Search Interpretations

Interpretation ID: 22372.ztv


    Mr. J. R. Butcher
    President
    Portableacher Corp.
    P.O. Box 402540
    Hesperia, CA 92340


    Dear Mr. Butcher:

    This is in reply to your letter of October 23, 2000, asking for an "interpretation" regarding your product, "portableachers." You state that you "first got a determination on Portableachers about 24 years ago." You relate that at that time they were classified in the same category as a 'farm wagon.' You now would like "an up-to-date interpretation."

    Jack Risin of your company informed Taylor Vinson of this office by e-mail that you do not have a copy of the earlier interpretation. We presume that it was an interpretation issued by this office but we, too, have been unable to find a copy after searching all relevant interpretations from the 1970s on file in this Office. For this reason, we cannot presently confirm that Portableachers are in the same category as farm wagons; i.e., that they are not "motor vehicles" subject to the regulations of this agency.

    Your product appears to be a trailer which carries seats that erect into a grandstand for spectators. Your product literature states that the product has been used by "Cities, Universities, Parks and Recreation Departments, Government Bases, Circus companies, and Rental Dealers." This description is insufficient for us to judge whether your trailer has or has not been "manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways," which is the definition of a "motor vehicle." See 49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6). Although it seems evident to us that Portableachers are towed over the public roads for erection and use on sites that are off the public roads, we do not know the frequency with which Portableacher trailers are moved from site to site.

    In instances where the agency is asked whether a vehicle is a motor vehicle when it has both off-road and on-road operating capabilities, and about which we have little or no information about the extent of the vehicle's on-road use, the agency has applied five factors in offering its advice. These factors are:

      1. Whether the vehicle will be advertised for use on-road as well as off-road, or whether it will be advertised exclusively for off-road use.

      2. Whether the vehicle's manufacturer or dealers will assist vehicle purchasers in obtaining certificates of origin or title documents to register the vehicle for on-road use.

      3. Whether the vehicle is or will be sold by dealers also selling vehicles that are classified as on-road vehicles.

      4. Whether the vehicle has or will have affixed to it a warning label stating that the vehicle is not intended for use on the public roads.

      5. Whether states or foreign countries have permitted or are likely to permit the vehicle to be registered for on-road use.

    If you wish to provide us with answers to these questions, we will be glad to advise you further.

    Sincerely,

    Frank Seales, Jr.
    Chief Counsel

    ref:571
    d.1/22/00