Interpretation ID: nht92-5.31

DATE: July 1, 1992

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Gene Fouts -- Shelbyville Municipal Water and Sewer (Kentucky)

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 3/19/91 from Paul J. Rice to Jerry Tassan (Part 567)

TEXT:

This responds to the questions you posed in a telephone conversation with Mr. Jim Simons of our Plans and Policy division. Specifically, you asked whether a vehicle manufacturer can alter the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) assigned to one of its vehicles on the certification label, and, if so, how the alteration would be accomplished. You asked this question in the context of the Federal Highway Administration's commercial driver's license program which applies in part, to commercial vehicles with a GVWR of 26,001 lbs. or more. I am pleased to have this chance to explain our regulations for you.

In a March 19, 1991 letter to Mr. Jerry Tassan, a copy of which is enclosed for your information, I explained that the only parties that can assign or modify a vehicle's GVWR are the original manufacturer, a final stage manufacturer, or an alterer. Thus, the answer to the first part of your question is that the original vehicle manufacturer can modify the GVWR assigned to vehicles. However, modifications to assigned GVWRs should not be made for reasons relating to the GVWR threshold of the commercial driver's license program. This agency expects that modifications to assigned GVWRs would be made only when the manufacturer had made an effort regarding the originally assigned GVWR on the certification label and that the manufacturer's certification of compliance with all applicable safety standards would still be valid for this vehicle at the modified GVWR. The modified GVWR should, of course, comply with S567.4(g)(3) of Title 49 of the CFR which requires that the GVWR "not be less than the sum of the unloaded vehicle weight, rated cargo load, and 150 pounds times the vehicle's designated seating capacity." The agency further expects that if a manufacturer changed the GVWR of one vehicle, it would also change the GVWR of all similar vehicles.

The answer to how the manufacturer would go about modifying the assigned GVWR on a vehicle is not set forth explicitly in our regulations. Hence, the manufacturer has some latitude in choosing what it would provide to display the modified GVWR on the vehicle. However, a label with the modified GVWR should be permanently affixed to the vehicle as near as possible to the certification label. Further, the modification would have to be shown in such a way that the vehicle operator would not be likely to misunderstand or be confused about which GVWR the vehicle manufacturer regards as the correct one.

In your telephone conversation with Mr. Simons, you indicated that you were also interested in whether the Federal Highway Administration would recognize a modified GVWR for purposes of the commercial driver's license requirements. We have spoken with the Federal Highway Administration, which has indicated that it would recognize legitimate modifications to the GVWR that are made by the original vehicle manufacturer. If you have any further questions about licensing requirements for operators of commercial motor vehicles, I suggest

you contact Mr. James Scapelleto, Director, Office of Motor Carrier Standards, HCS-1, Federal Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions on this subject, please feel free to contact Steve Kratzke of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.