[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18666-18667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07096]
[[Page 18666]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0050]
Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information
Collection: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles
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 its
review and approval, and invites public comment. This ICR will enable
FMCSA to document the burden associated with the marking regulations
codified in 49 CFR Part 376, ``Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.''
These regulations require certain for-hire motor carriers to have a
formal lease when leasing equipment.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 28, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2013-0050 using any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information on the exemption process, see the Public
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov, and follow the
online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street
address listed above.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket Management System
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or
you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8-794.pdf.
Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain electronic
submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the ``help'' section
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site. If you want us to notify
you that we received your comments, please include a self-addressed,
stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgement page that
appears after submitting comments online. Comments received after the
comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be
considered to the extent practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Kelly, Chief, Compliance
Division, Office of Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-1812;
Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is
authorized to require a motor carrier that uses motor vehicles not
owned by it to transport property under an arrangement with another
party to make the arrangement in writing. This written agreement must
specify its duration, the compensation to be paid by the motor carrier
providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under 49 U.S.C.
14102(a), ``Leased Motor Vehicles'' and signed by the parties. The
Secretary has delegated authority pertaining to leased motor vehicles
to FMCSA pursuant to 49 CFR part 1.87(a)(6). The Agency's regulations
governing leased motor vehicles are at 49 CFR part 376.
The rules were adopted to ensure that small trucking companies were
protected when they agreed to lease their equipment and drivers to
larger for-hire carriers. They also ensure that the government and
members of the public can determine who is responsible for a property-
carrying commercial motor vehicle. Prior to the regulations some
equipment was leased without written agreements, leading to disputes
over which party to the lease was responsible for charges and actions
and, at times, who was legally responsible for the vehicle. Under 49
U.S.C. 14102(a), FMCSA ``may require a motor carrier providing for-hire
transportation that uses motor vehicles not owned by it to transport
property under an arrangement with another party to--
(1) Make the arrangement in writing signed by the parties
specifying its duration and the compensation to be paid by the motor
carrier;
(2) carry a copy of the arrangement in each motor vehicle to which
it applies during the period the arrangement is in effect;
(3) inspect the motor vehicles and obtain liability and cargo
insurance on them; and
(4) have control of and be responsible for operating those motor
vehicles in compliance with requirements prescribed by the Secretary on
safety of operations and equipment, and with other applicable law as if
the motor vehicles were owned by the motor carrier.''
The rules specify what must be covered in the lease, but not how
responsibilities must be divided. The parties to the lease determine
the details between themselves.
Part 376 applies to only certain motor carriers in interstate
commerce and only certain leasing situations. The rules cover leasing
between a for-hire carrier that does not hold an operating authority
and another for-hire carrier that does hold operating authority. A for-
hire motor carrier with or without operating authority that leases its
equipment and drivers to a private motor carrier is not covered by the
rule. A for-hire carrier with operating authority that leases its
equipment to a non-motor carrier and operates under its own authority
is also not covered by the rule. Private carriers that lease their
equipment to for-hire motor carriers and for-hire carriers with their
own operating authority leasing to another such carrier are subject to
lesser requirements. For-hire carriers in interstate commerce are
exempt from the rules if they operate exclusively in commercial zones.
Commercial zones, last set by the ICC in 1975, are generally defined as
a municipality and a distance from the limits of the municipality that
ranges from 3 miles for cities with populations less than 2,500 to 20
miles for cities of a million or more people.
[[Page 18667]]
Some municipalities have additional areas defined for them.
Title: Lease and Interchange of Vehicles.
OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX.
Type of Request: New collection.
Respondents: Motor carriers or shippers authorized by the Secretary
to transport property that uses leasing equipment.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 16,500.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour 35 minutes [26,000 estimated
annual burden hours/16,500 respondents = 1.57575 hours or 1 hour 35
minutes].
Expiration Date: N/A.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 26,000.
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. The agency will summarize or include your
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information
collection.
Issued on: March 18, 2013.
G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-07096 Filed 3-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P