2021-09578. Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Currently Approved Information Collection Request: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

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. The Executive Order, “Setting Customer Service Standards,” directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. These principles were reaffirmed in the Executive Order, “Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.” In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a currently approved generic clearance to continue collecting feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

DATES:

Please send your comments by June 7, 2021. OMB must receive your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Roxane Oliver, Management Analyst, Office of Analysis/MC-RAA, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: [phone]; Email Address: [e-mail]. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys.

OMB Control Number: 2126-0061.

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

Respondents: State and local agencies, general public and stakeholders; original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry; fleets, owner-operators, state CMV safety agencies, research organizations and contractors; news organizations and safety advocacy groups.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,900 [5,000 customer satisfaction survey respondents + 100 listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums respondents + 300 focus group respondents + 500 strategic planning customer satisfaction survey respondents].

Estimated Time per Response: Range from 10 to 120 minutes.

Expiration Date: August 31, 2021.

Frequency of Response: Generally, on an annual basis.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 1,758 hours [833 hours for customer satisfaction surveys + 200 hours for listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums + 600 hours for focus groups + 125 hours for strategic planning customer satisfaction surveys].

Background

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew a previously approved information collection. Executive Order 12862 Setting Customer Service Standards, and most recently updated in Executive Order 13571, requires the Federal Government to provide the “highest quality service possible to the American people.” Under the order, the “standard of quality for services provided to the public shall be: Customer service equal to the best in business.” In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, FMCSA seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect qualitative feedback from our customers on our service delivery. The surveys covered in this generic clearance will provide a means for FMCSA to collect this data directly from our customers. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas of communication, training or changes in operations that might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable. The Agency will submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance only if it meets the following conditions: That such collections are:

• Voluntary;
• low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden- hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
• noncontroversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
• targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future;
• only collecting personally identifiable information (PII) to the extent necessary and not retaining it; • only collecting information intended to be used only internally for general service improvement and program management, and any release outside the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the information;
• not to be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
• intended to yield only qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalized to the population of study.

This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made; the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size; and the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results. As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

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.

Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87.

Thomas P. Keane,

Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.