Interpretation ID: Miller_tri-cycle 6102

Mr. Marshall V. Miller
Miller & Company P.C.
4929 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64112

Dear Mr. Miller:

This is in response to a letter you sent to Mr. John Lewis of this agency, in which you asked if a three-wheeled, electric work cycle ("work cycle") your client is seeking to import would be classified as a "motor vehicle." As explained below, based on the information you provided us, our answer is no.

Title 49 U.S. Code 30112 prohibits the importation of any motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment that is not certified to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. "Motor vehicle" is defined at 49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6) 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 previous interpretations we did not consider vehicles designed and sold solely for non-public road use (e.g., airport runway vehicles and underground mining vehicles) as motor vehicles, even though they may be operationally capable of highway travel. [1]

When a vehicle has on-road capabilities, the agency looks at five factors to determine if it a vehicle is a "motor vehicle." [2]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 vehicles manufacturer or dealers will assist vehicle purchasers in obtaining certificates or 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 motor vehicles;
4. Whether the vehicle has or will have affixed to it a warning label stating that the vehicle is intended for use on the public roads; and
5. Whether States or Foreign countries have permitted or are likely to permit the vehicle to be registered for on-road use.

Taken as a whole, we have concluded that the work cycle is not a motor vehicle. Our conclusion is based on the following analysis of the five factors provided above.

As to the first factor, the vehicle will not be advertised for use on-road. Your clients business is primarily based on the manufacture and sale of work tractors used in industrialized settings. You stated that the work cycle would be solely advertised for use in similar off-road industrial settings.

Second, the work cycles U.S. dealer will not be assisting purchasers in obtaining certificates or origin or title documents to register the vehicle for on-road use. You explained that your client would be the sole dealer of the work cycle and that the company would not provide any certificate of origin or title documents sufficient to register the work cycles in any State.

Third, your client, the sole dealer of the work cycle, does not manufacture or sell any motor vehicles for on-road use.

Fourth, you stated that your client would place a warning label on each work cycle, in a prominent place, stating that the work cycles are not intended for use on public roads.

Fifth, while you did not state if the work cycle is permitted on public roads in China, you did state that to the best of your knowledge, no State has permitted the work cycle to be registered for on-road use. Further, you stated that because the work cycle does not have a VIN number, it is unlikely that any State would allow a work cycle to be registered for on-road use.

While we have concluded at this time that the work cycle is not a motor vehicle, we may re-evaluate our determination if we were to receive additional information indicating that the work cycles were being used on public roads on more than an incidental basis.

You may wish to consult the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to determine which, if any, OSHA regulations may apply to the work cycle.

If you have any further questions, please contact Mr. Chris Calamita of my office at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel

Enclosures
ref:591
d.10/7/03