This is a new information collection which is a research study with the purpose to gather information to understand the prevalence, seriousness, and nature of the problem of harassment and assaults against truckers in order to find, develop, and implement effective solutions to reducing harassment and assaults against female and minority truckers. Currently, FMCSA does not provide materials or training to truckers, including minority male and female truckers, on the problem of how to protect themselves from being stalked, harassed, assaulted, or robbed. Currently, there is insufficient data. The frequency of assaults occurring, the portion that are unreported, and reasons for underreporting are unknown.
FMCSA needs to address the problem of preventing crimes, especially against female and minority men truckers for two reasons. First, there seems to be a perception among these subpopulations of truckers that they are more vulnerable than others. Second, there is a critical shortage of truckers, and helping these subpopulations of truckers to protect themselves from crimes would draw more truckers into these subpopulations and stem turnover to alleviate the shortage of commercial drivers in the motor carrier industry.
The information will be reported to FMCSA so the Agency can decide on further options for evaluation and action. By understanding the nature and prevalence of harassment and assaults against truckers, FMCSA will be able to formulate and promote programs to address the problem. One potential area of focus could be updating the agencyâs CDL training curriculum. The report will be published on the Agencyâs web site so that the general public will be aware of the findings. It may be useful to law enforcement personnel, motor carriers, operators of private truck stops, and others in their efforts to address the situation.
The survey is voluntary one-time reporting which will be limited to professional female and minority male truck drivers selected based on a convenience sampling method. The survey will ask whether the drivers have experienced race- or gender-related harassment or assaults on the job. The survey will attempt to reach 400 female drivers and 400 minority male drivers who have experienced on-the-job harassment or assault. If the driver has had such an experience, the survey will ask follow-up questions on where and when the incidents occurred, any information the respondent knows about the perpetrator, and whether the respondent reported the incident. Respondents will take the survey online. No personal identification information will be asked about the respondent or perpetrators.
The survey questions on Crime Prevention for Truckers, which were previously approved by OMB, have been slightly modified to reflect some of the strategic changes the project team wanted to implement. Originally, the survey was planned to be an in-person data collection, but the project team switched to an online data collection because of the pandemic. Within hours of posting the survey online, it reached its maximum number of responses. This occurred before FMCSA was able to reach out to all desired womenâs trucking associations to encourage participation by their members, thus undermining the purpose of the survey. No rewards were paid by the agency. This resulted in additional changes to some of the skip patterns in the survey to make coding them on the online survey platform (SurveyMonkey) possible. All of the changes fall either under De Minimis Changes or Non-Substantive Changes. The changes do not significantly increase the time burden on the respondents.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Eligible Respondents Who Report Harrassment or Assault