The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it will hold a public listening session on Thursday, April 26, to solicit information, concepts, ideas and comments on electronic onboard recorders and the issue of driver harassment. This session will be held in Bellevue, Wash., and will allow interested persons to present comments, views and relevant new research that FMCSA should consider in development of its Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
Specifically, the agency wants to know what factors, issues and data it should consider as it addresses the distinction between productivity and harassment: what will prevent harassment from occurring; what types of harassment already exist; how frequently and to what extent harassment happens; and how an electronic device such as an EOBR, capable of contemporaneous transmission of information to a motor carrier, will guard against – or fail to guard against – harassment.
Additionally, the agency will solicit concepts, ideas and comments from enforcement personnel on the hours-of-service information they would need to see on the EOBR display screen to effectively enforce the hours rules at the roadside and the type of evidence they would need to retain in order to support issuing drivers citations for hours-of-service violations observed during roadside inspections.
The listening session will be at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance meeting in Bellevue and will run from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. PT, with a break between 3:30 and 4 p.m., and continue from 4 to 5:30 p.m., or earlier, if all participants wishing to express their views have done so. The listening session will be recorded, and a transcript of the session will be placed in the docket for FMCSA’s consideration. The listening session also will be webcast via the Internet and will allow for e-mail interactivity during the webcast.
The listening session will be held at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, 900 Bellevue Way N.E., in the Grand Ballroom IJK on the 2nd floor. FMCSA will post specific information on how to participate via the Internet at www.fmcsa.dot.gov in advance of the listening session.
Comments bearing the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2010-0167 may be via:
• Federal eRulemaking portal: Go to www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments;
• Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E., 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 Ave. S.E., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday except federal holidays; or
• Fax: 202-493-2251.
Each submission must include the agency name and the docket number for this notice.
For information concerning the listening session or the live webcast, contact Shannon Watson, senior advisor for policy, FMCSA, by calling 202-385-2395 or e-mailing [email protected]. For sign language interpretation or other assistance to participate, contact Watson by Thursday, April 12.
