Interpretation ID: 17692.wkm

Mr. John White
John White Company
770 Washington Street
Largo, IN 46941

Dear Mr. White:

This responds to your letter of March 30, 1998, to Walter Myers of my staff and Mr. Myers' telephone conversation of April 7, 1998, with your foreman, Jerry. You stated that your company builds and repairs hopper bottom trailers used for hauling grain. You equip your trailers with used undercarriages, including axles, brakes, and suspensions, which you mount on new frames and beds. You asked whether your trailers are required to comply with the antilock brake system requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 121, Air brake systems. The answer depends on the particular facts of your operation.

The agency's regulation with regard to combining new and used components in assembling trailers is found at 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 571.7(f), Combining new and used components in trailer manufacture (copy enclosed), which provides in pertinent part:

When new materials are used in the assembly of a trailer, the trailer will be considered newly manufactured . . . unless, at a minimum, the trailer running gear assembly (axle(s), wheels, braking and suspension) are not new, and was taken from an existing trailer -

(1) Whose identity is continued in the reassembled vehicle with respect to the Vehicle Identification Number; and

(2) That is owned or leased by the user of the reassembled vehicle.

By its terms, therefore, subsection 571.7(f) applies to situations in which new components are combined with used components in the assembly of a trailer. Specifically, the trailer will be considered new unless, at a minimum, the axle(s), wheels, brakes, and suspension are not only not new, but must have been taken from an existing trailer. Moreover, the vehicle identification number of the existing trailer must be continued in the reassembled trailer and both must have been owned or leased by the user of the reassembled trailer. Unless all these conditions are met, the trailer is considered new and must be certified to all applicable standards, including the ABS requirements of Standard No. 121, in accordance with 49 CFR Part 567 (copy enclosed).

For your additional information, I am enclosing fact sheets entitled Federal Requirements for Manufacturers of Trailers and Where to Obtain NHTSA's Safety Standards and Regulations.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Should you have any further questions or need additional information, feel free to contact Mr. Myers at this address or at (202) 366-2992, fax (202) 366-3820.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:121#571
d.6/12/98