49 CFR Part 390 - FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS; GENERAL

FMCSA proposes amendments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to establish an alternate process for qualified physicians employed in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (qualified VA physicians) to be listed on the Agency's National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry). After training and testing, they become certified VA medical examiners that can perform medical examinations of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators who are military veterans, and issue Medical Examiner's Certificates (MECs) to those same operators as required by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.

FMCSA amends its regulations by making technical corrections throughout. The Agency is making minor changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style guidelines, update cross references, and improve clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. Further, this set of amendments removes all remaining instances of the term “common carrier” and “contract carrier” as required by the ICC Termination Act (ICCTA) and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected regulations, except to remove obsolete provisions.

FMCSA announces it will hold a roundtable discussion on October 31, 2016, as a follow-up to its August 31, 2016, notice of intent concerning the petitions for reconsideration of the final rule, titled “Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers,” which published May 27, 2015. The meeting will be open to the public. Individuals with diverse experience, expertise, and perspectives are encouraged to attend. If all comments have been exhausted before the end of the session, the session may conclude early.

FMCSA announces its intent to issue a rulemaking concerning revisions to its May 27, 2015, final rule titled “Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers.” The Agency received numerous petitions for reconsideration of the final rule and determined that amendments should be considered in response to some of the petitions. The aspects of the 2015 final rule to be reconsidered are discussed later in this document. In addition, FMCSA will hold a roundtable discussion on the scope of the issues to be addressed in the forthcoming rulemaking. The meeting will be public and will seek public input regarding the assignment of responsibility for safety violations to the correct party. Individuals with diverse experience, expertise, and perspectives are encouraged to attend. If all comments have been exhausted prior to the end of the session, the session may conclude early. The Agency intends to complete any regulatory action(s) taken in response to the petitions before January 1, 2018.

FMCSA is correcting the effective and compliance dates for its August 23, 2013, Unified Registration System (URS) final rule, as revised on October 21, 2015. The 2013 URS final rule was issued to improve the registration process for motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders, Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants, and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA, and streamline the existing Federal registration processes to ensure the Agency can more efficiently track these entities. The October 21, 2015 final rule made slight revisions to the 2013 rule and delayed the effective dates of that rule. This final rule corrects the effective and compliance dates, revised in 2015, and corrects regulatory provisions that have not yet gone into effect, as well as several temporary sections that are in effect already, to allow FMCSA additional time to complete the information technology (IT) systems work.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) adopts, as final, certain regulations required by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) enacted on December 4, 2015. The statutory changes went into effect on October 1, 2015, retroactively, and require that FMCSA make conforming changes to its regulations to ensure they are current and consistent with the statutory requirements. Adoption of these rules is a nondiscretionary, ministerial action that FMCSA may take without issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking and receiving public comment, in accordance with the good cause exception available to Federal agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

FMCSA extends the compliance date by which motor carriers of passengers operating CMVs under a lease or interchange agreement are subject to the FMCSA final rule published May 27, 2015, for one year, to January 1, 2018. The Agency received numerous petitions for reconsideration of the final rule and based upon a review of the petitions, determined that the compliance date should be extended to provide sufficient time to address the issues raised by the petitioners. The Agency is adding a temporary section to its regulations to inform the public of this extension. There will no longer be a need for the section on the compliance date after January 1, 2018, thus the temporary section will be in effect only from March 16, 2016 through January 1, 2018.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to establish: Minimum performance and design standards for hours-of-service (HOS) electronic logging devices (ELDs); requirements for the mandatory use of these devices by drivers currently required to prepare HOS records of duty status (RODS); requirements concerning HOS supporting documents; and measures to address concerns about harassment resulting from the mandatory use of ELDs. The requirements for ELDs will improve compliance with the HOS rules.

FMCSA adopts regulations that prohibit motor carriers, shippers, receivers, or transportation intermediaries from coercing drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in violation of certain provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs)—including drivers' hours-of-service limits; the commercial driver's license (CDL) regulations; drug and alcohol testing rules; and the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). In addition, the rule prohibits anyone who operates a CMV in interstate commerce from coercing a driver to violate the commercial regulations. This rule includes procedures for drivers to report incidents of coercion to FMCSA, establishes rules of practice that the Agency will follow in response to reports of coercion, and describes penalties that may be imposed on entities found to have coerced drivers. This rulemaking is authorized by section 32911 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (MCSA), as amended.

FMCSA delays the effective and compliance dates for its August 23, 2013, Unified Registration System (URS) final rule. Because FMCSA changes the effective date (the actual date when the regulatory text that appears in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) will be changed) and makes technical corrections and conforming amendments to the 2013 regulatory text, the Agency has determined that it is in the best interest of the regulated entities, our State partners and the general public to present the full text of the sections affected. The 2013 URS final rule was issued to improve the registration process for motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders, Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA, and streamline the existing Federal registration processes to ensure the Agency can more efficiently track these entities. Today's final rule delays the implementation of the 2013 final rule in order to allow FMCSA additional time to complete the information technology (IT) systems work required to fully implement that rule.

