Notice2025-00819
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved Information Collection: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Abstract
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 its review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests OMB's renewed approval of the ICR titled "Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection," which applies to household goods motor carriers who are procured by the public (household goods shippers) to transport their household goods. This renewal revises the previous information collection's number of respondents, total respondent hours, and cost burden.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3995-3997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00819]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0003]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved
Information Collection: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer
Protection
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (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 its
review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests OMB's
renewed approval of the ICR titled ``Transportation of Household Goods;
Consumer Protection,'' which applies to household goods motor carriers
who are procured by the public (household goods shippers) to transport
their household goods. This renewal revises the previous information
collection's number of respondents, total respondent hours, and cost
burden.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before March 17,
2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2025-0003 using any of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
<bullet> Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets Operations, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building,
Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is
there to help you, please call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before
visiting Dockets Operations.
<bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting
comments.
[[Page 3996]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donnice Wagoner, Commercial
Enforcement Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building, 6th Floor, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 366-8045;
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8fcbe0e1e1e6eceaa1d8eee8e0e1eafdcfebe0fba1e8e0f9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="95d1fafbfbfcf6f0bbc2f4f2fafbf0e7d5f1fae1bbf2fae3">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Instructions
All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number. For
detailed instructions on submitting comments, see the Public
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Public Participation and Request for Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2025-0003), indicate the specific section of this
document to which your comment applies, and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material
online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of
these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing
address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your
document so FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your
submission.
To submit your comment online, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2025-0003/document">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2025-0003/document</a>, click on this notice, click
``Comment,'' and type your comment into the text box on the following
screen.
If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing.
Comments received after the comment closing date will be included
in the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.
Privacy Act
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the
public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these
comments, including any personal information the commenter provides, to
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> as described in the system of records notice DOT/
ALL 14 (Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)), which can be reviewed
at <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices">https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices</a>. The comments are posted without edits and are
searchable by the name of the submitter.
Background
On July 12, 2005, FMCSA published a final rule titled
``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection Regulations,''
(70 FR 39949), which specifies how motor carriers transporting
household goods by motor vehicle in interstate commerce must assist
their individual customers who ship household goods. The collected
information encompasses that which is generated, maintained, and
provided to, or for, the Agency under 49 CFR part 375.
On August 10, 2005, the President signed into law the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy
for Users ((SAFETEA-LU), Pub. L. 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10,
2005). The Agency consequently revised this ICR to address these
statutory impacts in a final rule titled ``Amendments to Implement
Certain Provisions of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)'' (72 FR 36760,
July 5, 2007). Section 4205 of SAFETEA-LU amended 49 U.S.C. 14104(b) by
requiring the household goods motor carrier to conduct a physical
survey of the household goods to be transported on behalf of the
individual shipper. The carrier must then provide the shipper with a
written estimate, based on the physical survey, of charges for the
transportation and all related services.
On July 16, 2012, FMCSA published a direct final rule titled
``Transportation of Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer
Protection Regulations: Household Goods Motor Carrier Record Retention
Requirements'' (77 FR 41699) that amended the regulations governing the
period during which household goods motor carriers must retain
documentation of an individual shipper's waiver of receipt of printed
copies of consumer protection materials. In the rulemaking, FMCSA
reduced the 3-year required retention period for those receipts to one
year. This change harmonizes the retention period with other document
retention requirements applicable to household goods motor carriers.
FMCSA also amended the regulations to clarify that a household goods
motor carrier is not required to retain waiver documentation from any
individual shippers for whom the carrier does not actually provide
services.
On April 26, 2022, FMCSA updated the regulations at 49 CFR parts
371 and 375 in a final rule titled ``Implementation of Household Goods
Working Group Recommendations'' (87 FR 24431). The final rule made
various changes to the household goods regulations that the Household
Goods Consumer Protection Working Group recommended to FMCSA. These
changes include further revisions to streamline FMCSA's publication
``Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move,'' which are
incorporated in Appendix A of the regulations, requiring ``Your Rights
and Responsibilities When You Move'' to be provided along with the
estimate, requiring new binding or non-binding estimates when an
individual shipper tenders more goods or requests additional service
instead of a revised estimate as previously required, allowing a motor
carrier to provide a virtual survey and removing the 50-mile radius for
when a survey is required, removing the requirement for an order for
service and incorporating that document into the bill of lading, as
well as other minor updates to increase the clarity of the regulations.
These changes are intended to reduce the paperwork burden on household
goods motor carriers and reduce confusion for individual shippers.
The complete collection of information required by the referenced
final rules assists household goods shippers in their business dealings
with interstate household goods motor carriers. The information
collected is used by prospective household goods shippers to make
informed decisions about contracts and services ordered, executed, and
settled. The household goods motor carrier is often the final contact
for individual shippers and is in the best position to educate and
assist household goods shippers during their move. This information
collection is intended to combat deceptive business practices by
requiring household goods motor carriers to conduct physical surveys of
shippers' items to be transported unless waived in writing by the
shipper. This information collection is intended to combat deceptive
business practices by requiring the household goods motor carrier to
prepare an inventory of the goods shipped and a bill of lading for each
shipment. This information collection also requires motor carriers to
obtain weight tickets for each shipment. This information collection
requires household goods motor carriers to generate and maintain
additional documents associated with the status of shipment delays and
to furnish shippers, upon request, the records of contact regarding
delays. This information collection requires
[[Page 3997]]
household goods motor carriers to keep written or electronic records of
all complaints received from shippers. This information collection
helps enforcement personnel better protect consumers by verifying that
shippers are receiving information as required by regulations.
FMCSA revises the total annual burden to 3,722,704 hours. This is
an increase of 14,609 annual burden hours from the currently approved
3,708,095 burden estimates. The increase is due to an increase in
Agency estimates.
Title: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.
OMB Control Number: 2126-0025.
Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Household goods motor carriers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,861.
Estimated Time per Response: Varies.
Expiration Date: July 31, 2025.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3,722,704 hours. The estimated total
annual burden was calculated using the hourly burden for each of the
five Information Collections.
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 ICR.
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2025-00819 Filed 1-14-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 15, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.