Interpretation ID: aiam3164
Executive Engineer
Mack Trucks
Inc.
P.O. Box 1761
Allentown
Pennsylvania 18105;
Dear Mr. Brown: I apologize for the delay in responding to your letter of June 26 1979, questioning an opinion contained in our December 12, 1978, letter to you regarding the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standard No. 120. Our letter stated that your company should stamp the words 'not applicable', or words of similar import, in any spaces on your certification label which are for axles not present on the vehicle to which the label is affixed. You responded that the blank spaces on the label would not be confusing, and that the likelihood of a discrepancy between the vehicle and the label is very remote.; Our letter did not address the question of the wrong label accidentall being affixed to a vehicle. Such an occurrence would mean that the vehicle would not comply with the requirements of Standard No. 120, and it could not legally be sold in the United States. Hence, any questions about a discrepancy between the information appearing on the label and the vehicle are beyond the scope of this reply.; S5.3 of Standard No. 120 requires that the labeling informatio specified in S5.3.1 - S5.3.3 appear in the format shown in the truck example following S5.3. As explained in the December 12 letter, minor variations on what is set forth in the truck example are permitted, but only is those minor variations do not change or obscure the meaning of the label. Minor variations consist of slight differences in punctuation or a substitution of words for a punctuation mark. The purpose of the labeling requirement is to clearly convey to the user of the vehicle the information specified in Standard No. 120.; Leaving blank spaces for axles which do not exist on the particula vehicle being labeled does not, upon reconsideration, change or obscure the meaning of the label. Nor is it reasonable to assume that blank spaces will confuse the average reader of the label, when those blank spaces correspond to axles not present on the vehicle. Therefore, I am hereby withdrawing the statement in our previous letter that Mack Trucks should stamp 'not applicable' or words of similar import on certification labels for axles not present on the vehicle being labeled. It would be more accurate, however, to insert these words and it would be a simple matter to do so at the same time the other variable information is applied to the label form.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel