99-766. Dorsey Trailers, Inc., Grant of Application for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance  

  • [Federal Register Volume 64, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 1999)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 2272-2273]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 99-766]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
    
    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
    [Docket No. NHTSA-98-4453; Notice 2]
    
    
    Dorsey Trailers, Inc., Grant 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 filed an 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.
        Notice of receipt of the application was published, with a 30-day 
    comment period, on October 2, 1998, in the Federal Register (63 FR 
    53123). NHTSA received two comments on this application during the 30-
    day comment period. Both commenters recommended that NHTSA grant the 
    application.
        Paragraph S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 states that each vehicle shall show 
    the information specified on the tire information label in both English 
    and metric units. The standard also shows an example of the prescribed 
    format.
        After the requirement 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, 60 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 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
    
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    any reports of accidents which were related to the omission to the 
    metric data.
        The purpose of labeling requirements in S5.3, Label information, of 
    FMVSS No. 120 is to provide safe operation of vehicles by ensuring that 
    those vehicles are equipped with tires of appropriate size and load 
    rating; and rims of appropriate size and type designation. Section 5164 
    of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (Pub. L. 100-418) makes it 
    the United States policy that the metric system of measurement is the 
    preferred system of weights and measures for U.S. trade and commerce. 
    On March 14, 1995, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (60 FR 
    13693) the final rule that metric measurements be used in S5.3 of FMVSS 
    No. 120. The effective date for this final rule was March 14, 1996.
        Paragraph S5.3 states that each vehicle shall show the appropriate 
    tire information (such as: recommended cold inflation pressure) and rim 
    information (such as: size and type designations) in metric and English 
    units. This information must appear either on the certification label 
    or a tire information label, lettered in block capitals and numerals 
    not less than 2.4 millimeters high, and in the prescribed format.
        The agency agrees with Dorsey that the label on these trailers is 
    likely to achieve the safety purpose of the required label. The vehicle 
    user will have the correct safety information sans the metric 
    conversion in the prescribed location. First, all the correct English 
    unit information required by FMVSS No. 120 is provided on the 
    certification label. Second, the information contained on the label is 
    of the correct size. Third, the information contained on the label is 
    in the prescribed format.
        In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
    applicant has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance it 
    describes is inconsequential to safety. Accordingly, its application is 
    granted, and the applicant is exempted from providing the notification 
    of the noncompliance that is required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and from 
    remedying the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120.
    
        (49 U.S.C. 30118, delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 
    501.8).
    
        Issued on: January 8, 1999.
    L. Robert Shelton,
    Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
    [FR Doc. 99-766 Filed 1-12-99; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
01/13/1999
Department:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Entry Type:
Notice
Document Number:
99-766
Pages:
2272-2273 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Docket No. NHTSA-98-4453, Notice 2
PDF File:
99-766.pdf