[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR579.22]

[Page 933-934]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                            OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 579--REPORTING OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL DEFECTS--Table of Contents
 
            Subpart C--Reporting of Early Warning Information
 
Sec. 579.22  Reporting requirements for manufacturers of 500 or more medium-heavy vehicles and buses annually.

    For each reporting period, a manufacturer whose aggregate number of 
medium-heavy vehicles and buses manufactured for sale, offered for sale, 
imported, or sold, in the United States, during the calendar year of the 
reporting period or during either of the prior two calendar years is 500 
or more shall submit the information described in this section. For 
paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, the manufacturer shall submit 
information separately with respect to each make, model, and model year 
of medium-heavy vehicle and bus 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, 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 fuel system (i.e., 
gasoline, diesel, or other (including vehicles that can be operated 
using more than one type of fuel, such as gasoline and compressed 
natural gas)), the information required by this subsection shall be 
reported separately by each of the three fuel system types. For each 
model that is manufactured and available with more than one type of 
service brake system (i.e., hydraulic or air), the information required 
by this subsection shall be reported by each of the two brake types. If 
the service brake system in a vehicle is not readily characterized as 
either hydraulic or air, the vehicle shall be considered to have 
hydraulic service brakes.
    (b) Information on incidents involving death or injury. For all 
medium-heavy vehicles and buses less than ten calendar years old at the 
beginning of 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 vehicle, 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 vehicle, if that vehicle is 
identical or substantially similar to a vehicle that the manufacturer 
has offered for sale in the United States. The report shall be submitted 
as a report on medium-heavy vehicles and buses and organized such that 
incidents are reported alphabetically by make, within 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 medium-heavy vehicle or bus, 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 vehicle that allegedly contributed to 
the incident, and whether the incident involved a fire or rollover, 
coded as follows: 01 steering system, 02 suspension system, 03 service 
brake system, hydraulic, 04 service brake system, air, 05 parking brake, 
06 engine and engine cooling system, 07 fuel system, gasoline, 08 fuel 
system, diesel, 09 fuel system, other, 10 power train, 11 electrical, 12 
exterior lighting, 13 visibility, 14 air bags, 15 seat belts, 16 
structure, 17 latch, 18 vehicle speed control, 19 tires, 20 wheels, 21 
trailer hitch, 22 seats, 23 fire, 24 rollover, 98 where a system or 
component not covered by categories 01 through 22 is specified in the 
claim or notice, and 99 where no system or component of the vehicle 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.

[[Page 934]]

    (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 01 through 22 in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, or a fire (code 
23), or rollover (code 24). 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 or rollover 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 or rollover.
    (d) Copies of field reports. For all medium-heavy vehicles and buses 
less than ten calendar years old as of the beginning of the reporting 
period, a copy of each field report (other than a dealer report) 
involving one or more of the systems or components identified in 
paragraph (b)(2) of this section, or fire, or rollover, containing any 
assessment of an alleged failure, malfunction, lack of durability or 
other performance problem of a motor vehicle 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.