Interpretation ID: nht80-1.6

DATE: 01/21/80

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Edison Rubber Company

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your letter of November 9, 1979, inquiring if it is permissible for your suppliers to cut off the DOT serial numbers on used tires before selling those tires to your company. You stated in your letter that your company buys used tires from several companies. These tires generally either have cuts in the tread or sidewalls or are out of round. Your company then resells the tires to another company, which resells the tires to the public.

The answer to your question is no. The presence of the DOT identification number on tires is required by several of this agency's regulations. Our tire identification and record keeping regulation (49 CFR Part 574) requires that each manufacturer place the DOT number on at least one sidewall of each tire that it manufactures. The number serves several purposes. It is indispensable in aiding consumers to identify tires subject to a recall campaign for safety defects and noncompliances with the safety standards. It also aids this agency in enforcing its tire safety standards. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 109 (Passenger car tires, 49 CFR 571.109) and 119 (Tires for vehicles other than passenger cars, 49 CFR 571.119) require that each tire manufacturer certify that its tires conform to all applicable Federal safety standards by branding or molding the DOT number on the tire.

Section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A)), states that, "No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or in part, any device or element of design installed on. . . an item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard . . . ." By removing the DOT identification number from a tire, the person would be knowingly rendering inoperative an element of design on the tire which is included on the tire for compliance with the requirements of a Federal motor vehicle safety standard. Section 109 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1398) specifies a penalty of up to $ 1,000 for each violation of section 108.

Sincerely,

ATTACH.

November 9, 1979

Steve Kratzke -- Office of Chief Counsel

Dear Mr. Kratzke,

This letter is to follow up the several phone calls I have had with you regarding the legality of cutting Department of Transportation serial numbers off of used tires.

At your earliest convenience, please send me a written reply to the question following the two situations described below:

1. My company, Edison Rubber Company, buys tires that have cuts in the sidewall or tread from several companies. Edison Rubber Company then sells these cut tires to another company which repairs the cuts and then resells these tires to the general public.

2. My company, Edison Rubber Company, also buys from several companies tires that are out of round (the customer felt that their car did not ride smoothly). Edison Rubber Company then resells these tires to another company which resells them to the general public.

My question relates to both of the above situations: Are the companies that sell these tires to Edison Rubber Company allowed to cut the serial numbers off of these tires legally so as not to get them back as adjustment tires?

Your speedy response is appreciated as it would save my suppliers much time and effort in disposing of their junk tires. Please call me if you have any questions.

Yours truly,

Jeffrey Libman, President -- Edison Rubber Company