[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 191 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53123-53124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26435]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-98-4453]
Dorsey 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 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.
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 filed and 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. 98-26435 Filed 10-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
