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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3995-3997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00819]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0003]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved 
Information Collection: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer 
Protection

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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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. FMCSA requests OMB's 
renewed approval of the ICR titled ``Transportation of Household Goods; 
Consumer Protection,'' which applies to household goods motor carriers 
who are procured by the public (household goods shippers) to transport 
their household goods. This renewal revises the previous information 
collection's number of respondents, total respondent hours, and cost 
burden.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before March 17, 
2025.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2025-0003 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: 1-202-493-2251.
    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.

[[Page 3996]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donnice Wagoner, Commercial 
Enforcement Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building, 6th Floor, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 366-8045; 
[email protected].

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-2025-0003), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which your comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. 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 FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your 
submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2025-0003/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

    On July 12, 2005, FMCSA published a final rule titled 
``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection Regulations,'' 
(70 FR 39949), which specifies how motor carriers transporting 
household goods by motor vehicle in interstate commerce must assist 
their individual customers who ship household goods. The collected 
information encompasses that which is generated, maintained, and 
provided to, or for, the Agency under 49 CFR part 375.
    On August 10, 2005, the President signed into law the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users ((SAFETEA-LU), Pub. L. 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10, 
2005). The Agency consequently revised this ICR to address these 
statutory impacts in a final rule titled ``Amendments to Implement 
Certain Provisions of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)'' (72 FR 36760, 
July 5, 2007). Section 4205 of SAFETEA-LU amended 49 U.S.C. 14104(b) by 
requiring the household goods motor carrier to conduct a physical 
survey of the household goods to be transported on behalf of the 
individual shipper. The carrier must then provide the shipper with a 
written estimate, based on the physical survey, of charges for the 
transportation and all related services.
    On July 16, 2012, FMCSA published a direct final rule titled 
``Transportation of Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer 
Protection Regulations: Household Goods Motor Carrier Record Retention 
Requirements'' (77 FR 41699) that amended the regulations governing the 
period during which household goods motor carriers must retain 
documentation of an individual shipper's waiver of receipt of printed 
copies of consumer protection materials. In the rulemaking, FMCSA 
reduced the 3-year required retention period for those receipts to one 
year. This change harmonizes the retention period with other document 
retention requirements applicable to household goods motor carriers. 
FMCSA also amended the regulations to clarify that a household goods 
motor carrier is not required to retain waiver documentation from any 
individual shippers for whom the carrier does not actually provide 
services.
    On April 26, 2022, FMCSA updated the regulations at 49 CFR parts 
371 and 375 in a final rule titled ``Implementation of Household Goods 
Working Group Recommendations'' (87 FR 24431). The final rule made 
various changes to the household goods regulations that the Household 
Goods Consumer Protection Working Group recommended to FMCSA. These 
changes include further revisions to streamline FMCSA's publication 
``Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move,'' which are 
incorporated in Appendix A of the regulations, requiring ``Your Rights 
and Responsibilities When You Move'' to be provided along with the 
estimate, requiring new binding or non-binding estimates when an 
individual shipper tenders more goods or requests additional service 
instead of a revised estimate as previously required, allowing a motor 
carrier to provide a virtual survey and removing the 50-mile radius for 
when a survey is required, removing the requirement for an order for 
service and incorporating that document into the bill of lading, as 
well as other minor updates to increase the clarity of the regulations. 
These changes are intended to reduce the paperwork burden on household 
goods motor carriers and reduce confusion for individual shippers.
    The complete collection of information required by the referenced 
final rules assists household goods shippers in their business dealings 
with interstate household goods motor carriers. The information 
collected is used by prospective household goods shippers to make 
informed decisions about contracts and services ordered, executed, and 
settled. The household goods motor carrier is often the final contact 
for individual shippers and is in the best position to educate and 
assist household goods shippers during their move. This information 
collection is intended to combat deceptive business practices by 
requiring household goods motor carriers to conduct physical surveys of 
shippers' items to be transported unless waived in writing by the 
shipper. This information collection is intended to combat deceptive 
business practices by requiring the household goods motor carrier to 
prepare an inventory of the goods shipped and a bill of lading for each 
shipment. This information collection also requires motor carriers to 
obtain weight tickets for each shipment. This information collection 
requires household goods motor carriers to generate and maintain 
additional documents associated with the status of shipment delays and 
to furnish shippers, upon request, the records of contact regarding 
delays. This information collection requires

[[Page 3997]]

household goods motor carriers to keep written or electronic records of 
all complaints received from shippers. This information collection 
helps enforcement personnel better protect consumers by verifying that 
shippers are receiving information as required by regulations.
    FMCSA revises the total annual burden to 3,722,704 hours. This is 
an increase of 14,609 annual burden hours from the currently approved 
3,708,095 burden estimates. The increase is due to an increase in 
Agency estimates.
    Title: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0025.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Household goods motor carriers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,861.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies.
    Expiration Date: July 31, 2025.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3,722,704 hours. The estimated total 
annual burden was calculated using the hourly burden for each of the 
five Information Collections.
    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. 2025-00819 Filed 1-14-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
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