Interpretation ID: aiam3579
President
Tri-City Tires
Inc.
1016 Butt Street
Chesapeake
VA 23324;
Dear Mr. Kitchen: This responds to your recent letter to Mr. Kratzke of my staff askin for a clarification of the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 120 (49 CFR S571.120) concerning the use of retreaded tires on new trucks and trailers. Specifically, you wanted to know whether a DOT symbol was required to appear on any retreaded tires so used.; Pursuant to your request in a telephone conversation with Mr. Kratzke he sent you a copy of a March 22, 1978 letter from this agency to Dorsey Trailers. That letter stated that retreaded tires could be used on new trucks and trailers, and that retreaded tires used for that purpose are not required to have a DOT symbol. This conclusion is mandated by the requirement in 49 CFR S574.5 that 'the DOT symbol shall not appear on tires to which no Federal Motor Vehicle Standard is applicable.' Since no safety standard applies to retreaded tires for use on trucks and trailers, it follows that the DOT symbol must not appear on those tires.; In your recent letter, you enclosed a copy of a September 29, 198 letter from this agency to Elgene Tire Company. That letter states that, for purposes of Standard No. 120, used tires are interpreted to include retreaded tires. As you noted in your phone conversation with Mr. Kratzke, an implication of this interpretation seems to be that retreaded tires are required, as used tires, to have a DOT symbol.; The agency position regarding the presence of the DOT symbol o retreaded tires has been consistent since 1978, i.e., that the controlling provision on that issue is S574.5 and therefore the DOT symbol is not required to appear on retreaded truck tires, and, indeed, must not appear on those tires. Retreaded truck tires without the DOT symbol may be used on new trucks and trailers in full compliance with Standard No. 120. To clarify this point, the agency published a proposal on October 30, 1980 (45 FR 71834) to amend Standard 120 so that it expressly permits the installation of retreaded tires on new trucks and trailers. (A copy of the proposal is enclosed) Final action on that proposal is expected this summer.; I trust that this response clears up the confusion to which you allude in your letter regarding these requirements. Should you have any further questions in this area, feel free to contact Mr. Kratzke at (202) 426-2992.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel