Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2018 / Notices 40841 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

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• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

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553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 

public to better inform its rulemaking 

process. DOT posts these comments, 

without edit, including any personal 

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be reviewed at http://www.dot.gov/ 

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Harrison, AIR–673, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 2200 South 

216th Street, Des Moines, WA 98198, 

phone 206–231–3368, email 

Michael.Harrison@faa.gov; or Alphonso 

Pendergrass, ARM–200, Office of 

Rulemaking, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591, 

phone 202–267–4713, email 

Alphonso.Pendergrass@faa.gov. 

This notice is published pursuant to 

14 CFR 11.85. 

Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on 

August 10, 2018. 

Victor Wicklund, 

Manager, Transport Standards Branch. 

Petition for Exemption 

Docket No.: FAA–2017–0259. 

Petitioner: The Boeing Company. 

Section(s) of 14 CFR Affected: 

§ 25.813(e). 

Description of Relief Sought: The 

Boeing Company requests an 

amendment to Exemption No. 17634 to 

add the Model 777–8 and 777–9 

airplanes, increase the maximum 

number of mini-suites allowed, and 

change the conditions of the exemption 

regarding evacuation analysis. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17641 Filed 8–15–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0087] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Renewal of Existing 

Information Collection Request: Lease 

and Interchange of Vehicles 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

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 

review and approval. 

DATES: Please send your comments by 

September 17, 2018. OMB must receive 

your comments by this date in order to 

act quickly on the ICR. 

ADDRESSES: All comments should 

reference Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket Number 

FMCSA–2018–0087–0001. Interested 

persons are invited to submit written 

comments on the proposed information 

collection to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget. Comments 

should be addressed to the attention of 

the Desk Officer, Department of 

Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration, and sent via 

electronic mail to oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov, or faxed to (202) 395– 

6974, or mailed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Crystal Frederick, Transportation 

Specialist, Compliance Division, 

Department of Transportation, Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 

6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. Telephone: 202–366–2904; 

Email Address: crystal.frederick@

dot.gov. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This ICR 

will enable FMCSA to document the 

burden associated with the for-hire 

truck leasing regulations codified in 49 

CFR part 376, ‘‘Lease and Interchange of 

Vehicles’’ and passenger carrier 

regulations codified at 49 CFR part 390, 

subpart F, ‘‘Lease and Interchange of 

Passenger-Carrying Commercial Motor 

Vehicles.’’ These regulations require 

certain motor carriers to have a formal 

lease when leasing equipment. The 

FMCSA requests approval to renew an 

ICR titled, ‘‘Lease and Interchange of 

Vehicles.’’ 

Title: Lease and Interchange of 

Vehicles. 

OMB Control Number: 2126–0056. 

Type of Request: Renewal of 

information collection. 

Respondents: Motor carriers 

authorized by the Secretary to transport 

property and passengers that use leased 

equipment. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

5,213,193 [18,820 lessees (IC–1) + 

18,820 lessors (IC–1) + 5,175,552 carrier 

representatives (IC–2). 

Estimated Time per Response: Varies 

from 5 to 30 minutes. 

Expiration Date: August 31, 2018. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

1,136,114 hours [18,820 master lease 

(ICR Component 1 (IC–1)) + 62,236 

standard statement (IC–1) + 13,478 

master lease (ICR Component 2 (IC–2)) 

+ 862,592 negotiation (IC–2) + 143,190 

documentation (IC–2) + 0 (negligible) 

copying (IC–2) + 35,798 charter group 

notification (IC–2)]. 

Background: The Secretary of 

Transportation (Secretary) is authorized 

to require a motor carrier that uses 

commercial motor vehicles not owned 

by it to transport property under an 

arrangement with another party to make 

the arrangement in writing. This written 

lease 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 

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 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
40842 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2018 / Notices 

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 leave open how 

many responsibilities must be divided. 

The parties to the lease determine 

numerous details between themselves. 

Part 376 applies only to certain motor 

carriers in interstate commerce and only 

to certain leasing situations based on 

exemptions set forth in 49 CFR 376.11, 

which cross references other provisions 

in part 376. Section 376.11 requires that 

authorized carriers (a person or persons 

authorized to engage in the 

transportation of property as a motor 

carrier under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 

13901 and 13902) may perform 

authorized transportation using 

equipment it does not own only when 

the following conditions are met: (1) 

There shall be a written lease granting 

the use of the equipment and meeting 

the requirements contained in 376.12; 

and (2) Receipts, specifically identifying 

the equipment to be leased and stating 

the date and time of day possession is 

transferred, shall be given; and (3) The 

authorized carrier acquiring the use of 

equipment under this section shall 

identify the equipment as being in its 

service. 

