Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of an Information Collection Request: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test Standards Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Byline: Thomas P. Keane Date: 6 December 2021 Subject: American Government , Driver Licensing Topic:

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 231 (Monday, December 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69116-69117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26410]



[[Page 69116]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2021-0081]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of an 
Information Collection Request: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test 
Standards

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 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) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval. The FMCSA requests approval to revise and renew an ICR 
titled, ``Commercial Driver Licensing and Test Standards,'' due to an 
increase in the number of commercial driver's license records. This ICR 
is needed to ensure that drivers, motor carriers and the States are 
complying with notification and recordkeeping requirements for 
information related to testing, licensing, violations, convictions, and 
disqualifications and that the information is accurate, complete, 
transmitted, and recorded within certain time periods as required by 
the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA), as amended.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before January 5, 
2022.

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 information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Isabella Marra, Transportation 
Specialist, Office of Safety Programs, Commercial Driver's License 
Division (MC-ESL), DOT, FMCSA, 6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 202-366-9579; 
isabella.marra@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Commercial Driver Licensing and Test Standards.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0011.
    Type of Request: Revision of the currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Drivers with a commercial learner's permit (CLP) or 
commercial driver's license (CDL) and State driver licensing agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,696,360 driver respondents and 
22,886 State respondents.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies, ranges from 5 seconds to 40 
hours.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2021.
    Frequency of Response: Varies.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 2,700,901 hours, which is the total 
of four tasks for CDL drivers (2,062,676 hours), added to a total of 
eight tasks for State driver licensing agency CDL activities (638,225 
hours).
    Information collection tasks and associated burden hours are as 
follows:
    IC-1.1 Driver Notification of Convictions/Disqualifications to 
Employer: 503,771 hours.
    IC-1.2 Driver Providing Previous Employment History to New 
Employer: 316,742 hours.
    IC-1.3 Driver Completion of the CDL Application Form: 43,527 hours.
    IC-1.4 Driver Completion of Knowledge and Skills Tests: 1,198,636 
hours.
    IC-2.1 State Recording of Medical Examiner's Certificate 
Information: 90,202 hours.
    IC-2.2 State Recording of the Self Certification of Commercial 
Motor Vehicle (CMV) Operation: 2,987 hours.
    IC-2.3 State Verification of Medical Certification Status: 5,330 
hours.
    IC-2.4 Annual State Certification of Compliance: 1,632 hours.
    IC-2.5 State Preparing for and Participating in Annual Program 
Review: 10,200 hours.
    IC-2.6 CDLIS/PDPS/State Recordkeeping: 289,254 hours.
    IC-2.7 Knowledge and Skills Test Recordkeeping: 49,721 hours.
    IC-2.8 Knowledge and Skills Test Examiner Certification: 188,899 
hours.
    Background: The licensed drivers in the United States deserve 
reasonable assurances that their fellow motorists are properly 
qualified to drive the vehicles they operate. Before the Commercial 
Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA or the Act) (Pub. L. 99-570, 
Title XII, 100 Stat. 3207-170, codified at 49 U.S.C. chapter 313) was 
signed by the President on October 27, 1986, 18 States and the District 
of Columbia authorized any person licensed to drive an automobile to 
also legally drive a large truck or bus. No special training or special 
license was required to drive these vehicles, even though it was widely 
recognized that operation of certain types of vehicles called for 
special skills, knowledge, and training. Even in the 32 States that had 
a classified driver licensing system in place, only 12 of these States 
required an applicant to take a skills test in a representative 
vehicle. Equally serious was the problem of drivers possessing multiple 
driver licenses. By spreading their convictions among several States, 
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers could avoid punishment for their 
infringements and stay behind the wheel.
    The CMVSA addressed these problems by requiring the Federal 
government to act and place minimum standards on all jurisdictions, 
including the District of Columbia. Section 12002 of the Act made it 
illegal for a CMV operator to have more than one driver's license. 
Section 12003 required the CMV driver conducting operations in commerce 
to notify both the designated State of licensure official and the 
driver's employer of any convictions of State or local laws relating to 
traffic control (except parking tickets). This section also required 
the promulgation of regulations to ensure each person who applies for 
employment as a CMV operator to notify prospective employers of all 
previous employment as a CMV operator for at least the previous 10 
years. In section 12005 of the Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
(Secretary) is required to develop minimum Federal standards for 
testing and licensing of operators of CMVs. Section 12007 of the Act 
also directed the Secretary, in cooperation with the States, to develop 
a clearinghouse to aid the States in implementing the one driver, one 
license, and one driving record requirement. This clearinghouse is 
known as the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS). 
The CMVSA further required each person who has their CDL suspended, 
revoked or canceled by a State, or who is disqualified from operating a 
CMV for any period, to notify his or her employer of such actions. 
Drivers of CMVs must notify their employers within 1 business day of 
being notified of the license suspension, revocation, and cancellation, 
or of the lost right to operate or disqualification. These requirements 
are reflected in 49 CFR part 383, titled ``Commercial Driver's License 
Standards; Requirements and Penalties.'' Specifically, section 383.21 
prohibits a person from having more than one license; section 383.31 
requires notification of convictions for driver violations; section 
383.33 requires notification of driver's license suspensions; section 
383.35 requires notification of previous employment; and section 383.37 
outlines employer responsibilities. Section 383.111

