§ 579.24 - Reporting requirements for manufacturers of 5,000 or more trailers annually.

§ 579.24 Reporting requirements for manufacturers of 5,000 or more trailers annually.

For each reporting period, a manufacturer whose aggregate number of trailers manufactured for sale, sold, offered for sale, introduced or delivered for introduction in interstate commerce, or imported into the United States, during the calendar year of the reporting period or during either of the prior two calendar years is 5,000 or more shall submit the information described in this section. For paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, the manufacturer shall submit information with respect to each make, model and model year of trailer manufactured during the reporting period and the nine model years prior to the earliest model year in the reporting period, including models no longer in production.

(a) Production information. Information that states the manufacturer's name, the quarterly reporting period, the make, the model, the model year, the type, and the production. The production shall be stated as either the cumulative production of the current model year to the end of the reporting period, or the total model year production for each model year for which production has ceased. For each model that is manufactured and available with more than one type of service brake system (i.e., hydraulic and air), the information required by this subsection shall be reported by each of the two brake types (i.e., “H” for hydraulic, “A” for air). If the service brake system in a trailer is not readily characterized as either hydraulic or air, the trailer shall be considered to have hydraulic service brakes. If a model has no brake system, it shall be reported as “N,” for none.

(b) Information on incidents involving death or injury. For all trailers manufactured during a model year covered by the reporting period and the nine model years prior to the earliest model year in the reporting period:

(1) A report on each incident involving one or more deaths or injuries occurring in the United States that is identified in a claim against and received by the manufacturer or in a notice received by the manufacturer which notice alleges or proves that the death or injury was caused by a possible defect in the manufacturer's trailer, together with each incident involving one or more deaths occurring in a foreign country that is identified in a claim against and received by the manufacturer involving the manufacturer's trailer, if that trailer is identical or substantially similar to a trailer that the manufacturer has offered for sale in the United States. The report shall be submitted as a report on trailers and organized such that incidents are reported alphabetically by make, with each make alphabetically by model, and within each model chronologically by model year.

(2) For each incident described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the manufacturer shall separately report the make, model, model year, and VIN of the trailer, the incident date, the number of deaths, the number of injuries for incidents occurring in the United States, the State or foreign country where the incident occurred, each system or component of the trailer that allegedly contributed to the incident, and whether the incident involved a fire, coded as follows: 02 suspension, 03 service brake system, hydraulic, 04 service brake system, air, 05 parking brake, 11 electrical, 12 exterior lighting, 16 structure, 17 latch, 19 tires, 20 wheels, 21 trailer hitch, 23 fire, 98 where a system or component not covered by categories 02 through 21 is specified in the claim or notice, and 99 where no system or component of the trailer is specified in the claim or notice. If an incident involves more than one such code, each shall be reported separately in the report with a limit of five codes to be included.

(c) Numbers of property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field reports. Separate reports on the numbers of those property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field reports which involve the systems and components that are specified in codes 02 through 21 in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, or a fire (code 23). Each such report shall state, separately by each such code, the number of such property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, or field reports, respectively, that involves the systems or components or fire indicated by the code. If an underlying property damage claim, consumer complaint, warranty claim, or field report involves more than one such code, each shall be reported separately in the report with no limit on the number of codes to be included. No reporting is necessary if the system or component involved is not specified in such codes, and the incident did not involve a fire.

(d) Copies of field reports. For all trailers manufactured during a model year covered by the reporting period and the nine model years prior to the earliest model year in the reporting period, a copy of each field report (other than a dealer report or a product evaluation report) involving one or more of the systems or components identified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section or fire, containing any assessment of an alleged failure, malfunction, lack of durability, or other performance problem of a trailer or item of motor vehicle equipment (including any part thereof) that is originated by an employee or representative of the manufacturer and that the manufacturer received during a reporting period. These documents shall be submitted alphabetically by make, within each make alphabetically by model, and within each model chronologically by model year. For purposes of this paragraph, if a field report refers to more than one make or model of trailer produced by a manufacturer on a particular platform, the manufacturer shall submit the report alphabetically by platform rather than by make or model. If such a field report refers to more than one platform, separate copies shall be submitted for each such platform. If a field report refers to more than one model year of a specified make/model or platform, the manufacturer shall submit it by the earliest model year to which it refers.

[67 FR 45873, July 10, 2003, as amended at 68 FR 18143, Apr. 15, 2003; 68 FR 35143, June 11, 2003; 72 FR 29443, May 29, 2007; 74 FR 47758, Sept. 17, 2009]