Interpretation ID: aiam0488
Truck Trailer Manufacturers' Association;
Telephone call from TTMA re GVWR This is a memorandum of a telephone conversation that I had with Mr Paul Wilson of the Truck Trailer Manufacturers' Association on November 19, 1971.; Mr. Wilson asked how the GAWR and GVWR requirements of the ne Certification regulations would apply to semitrailers with sliding rear axle bogies (sic). He said that he saw a danger that if the GVWR of a semitrailer were based on the load that could be carried with the rear axle in the rearmost position (the maximum load condition if the rear axle is the limiting factor), there was a possibility that the user would overload the axle by loading to that capacity with the axle in a more forward position. Conversely, if the GVWR were stated at a lower figure based on the axle in the forwardmost position, the actual capacity of the trailer would be understated.; I told Mr. Wilson that, with or without the new regulations, th situation obviously required the furnishing of specific instructions to the truck users, beyond any figures for GVWR and GAWR. The NHTSA, I said, did not restrict the furnishing of this information, either by label or in printed manual form, except that extraneous material should not be placed in the midst of the required information on the label. I also said that the GVWR could be lower than the sum of the axle ratings and the capacity at the kingpin.; Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel