6206 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 23 / Thursday, February 5, 2009 / Notices 

published a notice of final disposition 

announcing its decision to exempt these 

seven Volvo drivers from the CDL 

requirement in 49 CFR 383.23. The 

decision to renew the exemption for 

these drivers was based on the merits of 

each driver’s demonstrated knowledge 

and skills about the safe operation of 

CMVs, and only after careful 

consideration of the comments 

submitted in response to the April 23, 

2007 original notice. The notice of 

application for exemption indicated that 

detailed information about the 

qualifications and experience of each of 

the drivers was provided in Volvo’s 

application and that a copy of the 

application is in the docket referenced 

at the beginning of this notice. 

Interested parties or organizations 

possessing information that would 

otherwise show that any or all of these 

drivers are not currently achieving the 

requisite statutory level of safety should 

immediately notify FMCSA. The 

Agency will evaluate any adverse 

information submitted and, if safety is 

being compromised or if the 

continuation of the exemption is not 

consistent with 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(4) 

and 31136(e), FMCSA will take 

immediate steps to revoke the 

exemption of the driver(s) in question. 

Issued on: January 29, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–2433 Filed 2–4–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2008–0313] 

Parts and Accessories Necessary for 

Safe Operation; Application for an 

Exemption From Turnpike Global 

Technologies LLC 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA) 

requests public comment on an 

application for exemption from 

Turnpike Global Technologies LLC 

(Turnpike) to allow the placement of 

electronic on board data event recorders 

at the bottom of the windshields on 

commercial motor vehicles (CMV). The 

exemption would enable any motor 

carrier using Turnpike’s RouteTracker 

electronic on-board data event recorders 

to mount the devices lower in the 

windshield than currently permitted by 

the Agency’s regulations in order to 

maximize the ability of the device to 

collect safety and regulatory compliance 

data. Turnpike believes this mounting 

position would maintain a level of 

safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety achieved 

without the exemption. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 9, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by FDMS Docket ID Number 

FMCSA–2008–0313 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the Federal electronic docket site. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, DOT Building, 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 this notice. 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 for 

further information. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov or to Room W12– 

140, DOT Building, New Jersey Avenue, 

SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

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 in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19476) or you may visit http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Public participation: The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site is 

generally available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. You can get 

electronic submission and retrieval help 

and guidelines under the ‘‘help’’ section 

of the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site and also at the DOT’s http:// 

docketsinfo.dot.gov 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 

Operations Division, Office of Bus and 

Truck Standards and Operations (MC– 

PSV), Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590– 

0001, phone (202) 366–0676, or e-mail 

luke.loy@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 4007 of the Transportation 

Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA– 

21) [Pub. L. 105–178, June 9, 1998, 112 

Stat. 401] amended 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 

31136(e) to provide authority to grant 

exemptions from the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). 

On August 20, 2004, FMCSA published 

a final rule (69 FR 51589) implementing 

section 4007. Under this rule, FMCSA 

must publish a notice of each exemption 

request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 

381.315(a)). The Agency must provide 

the public with 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 the safety 

analyses and the public comments 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)). If the Agency denies 

the request, it must state the reason for 

doing so. If the decision is to grant the 

exemption, the notice must specify the 

person or class of persons receiving the 

exemption and the regulatory provision 

or provisions from which an exemption 

is granted. The notice must also specify 

the effective period of the exemption 

(up to 2 years) and explain the terms 

and conditions of the exemption (49 

CFR 381.315(c)). The exemption may be 

renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)). 

Turnpike’s Application for Exemption 

On April 2, 2008, Turnpike applied 

for an exemption from 49 CFR 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 23 / Thursday, February 5, 2009 / Notices 6207 

393.60(e)(1) to allow the installation of 

the RouteTracker electronic on board 

data event recorder on CMVs. A copy of 

the application is included in the docket 

referenced at the beginning of this 

notice. 

Section 393.60(e)(1) of the FMCSRs 

prohibits the obstruction of the driver’s 

field of view by devices mounted at the 

top of the windshield. Antennas, 

transponders and similar devices 

(devices) must not be mounted more 

than 152 mm (6 inches) below the upper 

edge of the windshield. These devices 

must be located outside the area swept 

by the windshield wipers and outside 

the driver’s sight lines to the road and 

highway signs and signals. 

