[Federal Register: December 9, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 236)]
[Notices]               
[Page 69071]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de99-162]                         


[[Page 69071]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6009; Notice 2]

 
W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc., Grant of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc. (Mickey Body), a manufacturer of 
trailers (beverage bodies, van bodies, and vending bodies), is a 
corporation organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina 
with its principal place of business located in High Point, North 
Carolina. Mickey Body has determined that its tire and rim label 
information, on some units, is 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.'' Mickey Body 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 August 16, 1999, in the Federal Register (64 FR 
44575). NHTSA received no comments on this application during the 30-
day comment period.
    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.
    After the requirement went into effect on March 14, 1996, from that 
date to March 1999, Mickey Body manufactured approximately 2,464 
beverage trailers, 4,222 beverage bodies, 5,822 van bodies, and 472 
vending bodies that do not meet the requirements stated in the 
standard. The certification label affixed to these Mickey Body's units 
pursuant to Part 567 failed to comply with S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 
because of the omission of metric measurements, and Mickey Body 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.
    Mickey Body supports its application for inconsequential 
noncompliance with the following relevant statements:
    1. NHTSA has previously granted an exemption for inconsequential 
noncompliance [to Dorsey Trailers, Inc.] under circumstances virtually 
identical to [Mickey Body's] present case.
    2. The omission of the metric data from Mickey Body's certification 
label is highly unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on motor vehicle 
safety.
    3. Mickey Body currently includes a certification label that 
expresses the GVWR and GAWR in both English and metric units.
    4. Mickey Body is not aware of any accident that was allegedly 
caused by the omission of metric measurements from a certification 
label.
    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 S5.3.2 states that each vehicle shall show the 
appropriate GVWR, GAWR, and the recommended cold inflation pressure 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 Mickey Body 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 without 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 motor vehicle 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: December 6, 1999.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-31973 Filed 12-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P