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

Thomas P. Keane
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
1 February 2021

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 19 (Monday, February 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7777-7778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02021]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0111]


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

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 review 
and approval.

DATES: Please send your comments by March 3, 2021. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly 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: 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,\1\ 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). 
The 2010 rule revised 49 CFR part 371 by providing additional consumer 
protection responsibilities for brokers of Household Goods (HHG).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ As of August 8, 2020, the American Moving and Storage 
Association (AMSA) announced AMSA will join the American Trucking 
Associations (ATA) as the Moving & Storage Conference. Retrieved 
January 1, 2021 from: https://www.moving.org/amsa-to-become-conference-of-american-trucking-associations/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 4212 of SAFETEA-LU directs the Secretary to require HHG 
brokers to provide potential shippers with information throughout the 
various stages of their interaction. The below summarizes the 
information collection required of the HHG broker at the various 
interaction stages between the HHG broker and shippers as laid out by 
49 CFR part 371, subpart B.

I. First Phase: ``Prospecting''

    When HHG shippers are looking to procure HHG brokers' services, 
brokers must collect the following information and display it on their 
websites and solicitation materials:
     Their physical address (49 CFR 371.107(a));
     Their U.S. DOT number(s) and MC number (49 CFR 
371.107(b));
     A statement indicating that they will not transport the 
shipper's goods but will only arrange for goods to be transported by a 
registered motor carrier (49 CFR 371.107(c));
     If brokers choose to publish rates on their websites or 
solicitation materials, the broker must also publish a statement that 
the rates are based on a motor carrier's publicly available rates (49 
CFR 371.107(d));
     If brokers choose to publish a list of motor carriers with 
whom they work, the list must only be a list of motor carriers with 
whom brokers have agreements (49 CFR 371.107(e)); and
     Brokers must publish information regarding their 
cancellation policies, including information on deposits and refunds 
(49 CFR 371.117(a)).

II. Second Phase: ``Contact''

    When HHG shippers make reasonable requests seeking additional 
information

[[Page 7778]]

about broker services, the HHG brokers must collect the following 
information and distribute it to HHG shippers:
    1. A list of motor carriers with whom it has agreements (49 CFR 
371.109(a)); and
    2. A statement indicating the broker is not a motor carrier and 
that the broker is only arranging transportation of the shipper's goods 
(49 CFR 371.109(b)).

III. Third Phase: ``Estimate''

    When HHG shippers request estimates, the HHG brokers must collect 
the following information and distribute it to HHG shippers and/or 
store the information received:
    1. FMCSA's published information materials: (1) ``Ready to Move?--
Tips for a Successful Interstate Move'' and (2) ``Your Rights and 
Responsibilities When you Move'' (49 CFR 371.111(a)(1),(a)(2), & 
(a)(3));
    2. A document signed by the shipper, showing he/she received 
FMCSA's published information material (49 CFR 371.111(c));
    3. A written estimate based on the motor carrier's physical survey 
of household items (49 CFR 371.113(a)), with estimates based on 
published motor carrier rates (49 CFR 371.113(b));
    4. If applicable, the shipper must sign a ``Waiver'' receipt, 
showing he/she has waived his/her right to a physical survey of his/her 
household items by the motor carrier. The HHG broker must collect the 
``Waiver'' receipt and store the record (49 CFR 371.113(b)).

IV. Fourth Phase: ``Agreement''

    Should the shipper find the shipping estimate and broker services 
reasonable and wish to contract the broker's services, the two parties 
must enter into an agreement. At this point, it is standard practice 
for shippers to pay either a deposit or make full payment. However, 
before collecting any payment, the broker must collect the following 
information and distribute it to the HHG shipper:
     An agreement document with required specifications as laid 
out by 49 CFR 371.115; and
     An agreement document which highlights the broker's and/or 
motor carrier's refund policy for cancellation of agreements (49 CFR 
371.117(a)).
    The information provided in phases I, II, III, and IV supports the 
requirements of 49 CFR part 371, subpart B, and the Department's 
secondary mission to support HHG consumer protection.
    The complete collection of information required by the referenced 
final rule assists HHG shippers in their business dealings with 
interstate HHG brokers. The information collected is used by 
prospective HHG shippers to make informed decisions about contracts, 
services ordered, executed, and settled. The HHG broker is often the 
earliest contact for individual HHG shippers in an interstate moving 
transaction; therefore, it makes sense for HHG brokers to provide HHG 
shippers with consumer protection information.
    FMCSA revises the total annual burden to 72,808 hours. This is a 
2,723 annual burden hour increase from the currently approved 70,085 
annual burden estimate. This increase is due to the following: (1) The 
previous iteration did not account for the time brokers use to complete 
a ``waiver'' should shippers choose to waive their rights to a physical 
survey, if applicable to a shipper, as required by 49 CFR 
371.113(c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(3); (2) the previous iteration did not 
clarify a reproducible frequency formula used to calculate the number 
of times brokers collect information and submit information to 
shippers. To produce a reproducible frequency formula, the updated 
information collection introduced the concept of ``phases,'' which 
created a frequency number based on business interactions between 
brokers and shippers as explained above; and (3) FMCSA's records 
indicate the number of household goods brokers increased from 543 
brokers to 652 brokers.
    In addition to the above, an adjustment was made to this ICR 
revision from the previous ICR renewal with regards to the annual 
hourly burden estimate for broker ``transaction records''(49 CFR 
371.3). The annual hourly burden was removed from this ICR revision 
because the burden is for the collection of information that the broker 
would ordinarily record for other standard business practices such as 
tax purposes. As a result, the associated annual hourly burden estimate 
is removed. The previous ICR accounted 32,580 annual burden hours \2\ 
for ``transaction records,'' while this ICR revises the annual burden 
to 0 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ FMCSA derived the annual hourly burden by applying the 
following formula: Time spent on shipper transaction record keeping 
per day x number of work days x the number of brokers. The 
calculation was 15 minutes per day x 240 workdays x 543 brokers, 
which resulted in an annual burden of 32,580 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Title: Practices of Household Goods Brokers.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0048.
    Type of Request: Revision of currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Brokers of Household Goods.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 652.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 500,084 responses.
    Expiration Date: January 31, 2021.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 72,808 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 FMCSA to perform its 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 part 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2021-02021 Filed 1-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P