Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved Information Collection: Renewal of Practices of Household Goods Brokers

Kenneth Riddle
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
8 September 2020

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55571-55572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19807]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0111]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection: Renewal of Practices of Household Goods Brokers

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), U.S. 
Department of Transportation (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) 
renewal described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for its review and approval and invites the public to comment. FMCSA 
requests OMB's renewed approval to the ICR titled ``Practices of 
Household Brokers'' to keep compliance with 49 CFR part 371. This 
renewal updates wage related costs that have changed since the last 
approval and revises the previous information collection total 
respondent hourly and cost burden methodology to be consistent with 
best practices. This ICR renewal is necessary to support the 
requirements of subpart B of 49 CFR part 371 and FMCSA's responsibility 
to ensure consumer protection in the transportation of household goods 
(HHG).

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before November 9, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2020-0111 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. 
Eastern Time, 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. 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, Commercial 
Enforcement and Investigations Division, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West 
Building 6th Floor MC-ECC, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-8045; email monique.riddick@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: As a result of Title IV, Subtitle B of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59) and a petition for rulemaking 
from the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA), FMCSA amended 
then-existing regulations for brokers in a final rule titled, ``Brokers 
of Household Goods Transportation by Motor Vehicles,'' (75 FR 72987, 
Nov. 29, 2010), amending 49 CFR part 371 by providing additional 
consumer protection responsibilities for brokers of HHG.
    Section 4212 of SAFETEA-LU, directs the DOT Secretary to require 
HHG brokers to provide shippers with information throughout the various 
stages of their interactions with shippers. The following phases 
summarize the information collection required by the HHG broker at the 
various contractual stages by 49 CFR 371.

I. First Phase: ``Prospecting''

    When a HHG shipper is looking to procure a HHG broker's services, 
the broker must collect the following information and display it on its 
websites and solicitation materials:
     Its physical address (371.107a);
     Its U.S. DOT license numbers (371.107b);
     A statement indicating it will not transport the shipper's 
goods but will only arrange for goods to be transported by a registered 
motor carrier (371.107c);

[[Page 55572]]

     If the broker chooses to publish rates on its website or 
solicitation materials, the broker must also publish a statement that 
the rates are based on a motor carrier's publicly available rates 
(371.107d);
     If broker chooses to publish a list of motor carriers it 
works with, the list must be a list only of carriers with which brokers 
have agreements (371.107e); and
     Brokers must publish information regarding their 
cancellation policies, including information on deposits and refunds 
(371.117a).
    For the exact text of regulations see section 12 part I of this 
document.

II. Second Phase: ``Contact''

    When an HHG shipper makes a reasonable request seeking additional 
information about broker services, the HHG broker must collect the 
following information and distribute it to the HHG shipper:
     A list of carriers it has agreements with (371.109a); and
     A statement indicating the broker is not a carrier and 
that the broker is only arranging transportation of shipper's goods 
(371.109b).
    For the exact text of regulations see Section 12 Part II.

III. Third Phase: ``Estimate''

    When an HHG shipper requests an estimate, the broker must collect 
the following information and provide it to the shipper:
     FMCSA's published information material: (1) ``Ready to 
Move? Tips for a Successful Interstate Move'' and (2) ``Your Rights and 
Responsibilities When You Move (2013 Update)'' (371.111a1, 2, & 3);
     A written estimate based on a physical survey of household 
items (371.113a) and published carrier rates (371.113b); and
     If applicable, a ``Waiver'' receipt showing shipper waived 
their right to a physical survey of their household items (371.113b).
    The broker must obtain a signed document showing that FMCSA's 
published information material was received by the shipper (371.111c). 
For the exact text of regulations see section 12 part III.

IV. Fourth Phase: ``Agreement''

    Should the shipper find the estimate(s) and broker services 
reasonable and wish to book the broker's services, the two parties must 
enter into an agreement. At this point it is standard practice for 
shippers to pay a deposit or full payment. Before a deposit is 
collected the broker must collect the following information and 
distribute it to the HHG shipper:
     An agreement document with required specifications as laid 
out by regulation 371.115; and
     An agreement document which highlights the broker's and/or 
motor carrier's refund policy for cancelation of agreements (371.117a).
    For the exact text of regulations see section 12 part IV.

V. Fifth Phase: ``Delivery''

    After the broker confirms delivery of the household goods by the 
carrier, the broker must collect the following information and 
distribute it to the HHG shipper:
     A receipt with transaction data, including cancelation 
details if the agreement was canceled as laid out by 49 CFR 371.3.
    The complete collection of information required by the referenced 
final rule assists shippers in their business dealings with interstate 
HHG brokers. The information collected is used by prospective shippers 
to make informed decisions about contracts, services ordered, executed, 
and settled. The HHG broker is often the primary contact for individual 
shippers and in the best position to educate shippers and prepare them 
for a successful move. The information collection is intended to combat 
deceptive business practices; the information helps enforcement 
personnel better protect consumers by verifying that shippers are 
receiving information as required by regulations.
    FMCSA revises the total annual burden to 153,758 hours. This is an 
increase of 83,673 annual burden hours from the currently approved 
70,085 burden estimate. The increase is due to the following:
    1(a) the previous information collections did not include the 
broker's time to complete physical surveys of shippers household goods, 
and 1(b) the time to prepare a written estimate based off a physical 
survey as required by 49 CFR 371.113(a).
    (2) The previous iteration did not account for the hours brokers 
spend to complete a waiver, if applicable, as required by 49 CFR 
371.113(c)(1), (c)(2), & (c)(3).
    (3) The previous iteration did not clarify a frequency formula used 
to calculate the number of times brokers collect and submit information 
to shippers.
    (4) FMCSA's records for household goods brokers increased from 543 
brokers to 652 brokers.
    For this renewal, FMCSA updated the methodology to reflect best 
practices, which resulted in the annual burden increase.
    Title: Practices of Household Goods Brokers.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0048.
    Type of Request: Renewal of currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Brokers of Household Goods.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,216 [Phase I (652); + Phase II: 
(652 + 652); + Phase III (652 + 652 +652); + Phase IV (652); + Phase V 
(652) = 600,492].
    Estimated Number of Responses: 600,492 responses [Phase I (3,260); 
+ Phase II: (3,260 + 200,816); + Phase III (3,260 + 125,836 + 63,244); 
+ Phase IV (100, 408); + Phase V (100, 408) = 600,492].
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.26 hours or 15.37 minutes [total 
burden hours (153,758) divided by total number of responses (600,492).
    Expiration Date: January 31, 2021.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 153,758 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 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, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2020-19807 Filed 9-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P