Interpretation ID: GF004598

Mr. John L'Espoir
Enid Drill Systems, Inc.
4510 East Market Street
Enid, OK 73701-9686

Dear Mr. L'Espoir:

This responds to your facsimile of June 16 and your July 8 phone conversation with George Feygin of my staff, regarding certain water well drilling equipment that your company produces. In your letter, you ask whether the water well drilling equipment incorporating a tandem axle trailer design is subject to the antilock brake system (ABS) requirements set forth in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 121 (FMVSS No. 121). You requested and received our interpretation on a similar issue in 1999. Based on the previously submitted informational materials and your recent conversation with George Feygin, our answer is no, provided that the equipment you now intend to manufacture is indeed similar to the equipment for which you sought our earlier interpretation.

In your previous submission, you stated that your equipment is used off-road to drill water wells, and that some of your designs incorporate tandem axle and triple axle semi-trailers equipped with air brakes. During a recent phone conversation, you indicated that the drilling equipment now in question will be substantially similar in design and function to the equipment subject to the previous interpretation. Please note that our present interpretation extends only to the type of drilling equipment previously described in your 1999 interpretation request.

Chapter 301 of Title 49, U.S. Code (U.S.C.), hereinafter referred to as the Safety Act, authorizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish FMVSSs applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. Section 30102(a)(6) of the Safety Act defines "motor vehicle" as:

[A] vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line.

In reviewing the information you have previously provided, it is our opinion that the water well drilling equipment is not a motor vehicle within the statutory definition. The water well drilling equipment is designed to be used primarily at off-road job sites and, although capable of being transported on-road from one job site to another, its on-road use is only incidental to the primary purpose for which they were manufactured. This contrasts with instances in which vehicles such as cement mixer trucks and dump trucks frequently use the public roads going to and from off-road job sites, but remain there for only a limited period of time. Such vehicles are considered motor vehicles for purposes of the Safety Act because their on-road use is more than merely incidental.

In view of the above discussion, your water well drilling equipment is not a motor vehicle and is therefore not required to comply with the FMVSSs, including the ABS requirements of Standard No. 121.

We note that our interpretations in this area are based in part on a court decision issued in 1978, addressing mobile construction equipment. Subsequent legal developments make the holding of that court decision open for reassessment. Moreover, some mobile construction equipment may be using the public roads with greater frequency than the equipment the court decided were not motor vehicles subject to our jurisdiction. At some point in the future, we may revisit the issue of whether certain equipment should be considered motor vehicles. However, if we were to take such action, we would announce it publicly, and address such issues as what standards should apply to the vehicles and what effective date is appropriate.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact George Feygin of my staff at this address or by phone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel

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d.10/20/03