Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 239 / Thursday, December 14, 2023 / Notices 86725 

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 

1.87. 

Thomas P. Keane, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Registration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27456 Filed 12–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0159] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Renewal of an Approved 

Information Collection: Inspection, 

Repair and Maintenance 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (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 its 

review and approval and invites public 

comment. The information collection 

concerns records of inspection, repair, 

and maintenance of commercial motor 

vehicles (CMVs). FMCSA is seeking to 

renew an ICR titled, ‘‘Inspection, Repair 

and Maintenance.’’ 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received on or before January 16, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jose R. Cestero, Vehicle and Roadside 

Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, 

West Building, 6th Floor, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590; 202–366–5541; jose.cestero@

dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Inspection, Repair and 

Maintenance. 

OMB Control Number: 2126–0003. 

Type of Request: Renewal of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Respondents: Motor carriers and CMV 

drivers. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

757,652 motor carriers and 5,646,722 

drivers. 

Estimated Time per Response: Varies 

according to the requirements for 

specific records. 

Expiration Date: December 31, 2023. 

Frequency of Response: Varies 

according to requirements for specific 

records. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

19,103,153 hours [14,602,802 hours for 

inspection, repair, and maintenance + 

3,516,342 hours for driver inspection 

reports + 161,528 hours for disposition 

of roadside inspection reports + 777,864 

hours for periodic inspections + 23,571 

hours for records of inspector 

qualifications + 21,046 hours for records 

of brake inspector qualifications]. 

Background 

The Secretary of Transportation 

(Secretary) is authorized under the 

provisions of 49 U.S.C. 31502 to 

prescribe requirements for, among other 

things, safety of operations of 

equipment of motor carriers that operate 

CMVs in interstate commerce. Under 49 

U.S.C. 31136, the Secretary also has 

authority to prescribe regulations to 

ensure that CMVs are maintained, 

equipped, loaded, and operated safely. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31142 the Secretary 

must establish standards for annual or 

more frequent inspections of CMVs. The 

Secretary’s authority to establish 

improved standards or methods to 

ensure brakes and brake systems of 

CMVs are inspected by appropriate 

employees and maintained properly is 

provided under 49 U.S.C. 31137(g). 

Motor carriers must maintain, or 

require maintenance of, records 

documenting the inspection, repair and 

maintenance activities performed on 

their owned and leased vehicles. There 

are no prescribed forms. Electronic 

recordkeeping is allowed (see 49 Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR) 390.31(d)). 

Documents requiring a signature must 

be capable of replication (e.g., 

photocopy, facsimile, etc.) in such form 

that will provide an opportunity for 

signature verification upon demand. 

Also, if electronic recordkeeping is 

used, all the relevant data on the 

original documents must be included in 

the electronic transmission for the 

records to be valid. 

Most motor carriers would keep some 

records without any regulatory 

requirements to do so. Records of 

inspection, repair, and maintenance; 

roadside inspection reports; driver 

vehicle inspection reports; the 

documentation of periodic inspections; 

the evidence of the qualifications of 

individuals performing periodic 

inspections; and the evidence of brake 

inspectors’ qualifications contain the 

minimum amount of information 

necessary to document that a motor 

carrier has established a system of 

inspection, repair, and maintenance for 

its equipment which meets the 

standards in 49 CFR part 396. 

FMCSA and its representatives use 

these records to verify motor carriers’ 

compliance with the inspection, repair, 

and maintenance standards in part 396. 

This ICR supports DOT’s strategic goal 

of safety. The ICR also ensures that 

motor carriers have adequate records to 

document the inspection, repair, and 

maintenance of their CMVs, and to 

ensure that adequate measures are taken 

to keep their CMVs in safe and proper 

operating condition at all times. 

Compliance with the inspection, repair, 

and maintenance regulations helps to 

reduce the likelihood of accidents 

attributable, in whole or in part, to the 

mechanical condition of the CMV. 

This ICR submittal includes updated 

data regarding the number of motor 

carriers subject to the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations, vehicle 

counts, inspections, and other 

underlying data used to estimate the 

total burden hours. 

If the recordkeeping were required to 

be completed less frequently, it would 

greatly hinder the ability of FMCSA and 

State officials and representatives to 

ascertain that CMVs are satisfactorily 

maintained. The timely documentation 

of CMV inspection, repair, and 

maintenance enables FMCSA and State 

officials to evaluate the present state of 

a motor carrier’s CMV maintenance 

program and to check the current level 

of regulatory compliance at any point in 

a carrier’s maintenance schedule or 

program. 

FMCSA has identified periodic 

inspection standards of 22 States, the 

District of Columbia, the Alabama 

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board, 10 

Canadian Provinces, and one Canadian 

Territory that are comparable to, or as 

effective as, the Federal periodic 

inspection requirements. FMCSA does 

not require Federal periodic inspections 

and the related recordkeeping for motor 

carriers that comply with these 

equivalent periodic inspection 

programs. FMCSA is not aware of any 

other duplicative standards or 

recordkeeping requirements that apply 

to motor carriers. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
86726 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 239 / Thursday, December 14, 2023 / Notices 

On September 25, 2023, FMCSA 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register with a 60-day public comment 

period to announce this request to 

update the information collection (88 

FR 65764). The Agency received one 

comment from Whip Around in 

response to the notice. Whip Around 

provided general support for the ICR, 

however, they suggested the use of 

electronic recordkeeping to reduce the 

need for frequent inspection, repair, and 

maintenance. 