[[Page 69117]]

requires the passing of a knowledge test by the driver and section 
383.113 requires the passing of a skills test by the driver. Section 
383.115 contains the requirement for the double/triple trailer 
endorsement; section 383.117 contains the requirement for the passenger 
endorsement; section 383.119 contains the requirement for the tank 
vehicle endorsement; and section 383.121 contains the requirement for 
the hazardous materials endorsement. The 10-year employment history 
information supplied by the CDL holder to the employer upon application 
for employment (49 CFR 383.35) is used to assist the employer in 
meeting his/her responsibilities to ensure that the applicant does not 
have a history of high safety risk behavior. State officials use the 
information collected on the license application form (49 CFR 383.71), 
the medical certificate information that is posted to the driving 
record, and the conviction and disqualification data posted to the 
driving record (49 CFR 383.73) to prevent unqualified and/or 
disqualified CDL holders from operating CMVs on the nation's highways. 
State officials are required to adopt and administer an FMCSA approved 
program for testing and ensuring the fitness of persons to operate CMVs 
(49 CFR 384.201). State officials are also required to administer 
knowledge and skills tests to CDL driver applicants (49 CFR 384.202). 
The driver applicant is required to correctly answer at least 80 
percent of the questions on each knowledge test to achieve a passing 
score on that test. To achieve a passing score on the skills test, the 
driver applicant must demonstrate that he/she can successfully perform 
all the skills listed in the regulations. During State CDL program 
reviews, FMCSA officials review this information to ensure that the 
provisions of the regulations are being carried out. Without the 
aforementioned requirements, there would be no uniform control over 
driver licensing practices to prevent unqualified and/or disqualified 
drivers from being issued a CDL and to prevent unsafe drivers from 
spreading their convictions among several licenses in several States 
and remaining behind the wheel of a CMV. Failure to collect this 
information would render the regulations unenforceable.
    The 60-day Federal Register notice (86 FR 49595) was published on 
September 3, 2021 and announced FMCSA's intent to submit the Commercial 
Driver Licensing and Test Standards clearance process to OMB for 
approval and requested comments from the public for 60 days. The FMCSA 
received one comment recommending FMCSA: (1) Add a minimum number of 
behind-the-wheel training hours to the entry level driver training 
regulations, (2) implement the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st 
Century (Pub. L. 112-141, MAP-21) mandate for a written proficiency 
exam for new motor carriers, and (3) include additional data collection 
elements based on those additions. The comment was filed jointly by the 
Truck Safety Coalition (TSC), Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways 
(CRASH), Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT), and their volunteers. 
This comment proposes changes to regulatory requirements, and not to 
the revision of the collection of information.
    FMCSA contacted the commenters and notified them that their request 
is denied for two reasons. First, FMCSA noted that it will not be 
adding a minimum number of behind-the-wheel training hours to the entry 
level driver training regulations because there is no evidence that a 
certain amount of behind-the-wheel training has an impact on the safety 
performance of new drivers. FMCSA explained this in the Minimum 
Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle 
Operators (81 FR 88732) Federal Register notice. Second, the MAP-21 
mandate referenced does not pertain to CDLs and is not applicable to 
this information collection request.
    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 of 49 CFR 1.87.

Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2021-26410 Filed 12-3-21; 8:45 am]
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