FMCSA Seeks Comments on CMV Driver Schedule Crash Risk Study, Comments Close May 20, 2026

Content

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.
The information collection titled Crash Risks by Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Driver Schedules will answer important questions related to driver schedules and how these factors impact overall driver performance and fatigue.
The information collected will be used to examine the relative risk of crashes and inspection violations based on various
factors related to the driver's work schedule and demographics.

DATES:

Comments on this notice must be received on or before May 20, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Theresa Hallquist, Research Division, DOT, FMCSA, W58-213, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 202-366-1064; Theresa.hallquist@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Crash Risks by Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Driver Schedules.

OMB Control Number: 2126-00XX.

Type of Request: New ICR.

Respondents: Motor carriers.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 60.

Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes (0.25 hours).

Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new ICR.

Frequency of Response: One time (IC1, IC2); quarterly (IC3).

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 45 hours.

The total annual burden is calculated as the sum of IC1, IC2, and IC3:

IC1: 15 responses per year × 0.25 hours per response = 3.75 total annual burden hours.

IC2: 15 responses per year × 0.25 hours per response = 3.75 total annual burden hours.

IC3: 150 responses per year × 0.25 hours per response = 37.5 total annual burden hours.

Background

This information collection supports the DOT Strategic Goal of Safety. The preamble of FMCSA's 2011 final hours of service
(HOS) rule (76 FR 81134) stated that FMCSA is committed to an analysis of the relative crash risk by driving hour, the impact
of the changes in the HOS provisions, and examination of differences in crash risk after restarts that include 2 nights and
those that do not. The HOS final rule also said that FMCSA would work with the OMB on the methodologies of these new statistical
data collections.

FMCSA needs additional data to answer important questions related to driver schedules and how these factors impact overall
driver performance and fatigue. This research requires data to be collected for HOS duty logs, accident and incident data,
and inspection violations records. HOS duty logs, as well as incident and crash data, will be obtained through an integration
with the telematics system provider, and driver demographic data will be provided directly by participating carriers. FMCSA
will provide access to the Motor Carrier Management Information System database, which provides records of all DOT recordable
crashes and inspection violation records. All data will be collected electronically. The information collected will be used
to examine the relative risk of crashes and inspection violations based on various factors related to the driver's work schedule
and demographics. There are three ICs: IC1—Carrier Task: TSP Setup for HOS Data; IC2—Carrier Task: TSP Setup for SCE Data;
and IC3—Carrier Task: Driver Demographic Data Exports.

Pulsar Informatics, under contract with FMCSA, is required to develop a publicly available deidentified data set to be housed
in the FMCSA Data Repository. All personally identifiable information shall be removed, and other methods of protecting privacy
shall be utilized as needed. This deidentified data set will be provided to FMCSA after all relevant statutes of limitations
(at both State and Federal levels)

pertaining to legal discoverability processes have expired.

FMCSA has determined that this collection of information is necessary for study completion. Currently, there is no comprehensive,
existing data set that can be used for this project. Not collecting this data would result in an incomplete understanding
of HOS-related factors that impact crash risk and the effect of alternative schedules as they relate to various aspects of
HOS provisions on crash risk in CMV operations. Further, the absence of this information collection would prevent FMCSA from
meeting its goal—derived from the 2015 report (1) by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—of developing a comprehensive, structured database of crash
data and driver schedules to benefit future research.

FMCSA published a
Federal Register
notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the information collection and received 19 comments. They were
from individuals, anonymous commenters, and industry groups. These comments revolved around six concerns. Responses to these
concerns are below.

Fatigue Risks

Twelve commenters expressed concerns related to recognizing fatigue as a major safety risk while noting that current regulations
compel drivers to operate CMVs while fatigued. These comments also indicated that fear of discipline discourages honest self-reporting
of fatigue.

FMCSA response: Drivers' concerns about the significance of fatigue risks in CMV operations are of incredible importance. This proposed data
collection aims to better understand fatigue-related factors that may correlate with accidents and incidents to inform future
decision-making in the industry.

Inflexibility of HOS Regulations

Eight commenters focused on how the rigid structure of HOS rules, particularly the 14-hour on-duty and 34-hour restart, fails
to reflect the actual nature of CMV operations.

FMCSA response: One objective of this study is to collect data related to how HOS provisions are being used. This data will assist in understanding
HOS-related factors that impact crash risk and the effect of alternative schedules as they relate to various aspects of HOS
provisions on crash risk in CMV operations. Further, this data will aid FMCSA in developing a comprehensive, structured database
of crash data and driver schedules to benefit future research.

Safe and Legal Parking

Four commenters discussed concerns related to the lack of adequate, legal parking options near customers, urban centers, and
rest areas. These commenters also mentioned concerns about having to choose between violating HOS rules, parking illegally,
or driving while fatigued due to parking shortages.

FMCSA response: While this study does not focus on the availability of legal CMV parking, the relevance of driving while fatigued in these
circumstances is important. By collecting data on factors related to HOS, crashes, and inspection violations, future research
may use this deidentified dataset to improve the understanding of parking shortages as it relates to fatigued driving, illegal
parking, and HOS violations.

Driver Autonomy

Seven commenters mentioned a growing loss of control over their schedules, citing pressure from carriers, shippers, and enforcement
agencies to prioritize productivity over safety.

FMCSA response: While the broader issues of scheduling pressures and driver autonomy are relevant to discussions of occupational well-being,
they are beyond the scope of the present study. This research is specifically designed to examine the association between
HOS and CMV crash and inspection violation involvement. System-level or organizational factors, while potentially related,
are not directly evaluated within the current analytical framework. Data collected in this study may assist in future research
efforts.

Study Design

One commenter discussed concerns related to the study design, specifically about the lack of control for time-of-day and the
lack of connection between HOS logs and driver fatigue.

FMCSA response: The study is an observational study, and the study design controls for time-of-day effects by including duty and driving time-of-day
as covariates in the modeling framework. This separates time-of-day effects from the effects of schedule factors (e.g., long duty) and prevents confounding between these factors.

While the commenter noted HOS logs do not directly measure fatigue and do not capture all the factors influencing driver fatigue,
HOS logs do provide information on sleep opportunity, time awake, and time-on-task, all of which are directly related to fatigue
risk.

Study Recruitment

One commenter discussed concerns about the recruitment strategy and whether participating carriers would be representative
of the broader trucking industry, citing the reliance on telematics and the number of carriers.

FMCSA response: The study aims to recruit a diverse range of carriers based on industry segments and carrier size. Participation is voluntary,
but carriers will be contacted through a recruitment campaign that includes random outreach from the FMCSA census, targeted
outreach through advertisement and trade shows, and coordinated efforts with FMCSA. The 60 carriers will be based on the expected
number of miles driven needed to observe crashes based on power analysis to determine sample size. Enrollment will not be
limited to 60 participants and will include additional carriers as feasible. The research team will work with all carriers
wanting to participate to support the transfer of electronic logging device data for inclusion in the study to the extent
practicable.

Also, because this study relies on the cooperation and assistance of companies to gather data, larger companies that are well-resourced
may be overrepresented in the study data. These biases will be accounted for by the modeling approach but have the anticipated
effect of underestimating the true risk of fatigue in the industry. The recruitment and data collection methods will be documented
in publications to guide interpretation relative to potential bias.

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 of 49 CFR 1.87.

David M. Sutula, Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration. [FR Doc. 2026-07627 Filed 4-17-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P

Footnotes

(1) The report, “Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health, and Highway Safety,” is available at https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21921/commercial-motor-vehicle-driver-fatigue-long-term-health-and-highway-safety.

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