Interpretation ID: aiam2835
North Central Tank Repair
Box 300
Holdingford
MN 56340;
Dear Ms. Schulte: This responds to your January 30, 1978, letter asking whether you ar permitted to mount temporarily a body on a vehicle when you know that the body is of a greater load carrying capacity than is appropriate for the vehicle's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). You indicate that some other manufacture would finish the mounting process and certify the vehicle for compliance with the Federal motor vehicle safety standards.; The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ha indicated on many occasions that vehicle overloading poses a serious safety problem for the affected vehicle, in particular, and the motoring public in general. Accordingly, the agency has stated its determination to hold manufacturers responsible for vehicles that they manufacture which will exceed their GVWR's when fully loaded with their intended cargo. The NHTSA considers such overloading to constitute a safety-related defect.; In the operation that you are considering, you would be considered a intermediate vehicle manufacturer. As such, you would be required to comply with all of the requirements in Part 568, *Vehicles Manufactured in Two or More Stages*, that apply to intermediate manufacturers. The NHTSA would consider you to be partially responsible for the construction of a vehicle that when loaded with its intended cargo will exceed its GVWR. Possible agency action might include a mandatory recall and remedy and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per vehicle.; Sincerely, Joseph J. Levin, Jr., Chief Counsel