[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 216 (Thursday, November 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60145-60146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24302]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0110; Notice 1]


Great Dane, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: Great Dane, LLC (Great Dane) has determined that certain model 
year (MY) 2019 Great Dane Freedom Platform trailers do not comply with 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 223, Rear Impact 
Guards, and FMVSS No. 224, Rear Impact Protection. Great Dane filed a 
noncompliance report dated January 2, 2019, and subsequently petitioned 
NHTSA on January 2, 2019, for a decision that the subject noncompliance 
is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document 
announces receipt of Great Dane's petition.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is December 9, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited in the title of this notice and may be 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590. The Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
except for Federal Holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
    Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that comments you have submitted by mail were 
received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the 
comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.
    All comments and supporting materials received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the 
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the fullest extent possible.
    When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will 
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated at the end of this notice.
    All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials 
submitted to the docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and 
times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the internet at 
https://

[[Page 60146]]

www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for accessing 
the dockets. The docket ID number for this petition is shown in the 
heading of this notice.
    DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a 
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. Overview: Great Dane has determined that certain MY 2019 Great 
Dane Freedom Platform trailers do not fully comply with paragraph S5.3 
of FMVSS No. 223, Rear Impact Guards (49 CFR 571.223), and paragraph 
S5.1 of FMVSS No 224, Rear Impact Protection (49 CFR 571.224). Great 
Dane filed a noncompliance report dated January 2, 2019, pursuant to 49 
CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports, and 
subsequently petitioned NHTSA on January 2, 2019, for an exemption from 
the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on 
the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to 
motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 
49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
    This notice of receipt of their petition 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 petition.
    II. Trailers Involved: Approximately 72 MY 2019 Great Dane Freedom 
Platform trailers, manufactured between July 10, 2018, and November 8, 
2018, are potentially involved.
    III. Noncompliance: Great Dane explained that the noncompliance is 
that the subject trailers were manufactured with a rear impact guard 
that does not contain the certification plate as required by paragraphs 
S5.3 of FMVSS No. 223 and S5.1 of FMVSS No. 224.
    IV. Rule Text: Paragraphs S5.3 of FMVSS No. 223 and S5.1 of FMVSS 
No. 224 include the requirements relevant to this petition. Each guard 
shall be permanently labeled with the information specified in 
paragraphs S5.3(a) through (c) of FMVSS No. 223. The information shall 
be in English and in letters that are at least 2.5mm high. The label 
shall be placed on the forward or rearward facing surface of the 
horizontal member of the guard, provided that the label does not 
interfere with the retroreflective sheeting required by S5.7.1.4.1(c) 
of FMVSS No. 108 (49 CFR 571.108), and is readily accessible for visual 
inspection and includes the following: (a) The guard manufacturer's 
name and address, (b) the statement: ``Manufactured in ____'' 
(inserting the month and year of guard manufacture), and (c) the 
letters ``DOT,'' constituting a certification by the guard manufacturer 
that the guard conforms to all requirements of this standard. FMVSS No. 
224 requires that each vehicle shall be equipped with a rear impact 
guard certified as meeting FMVSS No. 223.
    V. Summary of Great Dane's Petition: The following views and 
arguments presented in this section, V. Summary of Great Dane's 
Petition, are the views and arguments provided by Great Dane. They have 
not been evaluated by the agency and do not reflect the views of the 
agency.
    Accordingly, Great Dane described the subject noncompliance and 
stated that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor 
vehicle safety.
    1. Great Dane believes that the lack of the impact guard 
certification plate, is an inconsequential type of noncompliance as it 
relates to vehicle safety. The fact that the certification plate was 
not installed on the rear impact guard on this particular group of 
trailers does not make these trailers any less safe.
    2. Great Dane stated that these rear impact guards as manufactured 
and installed by Great Dane, are compliant as required by the Federal 
Standard.
    3. The subject trailers have affixed to them certification plates, 
certifying that the entire trailer, including the rear impact guard, 
meet and/or exceed all the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in 
effect, on the date of manufacture as indicated.
    4. To meet the standards of FMVSS 223 and 224, Great Dane has never 
installed a third party produced rear impact guard on any of its 
trailers.
    5. The incident that lead to these trailers being produced without 
the plate attached was an isolated incident. It has since been 
investigated, resolved, and should not occur again in the future.
    6. Great Dane believes that the extra certification plate required 
on the rear impact guard is redundant.
    Great Dane concluded by expressing the belief that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, 
and that its petition to be exempted from providing notification of the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on 
this petition only applies to the subject trailers that Great Dane no 
longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance 
existed. However, any decision on this petition does not relieve 
vehicle distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer 
for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant trailers under their control after Great 
Dane notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

    Authority: (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: Delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8).

Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2019-24302 Filed 11-6-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P