While this comment does not impact 

the information collection, FMCSA 

agrees with Whip Around’s assessment 

that the process of creating, obtaining, 

and retaining documents can be 

improved by digitizing and automating 

vehicle inspection, repairs, and 

maintenance recordkeeping. The 

Agency has actively pursued this 

objective, evident by the amendment on 

December 16, 2015 (80 FR 78292). This 

amendment established minimum 

performance and design standards for 

electronic logging devices (ELDs) related 

to hours-of-service (HOS), mandating 

their use for drivers preparing HOS 

records of duty status. The amendment 

aims to enhance CMV safety, reduce 

paperwork burdens for motor carriers 

and drivers, and improve compliance 

with applicable HOS rules by promoting 

the use of ELDs. 

Additionally, on April 16, 2018 (83 

FR 16210), FMCSA introduced 

amendments permitting the use of 

electronic records and signatures. This 

aligned, in part, with the Government 

Paperwork Elimination Act and the 

Electronic Signatures in Global and 

National Commerce Act, as it only 

applies to those documents that 

FMCSA’s regulations obligate entities or 

individuals to retain. The amendment 

also updated references to outdated 

recordkeeping and reporting methods 

throughout chapter III of subtitle B of 49 

CFR (49 CFR parts 300 through 399) to 

make them technologically neutral. 

FMCSA’s ongoing efforts include 

projects related to providing data 

electronically during roadside 

inspections. One such project is the 

Operational Test of In-Motion CMV 

Inspections (Level VIII Inspections) in 

collaboration with the Commercial 

Vehicle Safety Alliance, which was 

noted by Whip Around in its comment. 

The project’s goal is to transmit data 

through the vehicle’s telematics to 

roadside inspectors while the vehicle is 

in motion. In addition to these efforts, 

the Agency will continue to pursue 

opportunities to increase safety and 

reduce the burden to motor carriers and 

CMV drivers. 

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 

ICR. 

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87. 

Thomas P. Keane, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Registration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27459 Filed 12–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0024] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Hearing 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to exempt 11 individuals from 

the hearing requirement in the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 

(FMCSRs) to operate a commercial 

motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate 

commerce. The exemptions enable these 

hard of hearing and deaf individuals to 

operate CMVs in interstate commerce. 

DATES: The exemptions are applicable 

on December 11, 2023. The exemptions 

expire on December 11, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Christine A. Hydock, Chief, Medical 

Programs Division, FMCSA, DOT, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W64–224, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, (202) 366– 

4001, fmcsamedical@dot.gov. Office 

hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. If you have questions 

regarding viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, contact Dockets 

Operations, (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

A. Viewing Comments 

To view comments go to 

www.regulations.gov. Insert the docket 

number (FMCSA–2023–0024) in the 

keyword box and click ‘‘Search.’’ Next, 

sort the results by ‘‘Posted (OlderNewer),’’ choose the first notice listed, 

and click ‘‘Browse Comments.’’ If you 

do not have access to the internet, you 

may view the docket online by visiting 

Dockets Operations in on the ground 

floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590–0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

ET Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. To be sure someone is 

there to help you, please call (202) 366– 

9317 or (202) 366–9826 before visiting 

Dockets Operations. 

B. Privacy Act 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

31315(b)(6), DOT solicits comments 

from the public on the exemption 

requests. DOT posts these comments, 

without edit, including any personal 

information the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov. As described in 

the system of records notice DOT/ALL 

14 (Federal Docket Management 

System), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/ 

individuals/privacy/privacy-act-systemrecords-notices, the comments are 

searchable by the name of the submitter. 

II. Background 

On November 1, 2023, FMCSA 

published a notice announcing receipt 

of applications from 11 individuals 

requesting an exemption from the 

hearing requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(11) to operate a CMV in 

interstate commerce and requested 

comments from the public (88 FR 

75088). The public comment period 

ended on December 1, 2023, and five 

comments were received. 

FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility 

of these applicants and determined that 

granting exemptions to these 

individuals would likely achieve a level 

of safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level that would be achieved 

by complying with § 391.41(b)(11). 

The physical qualification standard 

for drivers regarding hearing found in 

§ 391.41(b)(11) states that a person is 

physically qualified to drive a CMV if 

that person first perceives a forced 

whispered voice in the better ear at not 

less than 5 feet with or without the use 

of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of 

an audiometric device, does not have an 

average hearing loss in the better ear 

greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 

Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a 

hearing aid when the audiometric 

device is calibrated to American 

National Standard (formerly ASA 

Standard) Z24.5—1951. 


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