FMCSA amends its regulations by making technical corrections and ministerial corrections throughout title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), subtitle B, chapter III. The Agency is making minor changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style guidelines, update cross references, restore an inadvertent deletion of the reference to an Underwriters Laboratories' standard, and improve clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected regulations, except to remove one obsolete provision.

FMCSA announces an extension of the deadline for submitting petitions for reconsideration of its May 27, 2015, final rule concerning the lease and interchange of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) by motor carriers of passengers. The final rule provides regulations governing the lease and interchange of passenger-carrying CMVs to identify the motor carrier operating a passenger-carrying CMV that is responsible for compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and ensure that a lessor surrenders control of the CMV for the full term of the lease or temporary exchange of CMVs and drivers. The American Bus Association (ABA) and United Motorcoach Association (UMA) filed a joint request for an extension of the June 26, 2015, deadline for the submission of petitions for reconsideration of the final rule. The Agency grants the request and extends the deadline for submission of petitions for reconsideration from June 26 until August 25, 2015.

FMCSA adopts regulations governing the lease and interchange of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to: Identify the motor carrier operating a passenger-carrying CMV that is responsible for compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs); and ensure that a lessor surrenders control of the CMV for the full term of the lease or temporary exchange of CMVs and drivers. This action is necessary to ensure that unsafe passenger carriers cannot evade FMCSA oversight and enforcement by entering into a questionable lease arrangement to operate under the authority of another carrier that exercises no actual control over those operations. This rule will enable the FMCSA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and our Federal and State partners to identify motor carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce and correctly assign responsibility to these entities for regulatory violations during inspections, compliance investigations, and crash investigations. It also provides the general public with the means to identify the responsible motor carrier at the time transportation services are provided.

FMCSA provides regulatory guidance concerning crashes involving motor vehicles striking the rear of attenuator trucks deployed at construction sites and whether such crashes meet the definition of “accident” under 49 CFR 390.5 for the motor carrier that controls the attenuator truck. Attenuator trucks are highway safety vehicles equipped with an impact attenuating crash cushion intended to reduce the risks of injuries and fatalities resulting from crashes in construction work zones. The guidance explains that such crashes in which motorists strike the attenuator trucks while they are deployed at construction work zones are not covered by the definition of accident and such occurrences will not be considered by FMCSA under its Compliance, Safety, Accountability Safety Measurement System (SMS) scores, or Safety Fitness Determination for the motor carrier that controls the attenuator truck. This guidance will provide the motor carrier industry and Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials with uniform information for use in determining whether certain crashes involving attenuator vehicles must be recorded on the motor carrier's accident register and considered in the Agency's safety oversight programs.

FMCSA adopts, as final, certain amendments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) required by the Reliable Home Heating (RHH) Act. Currently, the FMCSRs include a provision which enables motor carriers providing direct assistance in responding to an emergency declared by a governor to do so without having to comply with certain Federal safety regulations. However, the duration of the relief is limited to 30 days unless FMCSA extends the exemption. This final rule amends the emergency relief provision in the FMCSRs so that the safety requirements in 49 CFR parts 390-399 will not apply if a Governor: Declares a state of emergency caused by a shortage of residential heating fuel; determines at the end of the 30-day exemption period currently authorized by the regulations that the emergency shortage has not ended; and extends the declaration of emergency for up to 2 additional 30-day periods. Because the rule is a non-discretionary, ministerial action as required by the RHH Act, it is issued without prior notice and opportunity for comment, pursuant to the good cause exception in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

FMCSA amends its regulations by making technical corrections throughout title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), subtitle B, chapter III. The Agency is making minor changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style guidelines, update references, and improve clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected regulations.

FMCSA announced proposed changes to its Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) on December 2, 2013. These changes will allow the States to reflect the results of adjudicated citations related to roadside inspection violation data collected in MCMIS. Individuals must submit certified documentation of adjudication results through a Request for Data Review (RDR) in FMCSA's DataQs system to initiate this process. MCMIS is being modified to accept adjudication results showing that a citation was dismissed or resulted in a finding of not guilty; resulted in a conviction of a different or lesser charge; or, resulted in conviction of the original charge. The adjudication results will impact the use of roadside inspection violation data in other FMCSA data systems. These changes are intended to improve roadside inspection data quality. This document describes the MCMIS changes, responds to comments received on the proposed changes and provides the schedule for implementation of these changes.

