39496 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

unproductive, as the company must 

incur added expense to send the driver 

to his or her home State to collect a CDL 

document. Under the rule, the driver is 

not only unable to utilize newly 

acquired driving skills, but must also 

forego compensation before obtaining a 

CDL. CRST believes that FMCSA should 

renew the exemption for an additional 

5-year period because it results in safer 

drivers. It allows CRST to foster a more 

productive and efficient training 

environment by allowing CLP holders to 

hone their recently acquired driving 

skills through on-the job-training and to 

begin earning an income right away, 

producing immediate benefits for the 

driver, the carrier, and the economy as 

a whole. 

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or 

Greater Level of Safety 

CRST states that the exemption does 

not negatively affect safety outcomes. 

Instead, the exemption allows drivers 

trained out-of-State to obtain on-the-job 

experience in CRST’s comprehensive 

training program while avoiding 

significant delays and skill degradation. 

The exemption creates immediate 

economic and safety benefits for both 

the CLP holders and CRST—drivers 

earn an income as part of a team 

operation while improving their driver 

skills and gaining valuable experience. 

CRST indicated in its renewal 

application that data show that drivers 

utilizing the exemption demonstrated 

better safety outcomes than non-exempt 

drivers. Through the end of 2016, CRST 

reported zero accidents to FMCSA 

involving drivers utilizing the 

exemption. 

In the June 12, 2017, Federal Register, 

FMCSA granted the renewal of a similar 

exemption from 49 CFR 383.25(a)(1) to 

C.R. England, Inc. (C.R. England) for a 

five-year period. Under the terms and 

conditions of that exemption, a CLP 

holder who has documentation of 

passing the CDL skills test may drive a 

CMV for C.R. England without being 

accompanied by a CDL holder in the 

front seat. The Agency believed that 

C.R. England’s request for exemption 

would achieve a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

of safety achieved without the 

exemption (82 FR 26975). 

A copy of CRST’s application for 

exemption renewal is available for 

review in the docket for this notice. 

Issued on: August 2, 2018. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17063 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0159] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Revision of an Approved 

Information Collection Request: 

Commercial Driver Licensing and Test 

Standards 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

information. 

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. 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 and the addition of one 

information collection item: ‘‘Driver 

completion of knowledge and skills 

tests 49 CFR 384.201.’’ 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 and transmitted and recorded 

within certain time periods as required 

by the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety 

Act of 1986 (CMVSA), as amended. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before October 9, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) Docket 

Number FMCSA–2126–0011 using any 

of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations; 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 12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 

5:00 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, 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 website. If you want 

us to notify you that we received your 

comments, please include a selfaddressed, 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: Mr. 

Selden Fritschner, Office of Safety 

Programs, Commercial Driver’s License 

Division (MC–ESL), Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration, West 

Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. Telephone: 202–366–0677; email: 

selden.fritschner@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: The licensed drivers in 

the United States deserve reasonable 

assurance 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) Public Law 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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 39497 

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, 

CMV drivers could avoid punishment 

for their infringements, and stay behind 

the wheel. 

The CMVSA addressed these 

problems. Section 12002 of the Act 

makes it illegal for a CMV operator to 

have more than one driver’s license. 

Section 12003 requires 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 directs 

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 requires each 

person who has a 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 

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. 

Section 12011 of the CMVSA states 

that the Secretary shall withhold a 

portion of the Federal-aid highway 

funds apportioned to a State if the State 

does not substantially comply with the 

requirements in section 12009(a) of the 

Act. The information gathered during 

State compliance reviews is used to 

determine whether States are complying 

with these requirements. 

A final rule was published on July 31, 

2002 (67 FR 49742) implementing 15 of 

the 16 CDL related provisions of the 

Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act 

of 1999 (MCSIA) (Pub. L. 106–159, 113 

Stat. 1748 (Dec. 9, 1999)) that were 

designed to enhance the safety of 

drivers on our nation’s highways by 

ensuring that only safe drivers operate 

CMVs. These new requirements are 

contained in 49 CFR part 383 and 

include: Five new major and serious 

disqualifying offenses (section 383.51): 

Non-CMV disqualifying offenses by a 

CDL holder (section 383.51); 

disqualification of drivers determined to 

be an imminent hazard (section 383.52); 

a new school bus endorsement (section 

383.123); a prohibition on issuing a 

hardship license to operate a CMV 

while under suspension (section 

384.210); a prohibition on masking 

convictions (section 384.226); and 

various requirements for transmitting, 

posting and retaining driver convictions 

and disqualification records. 

A Final Rule was published on 

December 1, 2008 (73 FR 73096) that 

implemented the 16th CDL related 

provision of MCSIA, the merging of the 

medical certification and CDL issuing 

processes. 

An interim final rule (IFR) was 

published on May 5, 2003 (68 FR 23844) 

as a companion rule to the 

Transportation Security 

Administration’s (TSA’s) May 5, 2003 

IFR implementing section 1012 of the 

USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. 107–56) on 

security threat assessments for drivers 

applying for or renewing a CDL with a 

hazardous materials endorsement. 

While TSA set the requirements in their 

rule; FMCSA has the responsibility as 

part of the CDL testing and issuance 

process to ensure that States are in 

compliance with the TSA requirements. 

