Interpretation ID: 2848o
General Manager
River Road Dodge
Rt.3
Ripley, TN 38063
Dear Mr. Webb:
This responds to your letter asking whether the original equipment bed on a half-ton pick-up truck can be taken off and replaced by a local government with a utility body and/or bed. I apologize for the delay in responding. The answer to your question is different, depending on the specific facts of the situation.
By way of background, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) prohibits the sale or introduction into interstate commerce of any new vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment that does not conform to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. The Safety Act authorizes NHTSA to issue these safety standards (found in 49 CFR Chapter V), and each manufacturer is required to certify that its product(s) meet all applicable safety standards. It is not clear from your letter whether your dealership is proposing to make the modifications for the local government agency or whether the local government agency will itself perform the modifications.
The local government agency can perform whatever modifications it desires to its own vehicles without violating any Federal laws or regulations. This is because neither the Safety Act nor any of our standards and regulations apply to modifications individual vehicle owners make to their own vehicles.
However, if your dealership were to make these modifications, you would be responsible for complying with various provisions of the Safety Act and applicable regulations. The provisions with which you would have to comply would depend on whether you modify the vehicle before it is sold for the first time to the consumer (a new vehicle), or if you make the modifications after it has been sold for the first time to a consumer (a used vehicle). I will address each of these situations separately.
If your dealership intends to perform the described modifications to new vehicles, you would be subject to the following requirements. Section 108(a)(1)(A) of the Safety Act prohibits the sale of any new vehicle that does not comply with all applicable safety standards. This means that any vehicle that is modified before being sold for the first time to a consumer must continue to comply with all applicable safety standards after its modifications. In addition to these statutory considerations for modifiers, this agency's certification regulations, set forth in 49 CFR Part 567, apply to any person who changes previously certified vehicles by means other than the addition, substitution, or removal of readily attachable components or minor finishing operations or in such a manner that the weight ratings assigned to the vehicle are no longer valid. Such a person is considered an "alterer" for the purposes of Part 567 (copy enclosed). We consider the removal of a pickup bed and replacement with a utility body and/or bed to be something more than the substitution of readily attachable components or minor finishing operations. Therefore, a person making such a substitution on a new vehicle would be an alterer under Part 567.
In this case, 567.7 requires that:
(1) The alterer supplement the existing manufacturer certification label by affixing an additional label stating that the vehicle as altered conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards as well as stating the firm or individual name of the alterer and the month and the year in which the alterations were completed (see 567.7(a)); (2) The modified values for the vehicle be provided as specified in 567.4(g)(3) and (5), if the gross vehicle weight ratings or any of the gross axle weight ratings of the vehicle as altered are different from those shown on the original certification label (see 567.7(b)); and (3) The type classification be provided, if the vehicle as altered has a different type of classification from that shown on the original certification.
In addition to these certification requirements, an alterer is considered a "manufacturer" for the purposes of notification and remedy of defects or noncompliances under the Safety Act and is subject to the requirements of 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Reports.
On the other hand, if your dealership proposes to modify used vehicles (already purchased by the consumer), different requirements would apply. Specifically, section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act prohibits any manufacturer, distributor, dealer or motor vehicle repair business from "knowingly rendering inoperative" any equipment or element of design installed on a vehicle in compliance with our safety standards. In other words, no manufacturer, dealer, distributor, or repair business can modify used vehicles by removing or defeating any of the systems or devices that were installed on the vehicle to comply with an applicable safety standard. The modifier in the first instance must determine if the modifications constitute a prohibited "rendering inoperative" violation. However, the agency can reexamine the modifier's determination in the context of an enforcement proceeding. Part 567 does not require modifiers of used vehicles to provide a separate certification label for the modified vehicle.
To help you determine which standards may apply to the modified vehicles and whether the proposed modifications would result in a prohibited "rendering inoperative" violation, I am enclosing a publication entitled "Federal Vehicle Safety Standards and Procedures." This pamphlet indicates which standards apply to which vehicle types. I am also enclosing a general information sheet for new manufacturers that gives a general description of the applicable regulations, and explains how to get copies of those regulations. I hope this information proves helpful. Please contact this agency again if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Erika Z. Jones Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:VSA#567 d:4/15/88