FMCSA extends the public comment period for the Agency's March 28, 2014, supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) concerning the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) and Hours of Service Supporting Documents rulemaking.

FMCSA proposes to adopt regulations that prohibit motor carriers, shippers, receivers, or transportation intermediaries from coercing drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in violation of certain provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs)—including drivers' hours-of-service limits and the commercial driver's license (CDL) regulations and associated drug and alcohol testing rules—or the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). In addition, the NPRM would prohibit anyone who operates a CMV in interstate commerce from coercing a driver to violate the commercial regulations. This NPRM includes procedures for drivers to report incidents of coercion to FMCSA, rules of practice the Agency would follow in response to allegations of coercion, and describes penalties that may be imposed on entities found to have coerced drivers. This proposed rulemaking is authorized by section 32911 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (MCSA), as amended.

FMCSA proposes amendments to its regulations to allow the use of electronic records and signatures to satisfy FMCSA's regulatory requirements. The amendments would permit the use of electronic methods to sign, certify, generate, exchange or maintain records so long as the documents accurately reflect the information in the record and can be used for their intended purpose. This proposed rule would apply only to those documents that FMCSA's regulations obligate entities or individuals to retain; it would not apply to forms or other documents that must be submitted directly to FMCSA. This proposed rule responds in part to the President's January 2011 Regulatory Review and Reform initiative and would implement the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN).

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), after consultation with representatives of the governors of the affected States, rescinds certain covered emergency exemptions. The exemptions originally took effect automatically upon declaration of an emergency by various governors or FMCSA, and were extended by FMCSA after consultation with representatives of the governors. The President signed the “Home Heating Emergency Assistance Through Transportation Act of 2014” (HHEATT Act, or “the Act”) on March 21, 2014. The Act extends until May 31, 2014, all “covered emergency exemptions” created between February 5, 2014, and March 21, 2014, to provide regulatory relief to commercial motor vehicle operators directly supporting the delivery of propane and other home heating fuels. In accordance with the Act, FMCSA has consulted with representatives of each of the governors to determine whether emergency circumstances still exist and has determined that certain covered emergency exemptions created under the HHEATT Act are no longer necessary and should be rescinded.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposes amendments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to establish: Minimum performance and design standards for hours-of-service (HOS) electronic logging devices (ELDs); requirements for the mandatory use of these devices by drivers currently required to prepare HOS records of duty status (RODS); requirements concerning HOS supporting documents; and measures to address concerns about harassment resulting from the mandatory use of ELDs. This rulemaking supplements the Agency's February 1, 2011, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and addresses issues raised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in its 2011 decision vacating the Agency's April 5, 2010, final rule concerning ELDs as well as subsequent statutory developments. The proposed requirements for ELDs would improve compliance with the HOS rules.

FMCSA amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) by revising the definition of “gross combination weight rating” (or GCWR) to clarify the applicability of the Agency's safety regulations for single-unit trucks (vehicles other than truck tractors) when they are towing trailers, and the GCWR information is not included on the vehicle manufacturer's certification label.

FMCSA makes corrections to its August 23, 2013, final rule regarding the Unified Registration System. This document makes four minor revisions to the URS final rule to be consistent with the Agency's “General Technical, Organizational and Conforming Amendments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations” final rule published on September 24, 2013.

This final rule makes technical corrections throughout FMCSA's regulations. The Agency is making minor editorial changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style, and improve clarity. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

FMCSA proposes to adopt regulations governing the lease and interchange of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to: identify the motor carrier operating a passenger-carrying CMV and responsible for compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and all other applicable Federal regulations; ensure that a lessor surrenders control of the CMV for the full term of the lease or temporary exchange of CMVs and drivers; and require motor carriers subject to a prohibition on operating in interstate commerce to notify FMCSA in writing before leasing or otherwise transferring control of their vehicles to other carriers. This action is necessary to ensure that unsafe passenger carriers cannot evade FMCSA oversight and enforcement by operating under the authority of another carrier that exercises no actual control over those operations. This action will enable the FMCSA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and our Federal and State partners to identify motor carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce and correctly assign responsibility to these entities for regulatory violations during inspections, compliance investigations, and crash studies. It also provides the general public with the means to identify the responsible motor carrier at the time of transportation. While detailed lease and interchange regulations for cargo-carrying vehicles have been in effect since 1950, these proposed rules for passenger-carrying CMVs are focused entirely on operational safety.

The FMCSA amends its regulations to require interstate motor carriers, freight forwarders, brokers, intermodal equipment providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants, and cargo tank facilities under FMCSA jurisdiction to submit required registration and biennial update information to the Agency via a new electronic on-line Unified Registration System (URS). FMCSA establishes fees for the registration system, discloses the cumulative information to be collected in the URS, and provides a centralized cross-reference to existing safety and commercial regulations necessary for compliance with the registration requirements. The final rule implements statutory provisions in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA) and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, 2005 (SAFETEA-LU). The URS will streamline the registration process and serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on, and identification of, motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, IEPs, HMSP applicants, and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA.

