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

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