Document ID: FMCSA-2009-0035-0001
Agency: fmcsa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection Request: Annual Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Survey: Work and Compensation
Posted Date: 2009-06-02T04:00Z

[Federal Register: June 2, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 104)]
[Notices]               
[Page 26458-26459]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02jn09-124]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0035]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information 
Collection Request: Annual Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Survey: Work 
and Compensation

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 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 review 
and approval. The purpose of this new information collection is to 
acquire general information regarding the commercial motor vehicle 
(CMV) driving population and specific information on driver work 
history, work scheduling, and compensation. This information is needed 
in many different types of analyses conducted by the FMCSA and would 
benefit the agency in understanding the impacts of proposed rules and 
the improvement of its safety programs. On December 12, 2008, FMCSA 
published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment 
period on the ICR. One comment was received.

DATES: Please send your comments by July 2, 2009. 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-2008-0035. 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: Dr. Mindy Shalaby, Economist, Analysis 
Division, Office of Analysis, Research and Technology, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 493-0304; e-mail Mindy.Shalaby@dot.gov. 
Requests for additional information or copies of the information 
collection instrument and instructions should be directed to Dr. 
Michelle Yeh, Engineering Psychologist, Human Factors Division, Volpe 
National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 
02124. Telephone: (617) 494-3459; e-mail Michelle.Yeh@dot.gov. Office 
hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Annual Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Survey: Work and 
Compensation.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX.
    Type of Request: New information collection request.
    Respondents: Commercial motor vehicle drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 576 commercial motor vehicle 
drivers.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes per response.
    Expiration Date: N/A.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 144 hours [576 respondents x 15 
minutes/60 minutes per response = 144].
    Background: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration seeks 
to understand the commercial motor vehicle driving population. Driver-
related factors are an important consideration in CMV crashes, but 
there is no comprehensive nationwide source of information describing 
the population of drivers operating CMVs in the United States (U.S.). 
Estimates of the number of commercial drivers and particular subsets of 
drivers (e.g., local, short-haul, and long-haul) are needed and would 
benefit FMCSA in assessing the impacts of proposed rules and 
improvements needed in its safety programs. In particular, information 
on driver work history, work schedule, and compensation is needed in 
many different types of analyses conducted by FMCSA.
    Driver work history addresses how long a CMV driver has been 
working in the industry, his/her level of experience, and his/her type 
of experience. These items include questions regarding driver tenure 
with his/her current employer and the number of past employers to 
provide information regarding the driver turnover rate. The agency 
would also collect information under these items about driver training 
to understand how drivers learned to operate their CMVs and the amount 
of training that is ongoing in the industry. The driver work schedule 
item examines the issue of how much drivers work and the activities in 
which they are engaged when they work (e.g., driving time, loading 
time, waiting time). FMCSA is interested in understanding how drivers' 
work schedules are tracked (e.g., with paper log books or Electronic 
On-Board Recorders (EOBRs)). Finally, driver compensation collects 
information on how much drivers earn and how they are paid (e.g., 
salary, by hour, or by mile). This data will allow FMCSA to estimate an 
average wage rate, which can be used to understand the cost imposed on 
drivers by current and proposed regulations.
    The goals of this survey are to acquire general demographic 
information regarding the commercial motor vehicle driving population, 
and specific information on driver work history, work scheduling, and 
compensation. Data for this project would be collected via driver 
interviews. The results of the information collection would be 
summarized in a report developed for the FMCSA and made available to 
the public.

[[Page 26459]]

    On December 12, 2008, the FMCSA published a Federal Register notice 
on this same topic and provided 60 days for public comment (73 FR 
75793). The Agency received one comment from the Owner-Operator 
Independent Drivers Association, INC (OOIDA) in response to the notice. 
OOIDA expressed support for the survey and provided several suggestions 
on how the survey questions and methodology for collecting the data 
could be improved. FMCSA will consider these suggestions during the 
implementation of the survey.
    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 on: May 26, 2009.
David C. Anewalt,
Acting Associate Administrator, Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. E9-12777 Filed 6-1-09; 8:45 am]

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