SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Commercial Motor Vehicle Marking Requirements.

OMB Control Number: 2126-0054.

Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved ICR.

Respondents: Freight-carrying commercial motor carriers, passenger-carrying commercial motor carriers, and intermodal equipment providers.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 938,861 total respondents (900,043 freight-carrying motor carriers; 20,878 intrastate hazardous materials transporting motor carriers; 16,409 passenger-carrying motor carriers; and 1,531 IEPs).

Estimated Time per Response: 26 minutes [12 minutes to affix USDOT Number + 14 minutes for affixing a carrier's name].

Expiration Date: July 31, 2026.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,687,689 total hours (3,228,623 hours spent by freight-carrying motor carriers; 225,725 hours spent by intrastate hazardous materials transporting motor carriers; 58,375 hours spent by passenger-carrying motor carriers; and 1,174,966 hours spent by IEPs). All these entities spent these hours marking their CMVs with a USDOT number and motor carrier information.

Background

The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is authorized to require marking of vehicles and intermodal equipment by motor carriers, freight forwarders and IEPs engaging in interstate transportation based on the authority of 49 U.S.C. 31133(a)(8), 31133(a)(10), and 31136(a)(1). The Secretary delegated authority pertaining to the marking of CMVs to the Administrator of FMCSA in 49 CFR 1.87(f). The Agency's regulations governing the marking of CMVs is codified at 49 CFR 390.21T and 49 CFR 390.21 for motor carriers, freight forwarders, and IEPs engaging in interstate transportation and at 49 CFR 390.3T(g)(4) and 49 CFR 390.3(g)(4) for motor carriers that transport hazardous materials in intrastate transportation subject to the HMSP program under 49 CFR part 385.

Vehicle marking requirements are intended to ensure that FMCSA, the National Transportation Safety Board, and State safety officials can identify motor carriers and correctly assign responsibility for regulatory violations during inspections, investigations, compliance reviews, and crash studies. These marking requirements also provide the public with beneficial information that could assist in identifying carriers engaged in interstate commerce and for complaints or emergency notification. The marking requirements apply to motor carriers, freight forwarders, and IEPs engaging in interstate transportation and motor carriers that transport hazardous materials in intrastate transportation subject to the HMSP program under 49 CFR part 385. The Agency does not require a specific method of marking if the marking complies with FMCSA's regulations. The decrease of 2,509,249 estimated annual burden hours (7,196,938 approved estimated annual burden hours—4,687,689 proposed estimated annual burden hours) is due to adjustments in respondent and response estimates.

Two comments were received in response to the 60-day Federal Register publication (Jan. 21, 2026, 91 FR 2585). One commenter suggested adding a “current carrier” field to either a driver's license or license plate and asked which option would be easiest to access during inspections, noting that driver's license information might be the most practical.

A second commenter, from FreightValidate and Truckstop.com, supported renewing FMCSA's vehicle marking requirements, stating they are a simple, low-cost way to enhance safety, accountability, and fraud prevention by clearly linking vehicles to their responsible carriers. They noted that visible carrier names and USDOT numbers help verify legitimacy in an environment where fraud and impersonation are increasing, and they encourage updated guidance to reflect modern operations, including scalable marking standards for smaller vehicles like vans. They also recommend adding unit-level identifiers, such as a unit number or partial vehicle identification number, near USDOT markings to further reduce equipment misrepresentation and improve verification.

FMCSA response: The suggestions made by the commenters relate to the underlying regulations, and not specifically to this collection of information. FMCSA may consider these comments in future rulemaking changes impacting CMV marking requirements.

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 ( printed page 32508) 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.

91 FR 32507