Interpretation ID: 24259.rbm

Mr. Ron Thompson
Fedex Express
2007 Corporate Avenue, 4th Floor
Memphis, TN 38132-5612

Dear Mr. Thompson:

This responds to your recent correspondence asking if your company, Fedex, may have the door locks on its airport vehicles disabled. In a subsequent conversation with Rebecca MacPherson, a Senior Counsel on my staff, you indicated that the vehicles are originally ordered as an incomplete chassis cab and are subject to final manufacturing customized to Fedex specifications. It would be part of this final manufacturing process to disable the existing door locks. You also reiterated that the vehicles, as manufactured, will not be operated anywhere other than airport property, and will not be licensed for street or highway use.

By way of background, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administers a statute requiring that motor vehicles manufactured for sale in the United States or imported into the United States be manufactured so as to reduce the likelihood of motor vehicle crashes and of deaths and injuries when crashes do occur. We refer to that statute as the Vehicle Safety Act. It is codified at 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq.

The Vehicle Safety Act defines the term "motor vehicle" as "any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, except any vehicle operated exclusively on a rail or rails." If a vehicle is a motor vehicle under the definition, it must comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs). These standards specify safety performance requirements for motor vehicles and/or items of motor vehicle equipment. Manufacturers of motor vehicles must certify compliance with all applicable safety standards and permanently apply a label to each vehicle stating that the vehicle complies with all applicable FMVSSs and providing the GVWR.

FMVSS No. 206, Door locks and door retention components, is one of these standards. S4.1.3 of the standard specifies that "[e]ach door shall be equipped with a locking mechanism with an operating means in the interior of the vehicle." However, if the vehicles for which Fedex wishes to have the door locks disabled are not motor vehicles, there is no requirement that they meet the requirements of FMVSS No. 206, or any other Federal motor vehicle safety standard.

Whether we consider those vehicles to be motor vehicles depends on their use. We have long stated that vehicles such as airport runway vehicles, that are designed and sold solely for off-road use, are not considered motor vehicles under the Vehicle Safety Act, even if they are operationally capable of highway travel.

As noted in your letter and in the subsequent conversation with Ms. MacPherson, the Fedex vehicles in question will be customized by the final stage manufacturer for airport use, will remain on airport property, and will be used solely for transporting cargo to and from airplanes. Accordingly, we have determined that these vehicles would not be motor vehicles as defined in the Vehicle Safety Act, and you are not prohibited from having the final stage manufacturer disable the door locks on those vehicles.

Should you require any additional information or assistance, please contact Rebecca MacPherson, of my staff, (202) 366-2992 or at the address given above.

Sincerely,
Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel
ref:595
d.7/16/02