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###### Department of Transportation

###### Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

          - [Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0204]

# AGENCY:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

# ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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. FMCSA requests approval to revise and renew an ICR titled “Driver Qualification Files,” OMB Control Number 2126-0004. The ICR estimates the burden commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and motor carriers incur to comply with the reporting and recordkeeping tasks required for motor carriers to maintain driver qualification (DQ) files. The Agency's regulations pertaining to maintaining DQ files are unchanged and impose no increased information collection (IC) burden on individual drivers and motor carriers. However, the Agency increases its estimate of the total IC burden of these regulations primarily because both the number of CMV drivers and the frequency of their hiring have increased since the Agency's 2022 estimate of this burden.

# DATES:

Comments on this notice must be received on or before February 21, 2025.

# ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-2024-0204 using any of the following methods:
      -  Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.                          Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.                    
      -  Mail:                          Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.                    
      -  Hand Delivery or Courier:                          Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 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.                    
      -  Fax:                          (202) 493-2251.                    

                        To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. See the “Public Participation and Request for Comments” portion of the                         **SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION**                         section for instructions on submitting comments.                    

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Ms. Pearlie Robinson, Driver and Carrier Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 202-366-4225;                         *pearlie.robinson@dot.gov*

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

## 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                     *https://www.regulations.gov,*                     including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.                

## Public Participation and Request for Comments

If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this notice (FMCSA-2024-0204), indicate the specific section of this document to which the comment applies and provide a reason for suggestions or recommendations. You may submit your comments and material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your document so the Agency can contact you if it has questions regarding your submission.

                    To submit your comment online, go to                     *https://www.regulations.gov/​docket/​FMCSA-2024-0204*                     document, click on this notice, click “Comment,” and type your comment into the text box on the following screen.                

                    If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8                    1/2                     by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing.                

Comments received after the comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.

## Privacy Act

                    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these comments, 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 (FDMS)), which can be reviewed at                     *https://www.transportation.gov/​individuals/​privacy/​privacy-act-system-records-notices.*                     The comments are posted without edits and are searchable by the name of the submitter.                

## Background

The Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-554, title II, 98 Stat. 2834 (Oct. 30, 1984)) requires the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations pertaining to CMV safety. Part 391 of volume 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) contains the minimum qualifications of drivers of CMVs in interstate commerce.

Motor carriers may not require or permit an unqualified driver to operate a CMV. The foremost proof of driver qualification is the information that part 391 requires be collected and maintained in the DQ file (49 CFR 391.51). Motor carriers must obtain this information from sources specified in the regulations, such as the driver, previous employers of the driver, and officials of the State of driver licensure. Motor carriers are not required to forward DQ information to FMCSA but must maintain the information in a DQ file and make it available to State and Federal safety investigators on demand.

Through this ICR, FMCSA is asking OMB's approval to renew and revise its estimate of the paperwork burden imposed by its DQ file regulations. The regulations have not been amended; the IC burden imposed on individual drivers and motor carriers by the regulations is unchanged. The current IC burden estimate approved by OMB is 14.23 million hours. The Agency has increased its estimate of the total IC burden from 14.23 million hours to 18.39 million hours. The increase in burden hours is primarily the result of a larger driver population and a higher driver turnover rate, both of which affect the volume of documents produced and filed in DQ files. The draft supporting statement for this ICR is available in the docket.

*Title:*                     Driver Qualification Files.                

*OMB Control Number:*                     2126-0004.                

*Type of Request:*                     Renewal of a currently approved information collection.                

*Respondents:*                     CMV motor carriers and drivers.                

*Estimated Number of Respondents:*                     9.87 million (9.06 million drivers + 0.81 million motor carriers).                

*Expiration Date:*                     May 31, 2025.                          ( print page 104605)    

*Frequency of Response:*                     The information on some DQ documents is only provided one time, such as that furnished at the time the individual applies for employment as a driver. Other information must be obtained by the motor carrier within 30 days of the date the driver begins to drive a CMV for the employer. Other information, such as the driver's motor vehicle record, is only updated once a year.                

*Estimated Total Annual Burden:*                     18.39 million hours.                

*Definitions:*                     N/A.                

*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 delegated in 49 CFR 1.87.

Thomas P. Keane,

Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.

[FR Doc. 2024-30516 Filed 12-20-24; 8:45 am]

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