PRA-2126NEW.COMPASS.SAT.SS.051807.ew.use

Department of Transportation

Office of the Chief Information Officer

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

COMPASS Portal

Customer Satisfaction Assessment

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAKE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a modal administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), currently operates twenty-one (21), free-standing Information Technology (IT) systems, which supply critical safety data to Federal, State, and Industry customers. Ongoing costs, operational challenges, data quality and organizational issues inherent to managing a suite of stand-alone systems has become too great for FMCSA to bear. As such, FMCSA made a strategic decision to integrate its IT with its business processes as it consolidated its systems and databases and launched a modernization initiative called COMPASS. It is estimated that the COMPASS program, from initiation to completion, will involve dedicated and related expenditures over $100,000,000.

In early 2007, FMCSA’s COMPASS program will launch the first of a series of releases of new functionality to its Federal, State, and industry customers. Over the coming years, more than fifteen releases are planned, with four planned for the next three years. These releases will use “portal technology”, which will pull together numerous services and functions on a single screen and will provide tailored services that will seek to meet the needs of specific constituencies within our customer universe.

The COMPASS program will entail considerable overall expenditure of Federal Government dollars over the years and fundamentally impact the nature of the relationship between the Agency and its Federal, State, and industry customers. Consequently, the Agency contends that regular and ongoing assessment of customer satisfaction will be vital to determine the extent to which the released functionality:

• Meets customer needs and expectations

• Helps formulate approaches to correct any problems or issues that emerge

• Gauges the extent to which the introduction of these new functionalities is impacting the Agency’s reputation with its customers

• Protects the Federal Government’s considerable investment in COMPASS as it unfolds.

Title II, section 207, of the E-Government Act of 2002,(Public Law 107-347, December 17, 2002) (Attachment A) requires government agencies to improve the methods by which government information, including information on the Internet, is organized, preserved, and made accessible to the public. To meet this goal, FMCSA decided to conduct a survey on its COMPASS program that provides a limited range of services and centralized access to Federal, State, and motor carrier users to the Agency’s existing safety IT systems. Carriers will benefit by having data, such as, crash and inspection information, at their fingertips in the FMCSA Portal and will be able to download their own safety profiles free of charge. FMCSA personnel and the Agency’s state partners will benefit by having centralized and seamless access to motor carrier safety data, delivered through the Portal and such improvements as single sign-on access to multiple systems and the creation of specific services to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of different groups of users. The COMPASS program will also focus on improving the accuracy of data to help ensure information, such as carrier name and address, is valid and reliable. The Form MCSA-5845, “FMCSA Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment,” will be used to conduct regular and ongoing assessments of customer satisfaction with the Portal to determine the extent to which it meets the users’ needs and expectations. In addition, the Administrator of FMCSA has been delegated authority, under 49 CFR 1.73, to carry out the functions vested in the Secretary of Transportation regarding statutory and regulatory requirements for motor carriers.

This information collection supports the Department of Transportation’s strategic goal of safety.

2. HOW, BY WHOM, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE THE INFORMATION IS TO BE USED

The primary purposes of this assessment is to determine the extent to which newly released COMPASS services meet the needs of Agency customers, identify and prioritize additional modifications, and determine the extent that COMPASS has affected FMCSA ‘s relationships with its main customer groups.

The assessment will address:

• Overall customer satisfaction

• Customer satisfaction against specific items

• Performance of systems integrator against agreed objectives

• Desired adjustments and modifications to systems

• Demonstrate value of investment to FMCSA and DOT

• Items about the site that customers like best

• Customer ideas for making the site better

The information collected will be primarily for internal use of the Agency and the COMPASS program; however, we may wish to disseminate some results to Federal, State and industry customers on a selective basis. FMCSA will retain control over the information and safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with FMCSA standards. Also, see Question 10 of this Supporting Statement. The information collection is designed to yield data that meet all applicable information quality guidelines.

3. EXTENT OF AUTOMATED INFORMATION COLLECTION

The sole means for collecting the information will be via an electronic questionnaire embedded in the COMPASS web portal. FMCSA anticipates that 100 percent (100%) of the responses will be submitted electronically.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

As the COMPASS program is a new, FMCSA-wide initiative that has yet to conduct any assessment or survey work, we would not anticipate that this ongoing assessment via survey would entail any duplication whatsoever of existing information collection activities.

5. EFFORTS TO MINIMIZE THE BURDEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES

Participation in this assessment will be voluntary, and the questionnaire has been designed to yield sufficient value without undue burden placed on participants. Survey questions are opinion-based rather than data-based, with all but two questions using a simple 1-5 rating scale.

6. IMPACT OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

As the COMPASS Portal will be integrating and making available new services through a number of releases over the next few years, an approach that gives users a brief survey periodically has been deemed the most effective way to assess acceptance of new functionalities while being able to determine customer satisfaction with new services as they are released. Given the expense being spent on COMPASS overall, the ability to make adjustments quickly could have an impact on the portal’s overall acceptance or rejection over time.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

There are no special circumstances related to this information collection.

8. COMPLIANCE WITH 5 CFR 1320.8

On October 19, 2006 (71 FR 61824 at Attachment B), FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on the proposed renewal of this information collection. There were no responsive comments received in response to this notice. In addition FMCSA published a second notice 72 FR 19753, at Attachment C) with a 30 day comment period that announced this information collection was being submitted to OMB for approval.

9. PAYMENT OF GIFTS TO RESPONDENTS

No gifts or other remuneration will be provided to respondents.

10. ASSURANCES OF CONFIDENTIALITY

FMCSA’s intention is to focus on aggregate data rather than focusing on individual users. The confidentiality of the responses will be protected to the extent allowed by the Privacy Act of 1974, (5 U.S.C. § 552a as amended), (Attachment D).

11. JUSTIFICATION FOR COLLECTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION

No questions of a sensitive nature, such as political behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private, will be included in this survey.

12. ESTIMATES OF BURDEN HOURS INFORMATION REQUESTED

It is expected that each questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes or less to complete. No advance preparation is required. Participants will be asked to complete the brief survey 3 times per year (every 120 days), and with 140,000 current industry system users (with an estimated 70% response rate) and 2,691 State government users (with an estimated 90% response rate), we anticipate this exercise will consume a total of 24,500 hours from industry users and 606 hours from State government users.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 25,106 hours [(5 minutes to complete survey x 3 times per year = 15 minutes/60 minutes x 140,000 annual industry respondents x .70 (70%) response rate = 24,500) + (5 minutes to complete survey x 3 times per year = 15 minutes/60 minutes x 2,691 State government users x .90 (90%) response rate) = 605.5, or 606 burden hours].

Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 142,691 [140,000 industry respondents + 2,691 State government users = 142,691].

13. ESTIMATES OF TOTAL ANNUAL COSTS TO RESPONDENTS

FMCSA estimates that each respondent will take 15 minutes annually to complete the survey [5 minutes to complete survey x 3 times annually = 15 minutes]. Based on the average hourly wage rate for workers in the trucking industry (the largest component of the motor carrier industry, along with the bus industry) of $17 per hour, and for employees in “State justice, public order and safety roles” at $21.50 per hour, estimated annual costs are:

Motor Carrier Industry Users: $416,500 [140,000 users at 15 minutes/60 minutes annually at .70 (70% ) response rate x $17.00 per hour = $416,500].

State Public Safety Users: $13,018 [2,691 users at 15 minutes/60 minutes annually at .90 (90%) response rate x $21.50 per hour = $13,018].

Estimated Annual Cost to Respondents: $429,518 [$416,500 for motor carrier industry users + $13, 018 for State public safety users = $429,518].

13. ESTIMATE OF COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Tasks		Total costs, by task
		Initial Year	Succeeding Years
Development of survey design and approach		$6,950	$2,600
Development of tool and integration with FMCSA Portal		$100,000	none additional
Analysis		$4,450	$8,300
Preparation of reports		$2,600	$3,900
Discussion of results		$1,800	$3,600
Estimated Total Costs to Federal Government:		$115,800	$18,400

15. EXPLANATION OF PROGRAM CHANGES OR ADJUSTMENTS

This program change is due to a new information collection that resulted in a first year increase in annual burden of 25,106 hours and costs of $429,518 to respondents and $115,800 to the federal government.

16. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS OF DATA COLLECTION

The results of the surveys will be analyzed and provided to the FMCSA. Individual responses will be provided to FMCSA. Some results, summarized and analyzed, may be shared with customers as appropriate through the FMCSA Web site or through publications targeted at Federal, State or industry users.

17. APPROVAL FOR NOT DISPLAYING THE EXPIRATION DATE OF OMB APPROVAL

No approval is being requested.

18. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

None.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

N/A. Statistical sampling methods are not required for this data collection because the entire universe will be invited to participate in the assessment.

ATTACHMENTS

A. Title II, section 207, of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347, December 17, 2002).

B. 60-day Federal Register notice (71 FR 61824), October 19, 2006.

C. 30-day Federal Register notice (72 FR 19753), April 19, 2007

D. Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a as amended by Pub. L. 104-231, 110 Stat. 3048, October 2, 1996.

49 CFR 1.73, Delegation to the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, October 3, 1999.

Form MCSA-5845, entitled “FMCSA Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment.”

C OMPASS Portal Assessment 7