Section 4019 of the Transportation 

Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA– 

21), Public Law 105–178, 112 Stat. June 

8, 1999, requires the Secretary of 

Transportation to review the procedures 

established and implemented by the 

States under 49 U.S.C. 31305 for CDL 

knowledge and skills testing to 

determine whether the current testing 

system is an accurate measure and 

reflection of an individual’s knowledge 

and skills to operate a CMV. The results 

of this review were incorporated into 

the new ‘‘2005 CDL Test System.’’ A 

final rule was published on May 9, 

2011, that requires the use of a State 

Testing System that is comparable to the 

2005 CDL Test System. 

Section 4122 of the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users, Public Law 

109–59, August 10, 2005, requires the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) to 

prescribe regulations on minimum 

uniform standards for the issuance of 

commercial learner’s permits (CLPs), as 

it has already done for CDLs [49 U.S.C. 

31308]. More specifically, section 4122 

provides that an applicant for a CLP 

must first pass a knowledge test which 

complies with minimum standards 

prescribed by the Secretary and may 

have only one CLP at a time; that the 

CLP document must have the same 

information and security features as the 

CDL; and that the data on each CLP 

holder must be added to the driver’s 

record in CDLIS. The Final Rule 

published on May 9, 2011 also includes 

each of those requirements. 

Section 703 of the Security and 

Accountability for Every Port Act of 

2006 (SAFE Port Act), Public Law 109– 

347, October 13, 2006, requires the 

Secretary of Transportation to 

promulgate regulations implementing 

the recommendations in a memorandum 

issued by the DOT’s Office of the 

Inspector General (OIG) on June 4, 2004, 

concerning verification of the legal 

status of commercial drivers, as well as 

the recommendations in a report issued 

by the OIG on February 7, 2006, titled 

‘‘Oversight of the Commercial Driver’s 

License Program’’ dealing with steps 

needed to improve anti-fraud measures 

in the CDL program. The specific 

recommendations include: The 

establishment of a legal presence 

requirement for CDL issuance; declaring 

a State out of substantial compliance 

with the CDL requirements if the State 

fails to impose adequate internal 

controls to detect and help prevent 

fraud in the CDL program or fails to take 


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39498 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

adequate corrective action when fraud is 

discovered; and imposed sanctions 

against States for noncompliance. This 

Final Rule published on May 9, 2011 

includes all the OIG’s 

recommendations. Many of the 

operational procedures suggested by the 

OIG for carrying out the 

recommendations have also been 

adopted. 

This information collection supports 

the DOT Strategic Goal of Safety by 

requiring that drivers of CMVs are 

properly licensed according to all 

applicable Federal requirements. 

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 

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 compliance 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. 

This request for renewed approval 

includes one additional information 

collection item: ‘‘Driver completion of 

knowledge and skills tests [49 CFR 

384.201].’’ This section is added as a 

result of a new requirement for States to 

assure the testing of commercial 

learner’s permits follow a standardized 

testing procedure. 

Title: Commercial Driver Licensing 

and Test Standards. 

OMB Number: 2126–0011. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

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: 

7,364,972 driver respondents and 4,746 

State respondents. 

Estimated Time per Response: Varies. 

Expiration Date: October 31, 2018. 

Frequency of Response: Varies. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

2,825,503 hours, which is the total of 

four tasks for CDL drivers (2,403,248 

hours), added to a total of eight tasks for 

State driver licensing agency CDL 

activities (422,255 hours). 

Information collection tasks and 

associated burden hours are as follows: 

IC–1.1 Driver Notification of 

Convictions/Disqualifications to 

Employer: 473,577 hours 

IC–1.2 Driver Providing Previous 

Employment History to New 

Employer: 297,758 hours 

IC–1.3 Driver Completion of the CDL 

Application Form: 40,719 hours 

IC–1.4 Driver Completion of Knowledge 

and Skills Tests: 1,591,194 hours 

IC–2.1 State Recording of Medical 

Examiner’s Certificate Information: 

80,344 hours 

IC–2.2 State Recording of the Self 

Certification of Commercial Motor 

Vehicle (CMV) Operation: 3,018 hours 

IC–2.3 State Verification of Medical 

Certification Status: 3,180 

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: 214,548 hours 

IC–2.7 Knowledge and Skills Test 

Recordkeeping: 82,034 hours 

IC–2.8 Knowledge and Skills Test 

Examiner Certification: 27,299 hours 

Definitions: Under 49 CFR 383.5: 

Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

means a motor vehicle or combination 

of motor vehicles used in commerce to 

transport passengers or property if the 

motor vehicle— 

(1) Has a gross combination weight 

rating or gross combination weight of 

11,794 kilograms or more (26,001 

pounds or more), whichever is greater, 

inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross 

vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle 

weight of more than 4,536 kilograms 

(10,000 pounds), whichever is greater; 

or 

(2) Has a gross vehicle weight rating 

or gross vehicle weight of 11,794 or 

more kilograms (26,001 pounds or 

more), whichever is greater; or 

(3) Is designed to transport 16 or more 

passengers, including the driver; or 

(4) Is of any size and is used in the 

transportation of hazardous materials as 

defined in this section. 

Hazardous materials means any 

material that has been designated as 

hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is 

required to be placarded under subpart 

F of 49 CFR part 172 or any quantity of 

a material listed as a select agent or 

toxin in 42 CFR part 73. 

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 under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 

on: August 2, 2018. 

Kelly Regal, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Information Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17064 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0246] 

Hours of Service of Drivers: HEPACO, 

LLC; Heritage Environmental Services, 

LLC; Lewis Environmental, Inc.; and 

Moran Environmental Recovery, LLC; 

Application for Exemption 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has 

received a joint application from 

HEPACO, LLC; Heritage Environmental 

Services, LLC; Lewis Environmental, 

Inc.; and Moran Environmental 

Recovery, LLC, for exemption from the 

hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for 

drivers engaged in providing direct 

assistance in environmental 

emergencies or potential environmental 

emergencies. The applicants request a 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES