Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Antilock Brake Systems

SUMMARY: This document requests comments on the intent of the FHWA to

initiate a rulemaking concerning requirements for antilock brake

systems (ABS) on commercial motor vehicles engaged in interstate

commerce. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

has issued a final rule, published elsewhere in today's Federal

Register, requiring certain newly manufactured vehicles to be equipped

with ABS. The FHWA intends to initiate a rulemaking addressing

requirements for motor carriers to maintain the ABS on those vehicles

which are subject to the NHTSA's final rule and address certain other

ABS issues related to vehicles subject to the Federal Motor Carrier

Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The FHWA requests comments on this action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 9, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit written, signed comments to FHWA Docket No. MC-94-31,

Room 4232, HCC-10, Office of the Chief Counsel, Federal Highway

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590. All

comments received will be available for examination at the above

address from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday,

except Federal holidays. Those desiring notification of receipt of

comments must include a self-addressed, stamped postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry W. Minor, Office of Motor

Carrier Standards, HCS-10, (202) 366-2981; or Mr. Charles E. Medalen,

Office of the Chief Counsel, HCC-20, (202) 366-1354, Federal Highway

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, D. C. 20590.

Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 4012 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency

Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (Pub. L. 102-240, 105 Stat. 1914, 2157) directs the

Secretary of Transportation to initiate a rulemaking concerning methods

for improving braking performance of new commercial motor

vehicles,1 including truck tractors, trailers, and their dollies.

Congress specifically directed that such a rulemaking examine antilock

systems, means of improving brake compatibility, and methods of

ensuring effectiveness of brake timing. The ISTEA requires that the

rulemaking be consistent with the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (49

U.S.C. 31147(b)) and be carried out pursuant to, and in accordance

with, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (49

U.S.C. 30111 et seq.).

\1\For the purposes of section 4012, the term ``commercial motor

vehicle'' means any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on highways

to transport passengers or property if such vehicle has a gross

vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 11,794 kilograms (kg) (26,001

pounds) or more. The NHTSA's final rule on ABS applies to medium and

heavy vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more.

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The NHTSA Rulemaking

In response to the ISTEA, the NHTSA has issued a final rule (which

is published elsewhere in today's Federal Register) amending Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 105, Hydraulic Brake Systems,

and FMVSS No. 121, Air Brake Systems, to require medium and heavy

vehicles to be equipped with an antilock brake system (ABS) to improve

the lateral stability (i.e., traction) and steering control of these

vehicles during braking. For truck tractors, the ABS requirement is

supplemented by a 30-mph braking-in-a-curve test on a low coefficient

of friction surface using a full brake application. By improving

lateral stability and control, these requirements will significantly

reduce jackknifing and other losses of control during braking as well

as the deaths and injuries caused by those control problems.

In addition, the NHTSA final rule requires all powered heavy

vehicles to be equipped with an in-cab lamp to indicate ABS

malfunctions. Truck tractors and other trucks equipped to tow air-

braked trailers are required to be equipped with two separate in-cab

lamps: one indicating malfunctions in the towing vehicle ABS and the

other in the trailer ABS. Trailers produced during an initial eight-

year period must also be equipped with an external malfunction

indicator that will be visible to the driver of the towing tractor.

These indicators will provide valuable information about ABS

malfunctioning to the driver in the event that the trailer is towed by

a vehicle that is not equipped with an in-cab ABS malfunction indicator

for trailers.

The amendments to FMVSS No. 105 become effective on March 1, 1999.

The amendments to FMVSS No. 121 become effective on March 1, 1997, with

respect to truck tractors, and on March 1, 1998, with respect to air-

braked trailers, converter dollies, single unit trucks and buses.

In the 1970's, FMVSS No. 121 included stopping distance

requirements which essentially required heavy vehicles to be equipped

with antilock brake systems. In response to a legal challenge, the

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit invalidated the

stopping distance and ``no lockup'' requirements in Standard No. 121,

along with certain other provisions, holding that the standard was

``neither reasonable nor practicable at the time it was put into

effect.'' PACCAR v. NHTSA, 573 F.2d 632 (9th Cir. 1978), cert. denied,

439 U.S. 862 (1978).

As explained in NHTSA's final rule, the preconditions for an ABS

requirement for heavy vehicles differ markedly from 20 years ago when

the petitioners challenged the agency in PACCAR. First, NHTSA's

extensive fleet study of heavy vehicle antilock systems demonstrates

that these systems are reliable. Second, the agency's testing of truck

tractors equipped with antilock systems indicates that they provide

significantly improved lateral control and stability compared to

vehicles without antilock systems. Third, unlike air brake systems in

existence in the mid-1970's that relied on significantly larger, more

aggressive foundation brakes, which could possibly create safety

problems if the antilock system malfunctioned, the requirements being

adopted today do not necessitate such aggressive brakes. Fourth,

antilock brake systems are now in widespread, everyday use in this

country and throughout the world. Fifth, the performance requirements

adopted in today's final rule are objective and practicable. Based on

these and other considerations discussed throughout its final rule,

NHTSA believes the final rule satisfies the concerns raised in the

PACCAR case.

To evaluate the reliability of current-generation ABS designs, the

NHTSA conducted extensive field studies of ABS-equipped heavy truck

tractors and [[Page 13307]] semitrailers2 in developing its final

rule. In response to the PACCAR case, these studies were structured to

assess whether current-generation heavy vehicle antilock brake systems

were reliable and fail-safe, whether they inordinately increased

vehicle maintenance costs, and whether they could be successfully

maintained and would remain functioning in typical U.S. heavy truck

operating environments.

\2\ ``An In-Service Evaluation of the Reliability,

Maintainability, and Durability of Antilock Braking Systems (ABS)

for Heavy Truck Tractors,'' DOT Report No. 807 846, March 1992, and

``An In-Service Evaluation of the Reliability, Maintainability, and

Durability of Antilock Braking Systems (ABS) for Semitrailers,'' DOT

Report No. 808 059, October 1993.

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The NHTSA Research

Between 1988 and 1993, the agency tracked the maintenance

performance histories of 200 truck tractors and 50 semitrailers

equipped with ABS, as well as the histories of a comparison group of 88

truck tractors and 35 semitrailers not equipped with ABS, to determine

the incremental maintenance costs and patterns associated with

installing ABS on these heavy vehicles. Additionally, special on-board

vehicle recorders were used to monitor the functioning and performance

of the ABSs. Finally, drivers and mechanics at the participating test

fleets were periodically interviewed to ascertain their views about the

ABS test vehicles' performance and ease of maintenance. The study

authors concluded that, based on the data collected during the fleet

study, currently available antilock brake systems are reliable, durable

and maintainable. While ABS is not a zero-cost maintenance item, its

presence on a vehicle did not substantially increase maintenance costs

(less than one percent for tractors, less than two percent for

trailers) or decrease vehicle operational availability. Moreover, the

NHTSA study found that system malfunctions would not render the

vehicle's braking system unsafe, since the brake system would merely

revert to one without an ABS; foundation brakes are unchanged when ABS

is added. The incidents noted during the test program in which an ABS

malfunction did compromise the vehicle's underlying brake system

performance involved defective components.

The NHTSA's research report indicates that in both the tractor and

the trailer studies, many of the test vehicles either arrived in the

test fleets with faulty ABS or had ABS malfunction indications shortly

thereafter. These problems were the result of what was referred to as

installation or pre-production design-related problems. In general,

these problems were easily remedied, with most of the ABSs requiring

only adjustments or minor repairs. Problems of this nature were at

least partially attributable to the prototype nature of many of the

installations accomplished for this test program.

The NHTSA emphasizes that the problems encountered in the test

program do not reflect inherent design flaws with the principal

components (i.e., the electronic control units (ECU), modulators, and

wheel-speed sensing hardware) of ABS. Instead, they highlight the

importance of using high quality wiring components and paying close

attention to installation details. The NHTSA anticipates that the

frequency of these problems will be lower than that experienced during

the agency's test program once ABS production/installation increases to

a level high enough to enable the quality control programs typically

utilized by suppliers and truck manufacturers to take effect.

An average of 1.35 labor hours and $106.46 for replacement

components per test truck tractor were necessary to rectify these

installation/pre-production design-related problems. Comparable figures

for semitrailers were 1.9 labor hours and $65.36 for parts. All these

costs are usually recovered by fleets under the terms of typical

warranties offered by ABS suppliers and/or truck manufacturers. The

NHTSA notes that the start-up or installation/pre-production design-

related problems that the test fleets experienced are similar to the

experiences that fleets were reported to have had with electronically

controlled engines when they were first introduced on heavy trucks in

the mid-1980's.