The FMCSA proposes to revise the definition of “gross combination weight rating” (or GCWR) to clarify that a GCWR is the greater of: the GCWR specified by the manufacturer of the power unit, if displayed on the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) certification label required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), or the sum of the gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWRs) or gross vehicle weights (GVWs) of the power unit and towed unit(s), or any combination thereof, that produces the highest value.

FMCSA promulgates the regulatory exemptions for the “transportation of agricultural commodities and farm supplies” and for “covered farm vehicles” and their drivers enacted by sections 32101(d) and 32934, respectively, of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Although prior statutory exemptions involving agriculture are unchanged, some of these exemptions overlap with MAP-21 provisions. In these cases, regulated entities will be able to choose the exemption, or set of exemptions, under which to operate. They must, however, comply fully with the terms of each exemption they claim.

FMCSA withdraws its August 27, 2012, direct final rule (DFR) amending the definition of “gross combination weight rating” (GCWR) in 49 CFR parts 383 and 390. The DFR would have taken effect on October 26, 2012. However, the Agency received several adverse comments in response to the DFR and will, therefore develop a notice of proposed rulemaking to request public comments on proposed changes to the GCWR definition.

This final rule makes technical corrections throughout title 49 CFR subtitle B, chapter III. The Agency is making minor editorial changes to add revised delegations of authority from the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), correct errors and omissions, and improve clarity. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amends the definition of “gross combination weight rating” (GCWR) in our regulations. The definition currently prescribes how the GCWR is calculated if the vehicle manufacturer does not include the information on the vehicle certification label required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Agency has determined the definition should not include what is essentially guidance that is difficult for the motor carrier and enforcement communities to use. Therefore, FMCSA amends this definition to state that the GCWR is the value specified by the commercial motor vehicle manufacturer.

FMCSA eliminates the requirement for drivers operating intermodal equipment (IME) to submit—and intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) to retain—driver-vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs) when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any defects in the IME. This responds to a joint petition for rulemaking from the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) and the Institute of International Container Lessors (IICL).

FMCSA establishes a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry) with requirements that all medical examiners who conduct physical examinations for interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers meet the following criteria: Complete certain training concerning FMCSA's physical qualification standards, pass a test to verify an understanding of those standards, and maintain and demonstrate competence through periodic training and testing. Following establishment of the National Registry and a transition period, FMCSA will require that motor carriers and drivers use only those medical examiners on the Agency's National Registry and will only accept as valid medical examiner's certificates issued by medical examiners listed on the National Registry. FMCSA is developing the National Registry program to improve highway safety and driver health by requiring that medical examiners be trained and certified so they can determine effectively whether a CMV driver's medical fitness for duty meets FMCSA's standards.

FMCSA announces that it will hold a public listening session to solicit information, concepts, ideas, and comments on Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) and the issue of driver harassment. Specifically, the Agency wants to know what factors, issues, and data it should consider as it addresses the distinction between productivity and harassment: What will prevent harassment from occurring; what types of harassment already exist; how frequently and to what extent harassment happens; and how an electronic device such as an EOBR, capable of contemporaneous transmission of information to a motor carrier, will guard against (or fail to guard against) harassment. Additionally, the Agency will solicit concepts, ideas, and comments from enforcement personnel on the hours-of-service (HOS) information they would need to see on the EOBR display screen to effectively enforce the HOS rules at the roadside and the type of evidence they would need to retain in order to support issuing drivers citations for HOS violations observed during roadside inspections. This session will be held in Bellevue, Washington (WA), and will allow interested persons to present comments, views, and relevant new research that FMCSA should consider in development of Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM). This listening session will be recorded and a transcript of the session will be placed in the docket for FMCSA's consideration. The listening session will also be webcast via the Internet and will allow for email interactivity during the webcast.

FMCSA announces that it will hold a public listening session to solicit information, concepts, ideas, and comments on Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) and the issue of driver harassment. Specifically, the Agency wants to know what factors, issues, and data it should consider as it addresses the distinction between productivity and harassment: what will prevent harassment from occurring; what types of harassment already exist; how frequently and to what extent harassment happens; and how an electronic device such as an EOBR, capable of contemporaneous transmission of information to a motor carrier will guard against (or fail to guard against) harassment. This session will be held in Louisville, Kentucky (KY), and will allow interested persons to present comments, views, and relevant new research that FMCSA should consider in development of the final rule. This listening session will be recorded and a transcript of the session will be placed in the docket for FMCSA's consideration. The listening session will also be webcast via the Internet.