Interpretation ID: 18891.wkm

Ms. Kristy Harren
R. M. Johnson Company, Inc.
890 Norway Drive
Post Office Box "J"
Annandale, MN 55302

Dear Ms. Harren:

Please pardon the delay in responding to your letter to Walter Myers of my staff in which you asked whether the E-Z Car Crusher and the E-Z Log Baler that your company produces are excluded from the antilock brake system (ABS) requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (Standard) No. 121, Air brake systems. The answer is yes.

You enclosed descriptive brochures showing pictures of the car crusher and the log baler. You stated that axles are installed on these products as a base and as a mode of transporting them from the factory to the customer. You also stated that these units are designed to spend extended periods of time at off-road job sites, although customers will occasionally transport them from job site to job site. You referred to 49 U.S. Code (U.S.C.) 30102(a)(6), which defines the term "motor vehicle," in support of your assertion that your equipment is exempt from Standard No. 121 because the primary function of the units is not for use on public streets, roads, and highways. The units are towed to their job sites by a semi-tractor, then detached and left at the sites to perform their primary functions.

Chapter 301 of Title 49, U.S. C., hereinafter referred to as the Safety Act, authorizes this agency to establish Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. You correctly cited 49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6) as defining "motor vehicle," which is:

[A] vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line.

In reviewing the information you provided, including the informational brochures enclosed with your letter, it is our opinion that the car crusher and the log baler you described and as depicted in the brochures are not motor vehicles within the statutory definition. They are designed to be used primarily off-road and although capable of being transported on-road from the factory to the customer and by the customer from one job site to another, their on-road use is only incidental to the primary purposes for which they were manufactured. This contrasts with instances in which vehicles such as dump trucks frequently use the public roads going to and from off-road job sites, but stay there for only a limited time. Such vehicles are considered motor vehicles for purposes of the Safety Act because their on-road use is more than merely "incidental."

In view of the above discussion, your car crusher and your log baler are not considered motor vehicles and are therefore not required to comply with the Federal motor vehicle safety standards, including the ABS requirements of Standard No. 121.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Should you have any questions or need further information, feel free to contact Mr. Myers at this address or at (202) 366-2992, or by fax at (202) 366-3820.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
ref:121
d.5/25/99