PRA-2126-0061.SS.PartA.CustomerSatSurveys.08.16.18 Update

Department of Transportation

SUPPORTING STATEMENT PART A

Generic Clearance OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

OMB Control No. 2126-0061

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Executive Order 12862 “Setting Customer Service Standards,” (58 FR 48257), principles were most recently updated in Executive Order 13571 (76 FR 24339), directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers’ needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval for renewal of the generic clearance ICR, OMB Control No. 2126-0061, currently due to expire July 31, 2018, to collect feedback on our service delivery.

Surveys to be considered under this generic clearance will only include those surveys that improve a customer service or collect feedback about a service provided. The results of the customer surveys will help the FMCSA managers plan and implement program improvements and other customer satisfaction initiatives. Focus groups included under the generic clearance will assess customer satisfaction with a direct service, be of limited size or scope, and/or will be designed to inform a customer satisfaction survey FMCSA was considering. Surveys that have the potential to influence policy will not be considered under this generic clearance.

The types of surveys to be included in this clearance include various types of customer surveys, listening sessions and focus groups. Program offices will submit a generic information collection that shall include all relevant information, including a statement of need, intended use of information, description of respondents, information collection procedures, expected response rates, justification for incentives and estimated burden.

2. How, By Whom, and for What Purpose Is the Information Used

This collection of information is necessary to enable FMCSA to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the agency’s programs. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations; provide an early warning of issues with service; or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between FMCSA and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

3. Extent of Automated Information Collection

FMCSA will collect information electronically and/or use online collaboration tools to reduce burden when practicable.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

No similar data are gathered or maintained by FMCSA or are available from other sources known to the agency.

5. Efforts to Minimize the Burden on Small Businesses

Small business or other small entities may be involved in these efforts, but FMCSA will minimize the burden on them of information collections approved under this clearance by sampling, asking for readily available information, and using short, easy-to-complete information collection instruments.

6. Impact of Less Frequent Collection of Information

Without these types of feedback on a regular basis as appropriate, FMCSA will not have timely information to adjust its services to meet customer needs.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances.

8. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.8:

FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register (83 FR 2872) with a 60-day public comment period to announce this proposed information collection on January 19, 2018. FMCSA received one comment on the 60-day notice. The comment was not related to the information collection. Therefore, the Agency did not make any changes to the information collection.

FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register (83 FR 24155) with a 30-day public comment period that announced this information would be sent to OMB for approval on May 24, 2018.

9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents

FMCSA will not provide payment or other forms of remuneration to respondents of its Customer Service Satisfaction Survey, Listening Sessions/Stakeholder Feedback Forums, Focus Group, and Strategic Planning Customer Satisfaction Survey.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The information requested is not of a confidential nature. Consequently, no assurance of confidentiality need be given.

11. Justification for Collection of Sensitive Information

No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of Burden Hours for Information Requested

A variety of instruments and platforms will be used to collect information from respondents. The estimated annual burden hours requested is 1,758 hours and is based on the estimated number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance.

FMCSA will conduct four collections annually: Customer Service Satisfaction Survey, Listening Sessions/ Stakeholder Feedback Forums, Focus Group, and Strategic Planning Customer Satisfaction Survey. As shown in Table 1, we expect 5,000 respondents to spend approximately 10 minutes each completing the Customer Service Satisfaction Survey, resulting in an annual burden of 833 hours (5,000 respondents × 10 minutes per response = 833 hours). We expect 100 respondents to spend no more than 2 hours each on Listening Sessions/Stakeholder Feedback Forums, resulting in an annual burden of 200 hours (100 respondents × 2 hours per response = 200 hours). We expect 300 respondents to participate in Focus Groups lasting no more than 2 hours, resulting in an annual burden of 600 hours (300 respondents × 2 hours per response = 600 hours). Finally, we expect 500 respondents to spend approximately 15 minutes each responding to the Strategic Planning Customer Satisfaction Survey, resulting in an annual burden of 125 hours (500 respondents × 15 minutes per response = 125 hours).

We estimate the total annual salary cost for this collection to be $62,040. To arrive at this figure, we first assume the average hourly employer cost for employee compensation as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, $35.29, ¹ is representative of those responding to the information collections. We multiply this figure by the estimated burden hours of each of the information collections (i.e. for Customer Service Satisfaction Survey, $35.29 per hour × 833 hours = $29,400). We then summed the burden hour costs for the four information collections, which results in an annual cost of $62,040.

Table 1. Respondents Burden Hour Cost Estimates

Collection	Annual Number of Respondents	Annual Responses per Respondent	Burden per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours
Customer Service Satisfaction Survey	5,000	1	10 minutes	833
Listening Sessions/ Stakeholder Feedback Forums	100	1	2 hours	200
Focus Group	300	1	2 hours	600
Strategic Planning Customer Satisfaction Survey	500	1	15 minutes	125
Annual	5,900			1,758
3-Year Total	17,700			5,274

Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 5,900 respondents [5,000 customer satisfaction survey respondents + 100 listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums respondents + 300 focus group respondents + 500 strategic planning customer satisfaction survey respondents].

Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 5,900 responses [5,000 customer satisfaction survey responses + 100 listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums responses + 300 focus group responses + 500 strategic planning customer satisfaction survey responses].

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,758 hours [833 hours for customer satisfaction surveys + 200 hours for listening sessions/stakeholder feedback forums + 600 hours for focus groups + 125 hours for strategic planning customer satisfaction surveys].

13. Estimate of Total Annual Costs to Respondents

FMCSA estimates that there are no annual costs to respondents.

14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government

The anticipated cost to the Federal Government is approximately $28,027 annually (Table 2). These costs are comprised of: support staff, overhead, printing, and any other expense that is necessary to collect the information approved under this generic clearance. Hourly wages for staff support are based on the average GS-12 and average GS-13, and they include locality pay for Washington, Baltimore, and Arlington.²

Table 2. Estimated Annual Cost to the Federal Government

Item	Hourly Wage	Hours	Total Cost
GS-12	$43.93	250	$10,988
GS-13	$52.24	75	$3,918
Overhead			13,126
Annual			$28,027

15. Explanation of Program Changes or Adjustments

The estimated annual burden hours is 1,758 hours. In the previous ICR renewal, FMCSA inadvertently reported the 3-year total burden hours as 5,274 instead of the annual burden hours of 1,758. This therefore resulted in a decrease of 3,516 (5,274 - 1,758) burden hours.

The total cost burden was not reported in the previous ICR renewal. With the cost burden calculations for 1,758 burden hours being $62,040, this resulted in an increase of $62,040 in burden costs.

16. Publication of Results of Data Collection

Findings will be used for general service improvement, but are not for publication or other public release.

17. Approval for Not Displaying the Expiration Date of OMB Approval

We are requesting no exemption.

18. Exceptions to Certification Statement

There are no exceptions to the certification.

1 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation—June 2017, www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf (accessed October 25, 2017).

2 Office of Personnel Management. 2017 General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay Tables. WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE-ARLINGTON, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA, www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/17Tables/html/DCB_h.aspx (acessed October 26, 2017).