
[Federal Register: January 15, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 10)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 2467-2469]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ja10-17]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 395

[Docket No. FMCSA-2004-19608]
RIN 2126-AB26

 
Hours of Service

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

ACTION: Notice of public listening session.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it will hold a public listening session 
(in addition to those identified in a Federal Register notice on 
January 5, 2010) to solicit comments and information on potential 
hours-of-service (HOS) regulations. Specifically, the Agency wants to 
know what factors, issues, and data it should be aware of as it 
prepares to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on HOS 
requirements for property-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 
drivers. This session will be held in the Davenport, Iowa area. The 
listening session will allow interested persons to present comments, 
views, and relevant research on revisions FMCSA should consider in its 
forthcoming rulemaking. All comments will be transcribed and placed in 
the rulemaking docket for the FMCSA's consideration.

DATES: This listening session will be held on Thursday, January 28, 
2010, in Davenport, Iowa. It will begin at 1 p.m. local time and end at 
9 p.m., or earlier, if all participants wishing to express their views 
have done so.

ADDRESSES: The January 28 meeting will be held in Davenport, Iowa, at 
the Comfort Inn Hotel and Suites, 8300 Northwest Boulevard, Davenport, 
Iowa 52806 (563-324-8300).
    You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2004-19608 using any of the following 
methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the

[[Page 2468]]

online instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Each submission must include the Agency name and the docket number 
for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments received without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
140 on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The online Federal document management system 
is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you want 
acknowledgment that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement 
page that appears after submitting comments online.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
You may review DOT's Privacy Act Statement for the FDMS published in 
the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or you may visit 
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For special accommodations for this 
listening session, such as sign language interpretation, contact Mr. 
David Miller, Regulatory Development Division, (202) 366-5370 or at 
FMCSAregs@dot.gov, by January 20, 2010, to allow us to arrange for such 
services. There is no guarantee that interpreter services requested on 
short notice can be provided. For information concerning the hours-of-
service rules, contact Mr. Tom Yager, Chief, Driver and Carrier 
Operations Division, (202) 366-4325, mcpsd@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On October 26, 2009, Public Citizen, et al. (Petitioners) and FMCSA 
entered into a settlement agreement under which the parties agreed to 
seek to hold Petitioners' petition for judicial review of the November 
19, 2008 Final Rule on drivers' hours of service in abeyance pending 
the publication of an NPRM. The settlement agreement states that FMCSA 
will submit the draft NPRM to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
within nine months, and publish a Final Rule within 21 months, of the 
date of the settlement agreement. The current rule will remain in 
effect during the rulemaking proceedings.
    On January 5, 2010, FMCSA announced its plans to hold three public 
listening sessions concerning the HOS rulemaking (75 FR 285). FMCSA 
announces a fourth public listening session to solicit written and/or 
oral comments and information on potential revisions to the HOS rule. 
The Agency will provide further opportunity for public comment when the 
NPRM is published.
    This listening session will be held within walking distance of the 
Flying J Travel Plaza, 8200 Northwest Boulevard near the intersection 
of Interstate Highway 80 at Exit 292, Davenport, Iowa 52806 (563-386-
7710).

II. Meeting Participation

    This listening session is open to the public. Speakers' remarks 
will be limited to 10 minutes each. The public may submit material to 
the FMCSA staff at each session for inclusion in the public docket, 
FMCSA-2004-19608.

III. Questions for Discussion During the Listening Sessions

    In preparing their comments, meeting participants should consider 
the following questions about possible alternatives to the current HOS 
requirements. These scenarios are merely set forth for discussion; 
FMCSA will not necessarily include them in an NPRM but would request 
similar information and data in an NPRM. Answers to these questions 
should be based upon the experience of the participants and any data or 
information they can share with FMCSA.

A. Rest and On-Duty Time

    1. Would mandatory short rest periods during the work day improve 
driver alertness in the operation of a CMV? How long should these rest 
periods be? At what point in the duty cycle or drive-time would short 
rest periods provide the greatest benefit? What are the unintended 
consequences if these short rest periods are mandatory? Should the on-
duty period be extended to allow for mandatory rest periods?
    2. If rest or other breaks from driving improve alertness, could a 
driver who chooses to take specified minimum breaks be given scheduling 
flexibility--the ability to borrow an hour from another driving day 
once a week, for example--if that flexibility would not increase safety 
risks or adversely impact driver health?
    3. How many hours per day and per week would be safe and healthy 
for a truck driver to work?
    4. Would an hours-of-service rule that allows drivers to drive an 
hour less when driving overnight improve driver alertness and improve 
safety? Are there any adverse consequences that could arise from the 
implementation of a separate night time hours-of-service regulation?

B. Restart to the 60- and 70-Hour Rule

    1. Is a 34-consecutive-hour off-duty period long enough to provide 
restorative sleep regardless of the number of hours worked prior to the 
restart? Is the answer different for a driver working a night or 
irregular schedule?
    2. What would be the impact of mandating two overnight off-duty 
periods, e.g., from midnight to 6 a.m., as a component of a restart 
period? Would such a rule present additional enforcement challenges?
    3. How is the current restart provision being used by drivers? Do 
drivers restart their calculations after 34 consecutive hours or do 
drivers take longer periods of time for the restart?

C. Sleeper Berth Use

    1. If sleeper-berth time were split into two periods, what is the 
minimum time in each period necessary to provide restorative sleep?
    2. Could the 14-hour on-duty limitation be extended by the amount 
of some additional sleeper-berth time without detrimental effect on 
highway safety? What would be the appropriate length of such a limited 
sleeper-berth rest period?

D. Loading and Unloading Time

    1. What effect has the fixed 14-hour driving ``window'' had on the 
time drivers spend waiting to load or unload? Have shippers and 
receivers changed their practices to reduce the amount of time drivers 
spend waiting to load or unload?

[[Page 2469]]

E. General

    1. Are there aspects of the current rule that do not increase 
safety risks or adversely impact driver health and that should be 
preserved?

    Issued on: January 13, 2010.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2010-826 Filed 1-13-10; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P

