Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection |
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Tom Keane
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
3 November 2020
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69678-69680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24247]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0203]
Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information
Collection
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
[[Page 69679]]
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. This notice invites comment on a proposed information
collection project titled Trucking Fleet Concept of Operations (CONOPS)
for Managing Mixed Fleets. It is a survey study that will assess the
self-reports of approximately 2,000 survey respondents, including
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) fleet managers, CMV sales personnel,
State and Federal government personnel, industry engineers,
researchers, and CMV drivers. The questionnaire is designed to collect
baseline opinions of automated driving systems (ADS) before and after
hands-on demonstrations with ADS technologies.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before January 4, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2020-0203 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.
Dockets: 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: Thomas Kelly, Technology Division,
Department of Transportation, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-480-5240; email
Thomas.Kelly@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: Although ADS-equipped trucks
hold the promise of increased safety, productivity, and efficiency, it
is not clear how these vehicles should be integrated into fleet
operations with conventional trucks for mixed-fleet operations.
Reflecting this issue is a question frequently asked by trucking
executives: How can I integrate ADS into my fleet operations? FMCSA
needs information from truck industry representatives regarding their
opinions and perception of ADS.
The introduction of ADS technology on heavy trucks (Class 8
vehicles) will profoundly affect all commerce in the U.S., as the U.S.
moves more than 70% of all goods by truck. However, existing
stakeholders in the road freight ecosystem (primarily for-hire and
private truck fleets, but also shippers, brokers, truck manufacturers,
and service and maintenance providers) do not have a clear picture of
how they will implement ADS in their daily operations. At present,
technical progress in this nascent but promising technology is
outstripping the ability of truck fleets to keep up and plan for ADS
deployment. This may adversely affect adoption by truck fleets and
associated industries, resulting in the delayed achievement of safety,
productivity, and efficiency benefits of ADS-equipped trucks. If ADS
technology is to gain traction in the U.S. trucking industry, current
stakeholders and new entrants need a rigorous, data driven CONOPS.
This project focuses on the development and demonstration of a
CONOPS for ADS-equipped trucks, which will ensure the results translate
directly to real-world settings that are of practical importance to the
trucking industry, regulators, and the public at large. Part of the
development of CONOPS includes a series of outreach events where the
public, with a focus on truck drivers and truck fleet managers, will
have the opportunity to meet ADS technology developers and original
equipment manufacturers. The outreach will also provide opportunities
to participate in hands-on technology demonstrations, such as in-
vehicle demonstrations and closed-course scenarios. Lessons learned
from this demonstration will influence all three phases of the research
to ensure the CONOPS developed is true to real-life fleet operations.
Thus, the purpose of the hands-on demonstrations: (1) Expose truck
fleet managers and other personnel, truck drivers, government
officials, insurance and inspection personnel, and the general public
to ADS; (2) collect valuable qualitative data on participants' opinions
and perceptions regarding ADS; and (3) use the data to ensure the
CONOPS covers major industry concerns.
Data will be collected from CMV drivers, CMV fleet managers,
industry engineers, CMV sales personnel, researchers, and State and
Federal government personnel at four roadshows. The roadshows will
coincide with large conferences, such as the Technology Maintenance
Council (TMC) Annual Meeting, North American Commercial Vehicle Show,
SAE COMVEC, and Automated Vehicle Symposium. The questionnaire data
collected in Phase I of the study (pre-roadshow) will allow us to
gather baseline opinions regarding ADS technologies. Once they
participate in the hands-on demonstrations at the roadshow, we will see
if their opinions on the technologies have changed (Phase 2 or post-
roadshow).
The research team will use cell phones to collect participant data
(adhering to cleaning procedures between each participant). The pre-
and post-study questionnaires will be loaded onto a cell phone which
will be distributed to participants at the beginning (and end) of the
roadshow. Each questionnaire will be loaded in an app format. Once the
participants submit their answers, the data will be stored on the phone
and will not be accessible until researchers download the data to a
computer.
FMCSA conducted a pilot test with some of the proposed end-users.
This
[[Page 69680]]
pilot test included six end users, two researchers, one government
employee, one commercial/motor vehicle fleet representative, and two
commercial driver's license holders. Participants completed the Pre-
Roadshow Questionnaire and Post-Roadshow Questionnaire, timing
completion of each and reviewing for content and/or comprehension
issues. Based on this pilot test, FMCSA revised the Pre-Roadshow
Questionnaire and Post-Roadshow Questionnaire. Pilot test participants
indicated mean completion times of 3.5 minutes and 4.4 minutes for the
Pre-Roadshow Questionnaire and Post Roadshow Questionnaire,
respectively.
Title: Trucking Fleet Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Managing
Mixed Fleets.
OMB Control Number: 2126-00XX.
Type of Request: New collection.
Respondents: CMV fleet managers, CMV sales personnel, State and
Federal government personnel, industry engineers, researchers, and CMV
drivers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,000 total respondents (675 CMV
fleet managers, 150 CMV sales personnel, 600 Industry Engineers, 100
CMV Drivers, 325 State and Federal government, and 150 Researchers).
Estimated Time per Response: 3.5 minutes for the Pre-Roadshow
Questionnaire and 4.4 minutes for the Post-Roadshow Questionnaire.
Expiration Date: This is a new ICR.
Frequency of Response: On occasion (if attending one of four
roadshows).
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 175 hours.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Annualized Burden per Annualized
Task Respondents Responses per total response total burden
respondent responses (minutes) hours *
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Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 675 1 455.5 3.5 26.6
Fleet Managers.................
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 675 1 455.5 4.4 33.4
Fleet Managers.................
Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: 600 1 396 3.5 23.1
Industry Engineers.............
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: 600 1 396 4.4 29
Industry Engineers.............
Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 150 1 99 3.5 5.8
Sales Personnel................
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 150 1 99 4.4 7.3
Sales Personnel................
Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 100 1 66 3.5 3.9
Drivers........................
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: CMV 100 1 66 4.4 4.8
Drivers........................
Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: 325 1 214.5 3.5 12.5
State and Federal Personnel....
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: 325 1 214.5 4.4 15.7
State and Federal Personnel....
Pre-roadshow Questionnaire: 150 1 99 3.5 5.8
Researchers....................
Post-roadshow Questionnaire: 150 1 99 4.4 7.3
Researchers....................
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Annualized Total *.......... .............. .............. 2,660 .............. 175
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Study Total **.......... .............. .............. 3,990 .............. 263
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* Total may not equal the sum of previous items due to rounding.
** The research team plans to collect data from a maximum of 2,000 respondents over 18 months.
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.
Tom Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research, Technology and
Registration.
[FR Doc. 2020-24247 Filed 11-2-20; 8:45 am]
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