During the two-year period in which the reliability of these

systems was evaluated, 200 ABS-equipped test tractors accumulated

39,818,659 miles of travel. During that period, 126 trucks (63 percent)

needed ABS related maintenance that could best be attributed to normal

service wear factors rather than installation or pre-production design-

related problems. A total of 421 incidents of this type occurred with

the 126 trucks, the majority (321 or 76 percent) of which involved

inspections/adjustments. The remainder (100 or 24 percent) involved

repairs/replacements. All brands of the ABSs involved in the test

program experienced incidents of this type at one time or another

during their in-service operation.

Forty vehicles experienced more than one failure warning, the

reason for which could not be discovered. Two vehicles experienced 35

and 31 such indications (23 percent of the total ECU resets (clearing

the failure message from the ECU memory)) respectively. Two other

trucks experienced 12 and 10 separate indications, respectively. These

four vehicles (4.5 percent of the trucks with failure warning problems)

accounted for 30 percent of the total intermittent failure warning

indications and ECU resets.

All five ABS systems (Bendix, Bosch, Midland, Rockwell, and WABCO)

experienced intermittent failure indications with at least one of the

forty test trucks each had involved in the test program. In each case,

the ABS was either manually reset or the warning light did not

reactivate when the truck's ignition was turned off and subsequently

turned on again at some later time. However, 61 percent of the total

failure warning indications of this type, and 34 percent of the

vehicles experiencing intermittent failure indications, were

attributable to one supplier's ABS. Another supplier's system accounted

for 18 percent of total failure warning indications and 28 percent of

the total vehicles involved. Since the time of the agency's test, both

suppliers' systems have been modified to reduce the number of these

false-positive malfunction indications.

The NHTSA's final rule summarizes the maintenance related to in-

service wear that was required during the tractor portion of the

program on each of the ABS components. Inspections and ECU resets

associated with intermittent failure warning indications were the

principal occurrences. In general, most of the work did not involve

parts replacements. Parts-replacement incidents totaled 40, with 55

percent of these (22) involving failure warning lamp bulbs or fuses.

The average number of in-service wear-related maintenance incidents,

including all inspections, adjustments, repairs, and replacements, was

2.11 incidents per truck over the two-year period of the test.

Replacing faulty major ABS components, plus performing all other

inspections, adjustments and repairs that were in-service wear-related,

required approximately 403 hours of labor and $4,068 for parts

replacements for all tractors in the test. At a standard hourly rate of

$35, this amounts to $18,173, or 0.046 cents per mile (based on

39,818,659 total miles of travel) for the cost of maintaining the ABSs

over the two-year period. The inspections/ECU resets, which only

involved labor [[Page 13308]] expenditure, accounted for 45 percent of

these total costs. Although they occurred infrequently, ECU

replacements were costly, accounting for 21 percent of the in-service

wear-related maintenance costs.

Similar findings were noted for the 50 ABS-equipped semitrailers

that were evaluated. The test vehicles accumulated 4,001,369 miles of

in-service use during almost two years of operation. In that period, 23

semitrailers (46 percent) needed ABS-related maintenance that could

best be attributed to normal service factors, rather than installation

or pre-production design-related problems. This compares favorably to

the 63 percent of tractors requiring ABS service during the tractor

program. A total of 44 incidents of this type occurred with the

semitrailers, with the majority (29, or 66 percent) involving

inspections or adjustments. The remainder (15, or 34 percent) involved

repairs or replacements. These percentages are similar to the 76

percent for adjustments and inspections and 24 percent for repairs and

replacements seen during the tractor program.

In summarizing the in-service maintenance that was required for ABS

components during the trailer portion of the test program, the NHTSA

notes that inspections and ECU resets associated with intermittent

failure warning indications were the principal occurrences. Parts-

replacement incidents totaled six, with three of these being status

light bulbs and three speed sensors. In general, most of the work did

not involve parts replacement.

The average number of in-service maintenance incidents, including

all inspections, adjustments, repairs, and replacements, was 0.88

incidents per semitrailer over the two-year test period. This compares

well with the 2.11 incidents per tractor seen during the tractor

portion of this program.

Replacing faulty ABS components, plus performing all other

inspections, adjustments, and repairs that were in-service related,

required approximately 44 hours of labor and $234 for parts

replacements. At a standardized hourly rate of $35, the total cost of

maintaining the ABSs over the two-year period ($1,774) amounts to 0.044

cents per mile (based on 4,001,369 total miles of travel). The

inspections and ECU resets (which only involved labor expenditure)

accounted for 35 percent of the total costs. The comparable tractor

figures are 0.046 cents per mile for total costs and 45 percent of the

total costs for inspection and ECU reset, indicating that the

semitrailers performed very much like the tractors.

Maintenance of ABS

At the completion of the overall 5-year test program, the NHTSA

conducted a final follow-up survey among the participating fleets.

Among the 13 fleets that were continuing to maintain the ABS on the

original test tractors, 97 percent of those tractors had functioning

ABS. On the other hand, the ABSs were not functioning on two-thirds of

the original test tractors in the other three fleets surveyed that

chose not to continue maintaining the systems. This demonstrates that

fleets must be committed to maintaining the ABS if it is to be kept

operational.

Antilock brake systems require some periodic, and occasionally non-

periodic, non-scheduled maintenance in order to remain functional.

Nonetheless, the NHTSA believes that the data contained in the two

fleet study reports indicate that equipping vehicles with ABS is

appropriate. Taken in total, those data indicate that, while ABS is not

a zero-maintenance component, it is neither difficult nor unduly

expensive to maintain. The fleet test results do not indicate that the

level of maintenance attention needed to keep ABS functional is

unreasonable relative to the safety benefits that will result from use

of these systems.

FHWA Intention

The FHWA has concluded that a rulemaking should be initiated

proposing to amend the FMCSRs to include ABS requirements for certain

commercial motor vehicles subject to those regulations. At a minimum,

the rulemaking would propose that motor carriers be required to

maintain the ABS units on all vehicles subject to the NHTSA rule.

The agency is not offering for comment at this time any proposed

language for amendments to the FMCSRs. The FHWA does, however, solicit

comments on its decision to initiate a rulemaking on ABS. Following a

careful review of the docket comments sent in response to this notice,

the FHWA will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking containing

specific regulatory language. The FHWA anticipates that this rulemaking

will be concluded prior to the effective date of the NHTSA's ABS

requirement.

Rulemaking Analyses and Notices

All comments received before the close of business on the comment

closing date indicated above will be considered and will be available

for examination in the docket room at the above address. Comments

received after the comment closing date will be filed in the docket and

will be considered to the extent practicable. In addition to late

comments, the FHWA will also continue to file in the docket relevant

information that becomes available after the comment closing date, and

interested persons should continue to examine the docket for new

material.

Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and DOT

Regulatory Policies and Procedures

The FHWA has determined that this action is not a significant

regulatory action within the meaning of Executive Order 12866 or

significant within the meaning of Department of Transportation

regulatory policies and procedures. Due to the preliminary nature of

this document and lack of necessary information on costs, however, the

FHWA is unable to evaluate fully the economic impact of the potential

regulatory changes being considered in this rulemaking. Based on the

information received in response to this notice, the FHWA intends to

carefully consider the costs and benefits associated with various

alternative requirements. Comments, information, and data are solicited

on the economic impact of the potential changes.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

Due to the preliminary nature of this document and lack of

necessary information on costs, the FHWA is unable to evaluate fully

the effects of the potential regulatory changes on small entities.

Based on the information received in response to this notice, the FHWA

intends, in compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-

354; 5 U.S.C. 601-612), to carefully consider the economic impacts of

these potential changes on small entities. The FHWA solicits comments,

information, and data on these impacts.

Executive Order 12612 (Federalism Assessment)

This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and

criteria contained in Executive Order 12612, and it has been determined

that this rulemaking does not have sufficient Federalism implications

to warrant the preparation of a Federalism assessment. Nothing in this

document directly preempts any State law or regulation.

Executive Order 12372 (Intergovernmental Review)

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.217, Motor

Carrier Safety. The regulations implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding intergovernmental [[Page 13309]] consultation on Federal

programs and activities apply to this program.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This action does not contain a collection of information

requirement for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

National Environmental Policy Act

The agency has analyzed this rulemaking for the purpose of the

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and

has determined that this action would not have any effect on the

quality of the environment.

Regulation Identification Number

A regulation identification number (RIN) is assigned to each

regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations.

The Regulatory Information Service Center publishes the Unified Agenda

in April and October of each year. The RIN contained in the heading of

this document can be used to cross reference this action with the

Unified Agenda.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 393

Highway safety, Motor carriers, Motor vehicle safety.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 31136, 31502; 49 CFR 1.48

Issued on: March 1, 1995.

Rodney E. Slater,

Federal Highway Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95-5414 Filed 3-7-95; 8:45 am]

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