Enforcement and Investigations Division, 
Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-8045; email 
Monique.Riddick@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: The Motor Carrier Safety 
Improvement Act of 1999 (MCSIA) (Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1748, Dec. 
9, 1999) authorized the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to 
regulate HHG carriers engaged in interstate operations for individual 
shippers. In earlier legislation, Congress abolished the former 
Interstate Commerce Commission and transferred the Commission's 
jurisdiction over HHG transportation to the U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT) (ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-88, 109 
Stat. 803, Dec. 29 1995). Prior to FMCSA's establishment, the Secretary 
delegated this HHG jurisdiction to the Federal Highway Administration, 
FMCSA's predecessor organization within DOT.
    FMCSA has authority to regulate the overall commercial operations 
of the HHG industry under 49 U.S.C. 14104, ``Household goods carrier 
operations.'' This ICR includes the information collection requirements 
contained in title 49 CFR part 375, ``Transportation of Household Goods 
in Interstate Commerce; Consumer Protection Regulations.'' The 
information collected encompasses that which is generated, maintained, 
retained, disclosed, and provided to, or for, the agency under 49 CFR 
part 375.
    Sections 4202 through 4216 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109-
59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10, 2005) amended various provisions of 
existing law regarding HHG transportation. It specifically addressed: 
Definitions (section 4202); payment of rates (section 4203); 
registration requirements (section 4204); carrier operations (section 
4205); enforcement of regulations (section 4206); liability of carriers 
under receipts and bills of lading (section 4207); arbitration 
requirements (section 4208); civil penalties for brokers and 
unauthorized transportation (section 4209); penalties for holding goods 
hostage (section 4210); consumer handbook (section 4211); release of 
broker information (section 4212); working group for Federal-State 
relations (section 4213); consumer complaint information (section 
4214); review of liability of carriers (section 4215); and application 
of State laws (section 4216). These provisions triggered updates to 49 
CFR part 375 on July 5, 2007 (72 FR 36760).
    On July 16, 2012, FMCSA published a Direct Final Rule (DFR) titled 
``Transportation of Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer 
Protection Regulations: Household Goods Motor Carrier Record Retention 
Requirements,'' (77 FR 41699). The rule amended the regulations 
governing the period during which HHG motor carriers must retain 
documentation of an individual shipper's waiver of receipt of printed 
copies of consumer protection materials. This change harmonized the 
retention period with other document retention requirements applicable 
to HHG motor carriers. FMCSA also amended the regulations to clarify 
that a HHG motor carrier is not required to retain waiver documentation 
from any individual shippers for whom the carrier does not actually 
provide services.
    Title: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0025.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Household goods movers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,212 household goods movers.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies.

IC-1: Informational Documents Provided to Prospective Shippers

     ``Ready to Move'' Pamphlet: Less than 1 minute.
     ``Your Rights and Responsibilities'' Pamphlet: Less than 1 
minute.
     Arbitration and Complaint Summaries: 2 hours to create 
summaries, less than 1 minute to print.
     Internet website Hyperlinks to Federal Consumer Protection 
Information: 0.5 hours.
     Signed Receipt for Verification of Booklets Received: less 
than 3 minutes.

[[Page 18918]]

IC-2: Written Cost Estimates for Prospective Shippers

     Physical surveys--binding: 2 hours.
     Physical surveys--non-binding: 2 hours.
     No physical surveys--non-binding: 0.5 hours.

IC-3: Orders for Service, Bills of Lading

     Orders for Service, Goods Inventories, and Bills of 
Lading: 0.5 hours.
     Weighing shipments: 1 minute.

IC-4: In-Transit Service Notifications

     Notification of delay: 5 minutes.
     Notification of delay and record requested: 15 minutes.
     Notification of early delivery: 5 minutes.

IC-5: Complaint & Inquiry Records, Including Establishing Record System

     Establish complain and inquiry record system: 0.5 hours.
     Recording complaint and inquiry: 5 minutes for complaint, 
1 minute for inquiry.
    Expiration Date: August 31, 2019.
    Frequency of Response: Varies.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,282,171 hours [IC-1 Informational 
Documents Provided to Prospective Shippers at 24,692 hours + IC-2 
Written Cost Estimates for Prospective Shippers at 3,593,866 hours + 
IC-3 Orders for Service, Bills of Lading at 621,621 hours + IC-4 In-
Transit Service Notifications at 17,496 hours + IC-5 Complaint & 
Inquiry Records, Including Establishing Record System at 24,496 hours].
    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 performance of FMCSA's functions; (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 information collected. The Agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
G. Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2019-08964 Filed 5-1-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P