Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Currently Approved Information Collection Request: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Thomas P. Keane
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
6 May 2021

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 86 (Thursday, May 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24432-24433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09578]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0204]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Currently 
Approved Information Collection Request: Generic Clearance of Customer 
Satisfaction Surveys

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 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) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval. The Executive Order, ``Setting Customer Service 
Standards,'' directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public 
that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private 
sector. These principles were reaffirmed in the Executive Order, 
``Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.'' In 
order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective 
and meet our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a currently 
approved generic clearance to continue collecting feedback on our 
service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful 
insights on perceptions and opinions but are not statistical surveys 
that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the 
population of study.

DATES: Please send your comments by June 7, 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: Ms. Roxane Oliver, Management Analyst, 
Office of Analysis/MC-RAA, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, 6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: (202) 385-2324; 
Email Address: Roxane.Oliver@dot.gov. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 
p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0061.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: State and local agencies, general public and 
stakeholders; original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to 
the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry; fleets, owner-operators, 
state CMV safety agencies, research organizations and contractors; news 
organizations and safety advocacy groups.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,900 [5,000 customer satisfaction 
survey respondents + 100 listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums 
respondents + 300 focus group respondents + 500 strategic planning 
customer satisfaction survey respondents].
    Estimated Time per Response: Range from 10 to 120 minutes.
    Expiration Date: August 31, 2021.
    Frequency of Response: Generally, on an annual basis.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1,758 hours [833 hours for customer 
satisfaction surveys + 200 hours for listening sessions/stakeholder 
feedback forums + 600 hours for focus groups + 125 hours for strategic 
planning customer satisfaction surveys].

Background

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA 
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew a previously approved 
information collection. Executive Order 12862 Setting Customer Service 
Standards, and most recently updated in Executive Order 13571, requires 
the Federal Government to provide the ``highest quality service 
possible to the American people.'' Under the order, the ``standard of 
quality for services provided to the public shall be: Customer service 
equal to the best in business.'' In order to work continuously to 
ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, 
FMCSA seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect 
qualitative feedback from our customers on our service delivery. The 
surveys covered in this generic clearance will provide a means for 
FMCSA to collect this data directly from our customers. By qualitative 
feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on 
perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield 
quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas of communication, 
training or changes in operations that might improve delivery of 
products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, 
collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its 
customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute 
directly to the improvement of program management. The solicitation of 
feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, 
accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and 
resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed 
to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of 
service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, 
vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency's services 
will be unavailable. The Agency will submit a collection for approval 
under this generic clearance only if it meets the following conditions: 
That such collections are:
     Voluntary;
     low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of 
total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden- hours per 
respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal 
Government;
     noncontroversial and do not raise issues of concern to 
other Federal agencies;
     targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents 
who have experience with the program or may have experience with the 
program in the near future;
     only collecting personally identifiable information (PII) 
to the extent necessary and not retaining it;  only collecting 
information intended to be used only internally for general service 
improvement and program management, and any release outside the agency 
must indicate the qualitative nature of the information;
     not to be used for the purpose of substantially informing 
influential policy decisions; and

[[Page 24433]]

     intended to yield only qualitative information; the 
collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalized to the 
population of study.
    This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not 
be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to 
yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time 
or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more 
rigorous designs that address: The target population to which 
generalizations will be made; the sampling frame, the sample design 
(including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements 
or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size; and the 
expected response rate, methods for assessing potential nonresponse 
bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures 
that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study. Depending 
on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such 
collections may still be eligible for submission for other mechanisms 
that are designed to yield quantitative results. As a general matter, 
information collections will not result in any new system of records 
containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a 
sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious 
beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
    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.
    Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87.

Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2021-09578 Filed 5-5-21; 8:45 am]
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