Turnpike applied for the exemption 

because it wants to install RouteTracker 

devices in its customers’ vehicles 

throughout the United States. Turnpike 

contends that it must be able to mount 

the recorder in a position that is lower 

on the windshield than what is 

currently allowed under 49 CFR 

393.60(e)(1) ‘‘in order to maximize the 

ability of the device to collect safety and 

regulatory compliance data.’’ Turnpike 

noted that the preferred installation 

location is in the lower right side of the 

windshield, and outside the area swept 

by the windshield wipers. Turnpike 

stated ‘‘The windshield mount is the 

preferred installation to prevent driver 

tampering and ensure twenty-four hour 

communication relay.’’ 

In its application, Turnpike noted that 

the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance 

(CVSA) submitted a petition for 

rulemaking to FMCSA on October 18, 

2007, to amend 49 CFR 393.60(e). The 

CVSA petition requests that the 

FMCSRs be amended to permit video 

event recorders and similar devices that 

require a clear forward facing visual 

field to be mounted not more than 50 

mm (2 inches) below the upper edge of 

the area swept by the windshield 

wipers, provided that they are located 

outside the driver’s sight lines to the 

road and highway signs and signals. A 

copy of the CVSA petition has been 

placed in the docket referenced at the 

beginning of this notice. 

Turnpike recommended that 

FMCSA—as a condition of the 

exemption if it were granted—require 

Turnpike to comply with the mounting 

provisions proposed in the CVSA 

petition as described above during the 

period of the exemption. Turnpike 

stated that doing so would ‘‘enable 

Turnpike to maximize the use of 

RouteTracker in collecting safety and 

regulatory compliance data while 

abiding by a mounting standard that the 

CVSA has determined is safe and 

appropriate.’’ 

On November 7, 2008, Turnpike sent 

FMCSA an amendment to its exemption 

application. Turnpike notes that its 

preferred mounting location is in the 

lower right edge of the windshield, 

outside the area swept by the 

windshield wipers and outside the 

driver’s sight lines to the road and 

highway signs and signals. A copy of 

the amended application is included in 

the docket referenced at the beginning 

of this notice. As such, complying with 

CVSA’s proposed mounting location— 

not more than 2 inches below the upper 

edge of the area swept by the 

windshield wipers—as proposed in its 

original application dated April 2, 2008, 

would not be consistent with Turnpike’s 

preferred mounting location at the 

bottom right of the windshield. 

The amended application requests 

that FMCSA grant an exemption to 

§ 393.60(e)(2) that would permit 

installation of its RouteTracker device 

in the lower right side of the 

windshield, outside the area swept by 

the windshield wipers and outside the 

driver’s sight lines to the road and 

highway signs and signals. Turnpike 

notes that while § 393.60(e)(2) permits 

CVSA inspection decals, and stickers 

and/or decals required under Federal or 

State laws to ‘‘be placed at the bottom 

or sides of the windshield provided 

such decals or stickers do not extend 

more than 41⁄2 inches from the bottom 

of the windshield and are located 

outside the area swept by the 

windshield wipers, and outside the 

drivers’ sight lines to the road and 

highway signs or signals,’’ this section 

applies only to decals and stickers—and 

not to transponders or similar devices 

such as its RouteTracker device. Given 

that the RouteTracker device has 

dimensions of 4′′ x 3.5′′ x 1.25′′, 

Turnpike contends that mounting its 

RouteTracker device in the lower right 

side of the windshield and outside the 

drivers’ sight lines to the road and 

highway signs or signals is consistent 

with that allowed for decals and stickers 

described above, and will not degrade 

safety. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 

and 31136(e), FMCSA requests public 

comment from all interested persons on 

Turnpike’s application for an exemption 

from 49 CFR 393.60. All comments 

received before the close of business on 

the comment closing date indicated at 

the beginning of this notice will be 

considered and will be available for 

examination in the docket at the 

location listed under the ADDRESSES

caption of this notice. Comments 

received after the comment closing date 

will be filed in the public docket and 

will be considered to the extent 

practicable. In addition to late 

comments, FMCSA will also continue to 

file, in the public docket, relevant 

information that becomes available after 

the comment closing date. Interested 

persons should continue to examine the 

public docket for new material. 

Issued on: January 29, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–2431 Filed 2–4–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2002–12844; FMCSA– 

2002–12423; FMCSA–2004–19477] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Vision 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of renewal of 

exemptions; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to renew the exemptions from 

the vision requirement in the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 5 

individuals. FMCSA has statutory 

authority to exempt individuals from 

the vision requirement if the 

exemptions granted will not 

compromise safety. The Agency has 

concluded that granting these 

exemption renewals will provide a level 

of safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety maintained 

without the exemptions for these 

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

drivers. 

DATES: This decision is effective 

February 25, 2009. Comments must be 

received on or before March 9, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA–02– 

12844; FMCSA–02–12423; FMCSA–04– 

19477, using any of the following 

methods. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES