2011-30741. Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved Information Collection: Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight Forwarders

AGENCY:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 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 review and approval and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests approval to revise an ICR entitled, “Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight Forwarders,” which is used to provide registered motor carriers, property brokers, and freight forwarders a means of meeting process agent requirements.

DATES:

We must receive your comments on or before January 30, 2012.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2011-0289 using any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: [phone].
• Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 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. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the exemption process, see the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov,, and follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street address listed above.

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/​2008/​pdfE8-794.pdf.

Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the “help” section of the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site. If you want us to notify you 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. Comments received after the comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Tura Gatling, Customer Support Team Leader, Commercial Enforcement Division, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone Number: [phone]; Email Address: [e-mail]. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is authorized to register forhire motor carriers of regulated commodities under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13902; freight forwarders under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13903; and property brokers under provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13904. These persons may conduct transportation services only if they are registered pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 13901. The Secretary has delegated authority pertaining to these registration requirements to the FMCSA pursuant to 49 CFR 1.73(a)(5).

Registered motor carriers (including private carriers), brokers and freight forwarders must designate an agent on whom service of notices in proceedings before the Secretary may be made (49 U.S.C. 13303). Registered motor carriers must also designate an agent for every State in which they operate and traverse in the United States during such operations, agents on whom process issued by a court may be served in actions brought against the registered transportation entity (49 U.S.C. 13304, 49 CFR 366.4). Every broker shall make a designation for each State in which its offices are located or in which contracts are written (49 U.S.C. 13304, 49 CFR 366.4). Regulations governing the designation of process agents are found at 49 CFR part 366. This designation is filed with the FMCSA on Form BOC-3, “Designation of Agents for Service of Process.”

Title: Designation of Agents, Motor Carriers, Brokers and Freight Forwarders.

OMB Control Number: 2126-0015.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 35,000.

Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.

Expiration Date: May 31, 2012.

Frequency of Response: Form BOC-3 must be filed by all for-hire motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers when the transportation entity first registers with the FMCSA. All brokers shall make a designation for each State in which it has an office or in which contracts are written. Subsequent filings are made only if the motor carrier, broker or freight forwarder changes process agents.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 5,833 hours [35,000 Form BOC-3 filings per year x 10 minutes/60 minutes to complete form = 5,833 hours].

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 information collection.

Issued on: November 18, 2011.

Kelly Leone,

Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology.