Federal Register: October 2, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 191)NoticesPage 53123-53124From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr02oc98-149

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Docket No. NHTSA-98-4453Dorsey Trailers, Inc., Receipt of Application for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Dorsey Trailers, Inc. (Dorsey), a manufacturer of trailers, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia and manufacturing facilities in Elba, Alabama; Cartersville, Georgia; and Dillon, South Carolina. Dorsey has determined that its tire and rim label information, on some units, was not in full compliance with 49 CFR 571.120, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120, ``Tire Selection and Rims for Vehicles Other Than Passenger Cars,'' and has filedan appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Dorsey has also applied to be exempted from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301--``Motor Vehicle Safety'' on the basis that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.

This notice of receipt of an application is published under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application.

Paragraph S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 states that each vehicle shall show the information specified on the tire information level in both English and metric units. The standard also shows an example of the prescribed format.

Since the law went into effect on March 14, 1996, Dorsey manufactured and/or distributed 18,816 trailers that do not meet the requirements stated in the standard. Of these 18,816 units, 16,788 were produced in Elba between March 14, 1996 and August 27, 1998; 1,713 units were produced in Cartersville between March 14, 1996 and October 31, 1997; and 315 were produced in Dillon between July 1, 1996 and December 9, 1997. The certification label affixed to Dorsey's trailers pursuant to Part 567 failed to comply with S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 because of the omission of metric measurements, and Dorsey did not separately provide the metric measurements on another label, an alternative allowed by FMVSS No. 120. The use of metric measurements is required by FMVSS No. 120, pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Metric Conversion, 50 FR 13639, published on March 14, 1995, and effective on March 14, 1996.

Dorsey supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance with the following statements:

1. The certification label contains the correct English unit information and has headings for the required metric data with voids in the area of the required data;

2. The omission of the metric data from Dorsey's 49 CFR 571.120 and 49 CFR 567 certification label is highly unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on motor vehicle safety since the correct English units are included on the label and since the nonconforming vehicles will probably be out of service before the American general public ceases to be familiar with the English system of measurement;

3. The metric requirements of 49 CFR 571.120 S5.3 were not mandated for safety reasons and, the second regulation governing certification label data, 49 CFR 567, has not yet been changed to require that metric data be shown and still states that GVWR and GAWR data be stated in pounds;

4. Each Dorsey manufacturing facility has now begun to provide all the

[Page 53124]required data on certification labels since appropriate people at each location have been made aware of the requirement; and

5. Dorsey has not received any complaints from customers on the omission of the metric data from the certification labels and has not received any reports of accidents which were related to the omission of the metric data.

Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments on the application described above. Comments should refer to the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested that two copies be submitted.

All comments received before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also be filedand will be considered to the extent possible. When the application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: November 2, 1998.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

Issued on: September 28, 1998. L. Robert Shelton, Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.

FR Doc. 98-26435Filed10-1-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 4910-59-P