Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers: Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) Application for Exemption From ELD and Certain HOS Requirements
| Published date | 16 October 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 65896 |
| Record Number | 2020-22890 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65896-65898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22890]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0097]
Hours of Service (HOS) of Drivers: Small Business in
Transportation Coalition (SBTC) Application for Exemption From ELD and
Certain HOS Requirements
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of final disposition; denial of application for
exemption.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to deny the Small Business in
Transportation Coalition's (SBTC) request for an exemption from the
electronic logging device (ELD) requirements for commercial motor
vehicle (CMV) drivers traveling with domestic animals in interstate
commerce. Additionally, FMCSA denies SBTC's request for an exemption
from the hours-of-service (HOS) requirements to allow these drivers to
drive up to 13 hours during a work shift and to operate within a 16-
hour window within which all driving tasks would be completed. FMCSA
has analyzed the exemption application and public comments and has
determined that it cannot ensure that granting the requested exemptions
would achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the
level that would be achieved absent such exemptions.
DATES: FMCSA denies this application for exemption effective October
16, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. La Tonya Mimms, Chief, FMCSA
Driver and Carrier Operations Division; Office of Carrier, Driver and
Vehicle Safety Standards; Telephone: (202) 366-9220 Email:
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material
to the docket, contact Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Legal Basis
FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant
exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations (FMCSRs).
[[Page 65897]]
FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal
Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an
opportunity to inspect the information relevant to the application,
including any safety analyses that have been conducted. The Agency must
also provide an opportunity for public comment on the request.
The Agency reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted
and determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a
level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of
the Agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(b)) with the reasons for denying or granting the application
and, if granted, the name of the person or class of persons receiving
the exemption, and the regulatory provision from which the exemption is
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period and explain
the terms and conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed
(49 CFR 381.300(b)).
When the Agency denies a request for an exemption, the applicant
may be allowed to resubmit the application if the applicant can
reasonably address the basis for denial (49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(3)).
II. Background
Generally, individuals may not drive a property-carrying CMV more
than 11 hours during a work shift, following 10 consecutive hours off
duty. Under the current regulations all driving must be completed
within 14 hours of the beginning of the work shift, with certain
alternatives for drivers who use sleeper berths. Most drivers who are
required to prepare and maintain records of duty status (RODS) to
document their HOS are subject to the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD)
Rule and must use an ELD.
III. Request for Exemptions
SBTC requests that drivers of property-carrying CMVs, when
accompanied by any domestic animal, be exempt from the requirement to
use an ELD for their RODS and be allowed to prepare and maintain paper
RODS as an alternative.
SBTC also requests that drivers of property-carrying vehicles
accompanied by any domestic animal be granted an exemption from 49 CFR
395.3(a)(2) and (3)(i), allowing them to drive up to 13 hours during a
work shift, following 10 consecutive hours off-duty. The requested
exemption would allow them a 16-hour driving window within which to use
the 13 hours of driving time.
IV. Methodology To Ensure Safety
To ensure a level of safety that is equivalent to or greater than
the level that would be achieved absent such exemptions, SBTC offers
the use of paper RODS in lieu of ELDs. SBTC asserts that paper logs
provide the level of safety already assured by the pre-existing HOS
rule as opposed to using an ELD. SBTC compares the two-hour extension
of driving time to the two driving hours allotted for adverse driving
conditions. Lastly, SBTC believes its exemption request is no different
than the other ELD exemptions FMCSA has granted.
V. Public Comments
On March 11, 2020, FMCSA published notice of this application and
requested public comments (85 FR 14289). The Agency received more than
165 comments, approximately 130 of which favored the exemption. Mr.