These property and passenger carrier 

provisions account for the burden in 

this information collection. 

This program change increase of 

527,214 estimated annual burden hours 

(1,136,114 proposed estimated annual 

burden hours—608,900 currently 

approved estimated annual burden) is 

due to updated estimates of the number 

of respondents and responses. Previous 

estimates were based on 2014 data. 

Current estimates are based on 

September 26, 2017, Motor Carrier 

Management Information System and 

Safety Measurement System snapshots. 

The data pulled for the current ICR 

shows an increase in the overall number 

of carriers since the data used in the 

previous ICR. The increased carriers 

resulted in an increase in the overall 

burden hours associated with this ICR. 

FMCSA received a total of 13 

comments concerning the Leasing ICR, 

12 in the appropriate docket and 1 

misfiled in another docket in response 

to the 60-day comment Federal Register 

(83 FR 17884), published on April 24, 

2018. Comments were received from the 

following organizations and/or 

individuals: Academy Bus, Adirondack 

Transit Lines, American Bus 

Association, Connecticut Bus 

Association, Elite Coach, FTI Coach 

Lines, Greyhound Lines, Jefferson Lines, 

Burlington Trailways, Anderson Coach 

& Travel, Owner-Operator Independent 

Drivers Association (OOIDA), TransBridge Lines, and Tim Watson from an 

unnamed carrier. 

The majority of the comments 

received made points against the 

Leasing rule that include the following: 

(1) The ICR will present a significant 

paperwork burden to carriers, (2) there 

is a shift in liability from the lessor to 

the lessee without explanation, (3) the 

Leasing rule will negatively impact 

carrier operations and businesses, and 

(4) the ICR should not be approved 

because the Leasing rule itself needs to 

be repealed. Additional, less frequently 

cited points include: (1) The rule will 

negatively impact safety, (2) the 

definition used for the term, ‘‘lease’’ is 

inconsistent with other organizations 

and governments, and (3) FMCSA will 

make changes to the Leasing rule so 

close to the pending compliance date 

that there will be insufficient time to 

address potential remaining issues with 

the rule. 

First, based on FMCSA’s estimates, 

we do not believe there is a significant 

burden represented by this ICR as the 

estimated time per response is between 

5 and 30 minutes and the collection 

frequency is estimated to be 

occasionally. Second, the remainder of 

the comments are out of scope as they 

speak to the leasing rule itself and not 

the collection request represented in 

this ICR. 

One commenter, OOIDA, expressed 

support of the Leasing rule. OOIDA 

made the following points: (1) The 

Leasing rule ensures that motor carriers 

take more responsibility in the lessor/ 

lessee relationship and diminishes 

abuse of that relationship, (2) the 

burden for complying with the rule will 

not be significant, and (3) the Leasing 

rule supports safety by permitting 

owner-operators to manage their 

business and not drive when tired. 

Additionally, OOIDA also commented 

specifically on the collection outlined in 

the ICR, indicating the following: 

‘‘Although it is fair to estimate that the 

information that the Rules require to be 

disclosed may fit on a single page, some 

carriers choose to express the required 

lease provisions in more lengthy 

documents. Leases are often multiple 

pages because they also contain 

contractual provisions beyond those 

required by the rules. That factors leans 

toward a higher burden (at the choice of 

motor carriers) than estimated by the 

Agency. The typical lease is for a term 

of one year, and such leases are 

regularly self-renewing and not 

recreated and affirmed on an annual 

basis. Therefore, in these instances, the 

burden of issuing copies of leases would 

be less.’’ While FMCSA appreciates 

these points on the length of documents 

and self-renewal, without specific 

numbers on document length or 

frequency of self-renewals we have no 

specific basis to adjust the numbers in 

the ICR and intend to keep the estimates 

proposed at this time. 

As FMCSA announced in a notice 

titled, Proposal in response to petitions 

for reconsideration; request for public 

comments, dated June 16, 2017, it 

intends to publish a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to revise the 2015 

final rule, reducing the burdens 

generally it would have imposed on 

motor carriers of passengers [82 FR 

27768]. Currently, FMCSA is working 

on the NPRM and expects to publish it 

later in 2018. The compliance date of 

the 2015 rule, currently January 1, 2019 

[82 FR 27766], will be extended and 

ultimately replaced by a new 

compliance date adopted upon 

completion of the forthcoming 

rulemaking. For the purpose of this ICR 

all of the burden from the existing 

regulations must be assessed. 

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 FMCSA to perform its 

functions; (2) the accuracy of the 

estimated burden; (3) ways for the 

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. 

Issued under the authority delegated in 49 

CFR 1.87 on: August 8, 2018. 

G. Kelly Regal, 

Associate Administrator for Office of 

Research and Information Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17683 Filed 8–15–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 


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