Jeffrey Anderson said, ``I agree with being exempt because I also have
a pet onboard and it should be fair for [all].'' Ms. Deborah Carly
wrote: ``I am in favor of this exemption . . . . Pets are family. There
needs to be consideration for their needs; and currently there is
nothing. Pets are, sometimes, the only family drivers have. There needs
to be rules in place to make sure their needs are met.'' Many of the
commenters simply wrote, ``I support this exemption.'' Some comments
focused more on the HOS rules than the exemption application; a few
comments were not germane.
A total of 35 commenters opposed the exemption application,
including the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the Commercial
Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), and the Truckload Carriers
Association (TCA). Ms. Suzanne Pehl wrote the following:
Drivers traveling with pets should [not]be exempt from ELDs or
any other regulation. If such an exemption is allowed, drivers will
get a pet just to be exempt from regulations. That would create
numerous problems for pets as well as safety problems for other
drivers on the road. If you keep creating exemptions, there will be
no regulations.
ATA wrote the following:
SBTC's application asks FMCSA to extend driver hours-of-service
for up to 13 hours during the duty day following ten consecutive
hours off duty, and exempt drivers traveling with domestic animals
from the ELD mandate. FMCSA approval of this application would, in
essence, apply an overbroad category of exempted individuals to an
insufficiently defined class of exemption. Despite some research
that shows how domestic animals can improve driver feelings of
companionship, and, anecdotally, safety, SBTC's application does not
support the agency's obligation of ensuring an equivalent or greater
level of safety than exists under the current regulation.
CVSA wrote the following:
In their application, SBTC requests that drivers traveling with
pets be exempt from the electronic logging device (ELD) requirement
and that they be allowed to extend the 14-hour period to 16 hours
and the maximum allowed driving time from 11 hours to 13 hours. If
granted, the requested additional driving and on-duty time will
expose drivers to a greater risk of fatigue, putting themselves and
the public at risk and the ELD exemption would make adherence to the
hours-of-service rules much more difficult to verify. The hours-of-
service framework is put in place to prevent this type of excessive
driving that causes fatigue.
TCA wrote as follows:
We appreciate the immense value these beloved `family members'
bring to those drivers, and we see individual carriers' pet policies
as a significant way for them to differentiate themselves and
recruit talent which may find that benefit attractive. However,
while we are supportive of the driver's right to have a pet in the
truck, TCA opposes both exemptions requested by SBTC.
V. Safety Analysis
When FMCSA published the rule mandating ELDs, it relied upon
research indicating that the rule improves CMV safety by improving
compliance with the HOS rules. The rule also reduces the overall
paperwork burden for both motor carriers and drivers. When the FMCSA
established the HOS rules, it relied upon research indicating that the
rules improve CMV safety. These regulations put limits in place for
when and how long an individual may drive to ensure that drivers stay
awake and alert while driving and to help reduce the possibility of
driver fatigue. The Agency reaffirmed the ``core'' HOS provisions in
the HOS final rule published on June 1, 2020 [85 FR 33396]. The
revisions adopted in that rule do not allow truck drivers any
additional driving time beyond the current 11-hour limit, and subject
to a limited exception concerning adverse driving conditions, the 14-
hour duty day. None of the final rule provisions increases the maximum
allowable driving time, as the available data does not support any
additional driving time. Based on the current scientific information
and its own experience with HOS regulations, the Agency concluded that
the changes made by the final rule are safety- and health-neutral.
VI. FMCSA Decision
FMCSA denies SBTC's application because it does not meet the
regulatory standards for an exemption. SBTC failed
[[Page 65898]]
to identify an individual or motor carrier that would be responsible
for the use or operation of CMVs under the exemptions, as required by
49 CFR 381.310(b)(2). SBTC failed to provide an estimate of the total
number of drivers and CMVs that would be operated under the terms and
conditions of the exemptions, as required by section 381.310(c)(3).
Lastly, SBTC proposed no countermeasures to ensure an equivalent or
greater level of safety than would be achieved under compliance with
the current rules, as required by section 381.310(c)(5).
James W. Deck,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-22890 Filed 10-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
