[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 203 (Monday, October 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84242-84244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24310]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0078; Notice 2]


Jayco, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential 
Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Grant of petition.

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SUMMARY: Jayco, Inc., (Jayco) has determined that certain model year 
(MY) 2020 travel trailers, manufactured by Jayco, do not fully comply 
with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire 
Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load 
Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 
Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) or Less. Jayco filed a noncompliance report 
dated July 16, 2019. In coordination with Jayco, Starcraft RV 
(Starcraft) and Highland Ridge RV (Highland), subsidiaries of Jayco, 
also filed noncompliance reports dated July 17, 2019. Jayco 
subsequently petitioned NHTSA on July 31, 2019, and later amended that 
petition on September 26, 2019, and November 6, 2019, for a decision 
that the subject noncompliances are inconsequential as it relates to 
motor vehicle safety. This document announces the grant of Jayco's 
petition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ahmad Barnes, Office of Vehicle Safety 
Compliance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
telephone (202) 366-7236.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    Jayco has determined that certain MY 2020 travel trailers, 
manufactured by Jayco, do not fully comply with paragraph S4.3.5 of 
FMVSS No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation 
Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles 
with a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) or Less (49 CFR 
571.110). Jayco filed a noncompliance report dated July 16, 2019, and 
in addition, Starcraft and Highland, subsidiaries of Jayco, also filed 
noncompliance reports dated July 17, 2019, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, 
Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. Jayco subsequently 
petitioned NHTSA on July 31, 2019, and later amended that petition on 
September 26, 2019, and November 6, 2019, for an exemption from the 
notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the 
basis that these noncompliances are inconsequential as they relate to 
motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 
49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance. 
As far as the subsequent petitions are concerned, the September 26, 
2019, amended petition removed affected Canadian units. The November 6, 
2019, amended petition modified an attachment provided with the 
petition.
    Notice of receipt of Jayco's petition was published with a 30-day 
public comment period, on January 6, 2020, in the Federal Register (85 
FR 554). No comments were received. To view the petition and all 
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online 
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2019-0078.''

II. Trailers Involved

    Approximately 6,354 MY 2020 Jayco, approximately 1,006 Starcraft, 
and approximately 814 Highland travel trailers, manufactured between 
May 1, 2019, and June 27, 2019, were reported by the manufacturer.
    In its petition, Jayco states that the total number of vehicles 
affected is 8,983. However, that number also includes travel trailers 
sold in Canada. NHTSA can only grant exemption for vehicles sold in the 
United States, totaling approximately 8,174 vehicles.

III. Noncompliance

    Jayco explains that the noncompliances are that the subject travel 
trailers are equipped with vehicle placards that state the incorrect 
vehicle capacity weight and contain an extra character in the 
recommended tire inflation pressure, therefore, do not meet the 
requirements set forth in paragraph S4.3.5 of FMVSS No. 110. 
Specifically, the vehicle placards state that the vehicle weight 
capacity as 80 kg when it should be 807 kg. Also, the recommended tire 
inflation pressure for the rear tire states ``552 IKPA,'' and the spare 
tire states ``552 7KPA'' when they should read 552 KPA.

IV. Rule Requirements

    Paragraph S4.3.5 of FMVSS No. 110 includes the requirements 
relevant to this petition. Each trailer, except for an incomplete 
vehicle, must show the information specified in paragraphs S4.3(c) 
through (g) and may show the information specified in paragraphs

[[Page 84243]]

S4.3(h) and (i), on a placard permanently affixed proximate to the 
certification label. Each trailer, on the vehicle placard, contains a 
cargo capacity statement expressed as ``The weight of cargo should 
never exceed XXX kilograms or XXX pounds.'' A vehicle manufacturer's 
recommended cold tire inflation pressure for front, rear, and spare 
tires is subject to the limitations of paragraph S4.3.4.

V. Summary of Jayco's Petition

    The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V. 
Summary of Jayco's Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by 
Jayco.
    Jayco describes the subject noncompliances and contends that the 
noncompliances are inconsequential as they relate to motor vehicle 
safety. Jayco argues that although the vehicle weight capacity stated 
on the vehicle placard is incorrect, the correct value is displayed on 
the cargo carrying capacity (CCC) label.
    Jayco believes that the extra character shown in the cold tire 
inflation pressure is inconsequential because the correct information 
is also provided on the sidewall of the tire.
    Jayco argues that the top section of the certification label 
provides the same information as the tire and loading information label 
and states the correct tire size dimensions and the cold pressure 
inflation values. Additionally, Jayco says that the bottom section of 
the certification label displays the CCC of the trailer, which includes 
the weight values with the fresh water and the waste water tanks 
filled.
    Furthermore, Jayco says that the owner's manual for the subject 
vehicles includes instructions on how to load the vehicle and where to 
find the required ratings that are shown on the certification label. 
Jayco adds that the owner's manuals are also available on the company 
website at www.jayco.com.
    Jayco adds that the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO) 
includes the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) and the unloaded 
vehicle weight (UVW). The difference between these two values would 
also provide the CCC of the trailer.
    Jayco says that all of the trailers affected by the subject 
noncompliance have been purchased and Jayco has not received any 
complaints or inquiries regarding CCC from any owners or dealers of the 
subject trailers.
    Jayco contends that NHTSA has granted similar inconsequential 
petitions in the past, citing a petition from General Motors that was 
granted in 2019 as an example.\1\
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    \1\ See General Motors, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 84 FR 25117 (May 30, 2019).
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    Jayco concludes that the subject noncompliances are inconsequential 
as they relate to motor vehicle safety, and that its petition to be 
exempted from providing notification of the noncompliance, as required 
by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the noncompliance, as required by 
49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.

VI. NHTSA's Analysis

    Jayco explains that the noncompliances are that the ``THE COMBINED 
WEIGHT OF CARGO SHOULD NEVER EXCEED: XXX kg or XXX lbs.'' figures 
represented on the required FMVSS No. 110 vehicle placard label 
manufactured for their RV travel trailers are incorrect and the ``cold 
tire pressure'' on the same vehicle placards were printed with an extra 
character for the rear and spare tire line items.
    In this particular case, the error pertaining to weight capacity is 
not deleterious to the safety and well-being of the vehicle operator 
and its occupants. First, the information on the label required by 
S4.3.5 of FMVSS No. 110 is more restrictive (80 kg vice the correct 
figure of 807 kg), allows less weight (cargo) to be present on the 
vehicle and is obviously wrong. Further, a small search effort by the 
vehicle user provides an accurate determination of the correct maximum 
cargo carrying capacity.
    FMVSS No. 110 paragraph S9 mandates that each motor home and RV 
trailer must affix either a motor home occupant and cargo carrying 
capacity label or an RV trailer CCC label to its vehicles. Among the 
items of information which the labels must display is the statement 
that ``THE COMBINED WEIGHT OF CARGO SHOULD NEVER EXCEED: XXX kg or XXX 
lbs.'' In the case of the Jayco manufactured trailers, the trailers' 
CCC labels display the correct information--807 kg.
    In reference to tire pressure the error present here is the display 
of an ``extra'' character. To the extent this extra character may 
confuse an owner or user, an accurate display of the vehicle's cold 
tire pressure may be found on the vehicle's certification label 
typically found adjacent to the required FMVSS No. 110 vehicle placard.
    An additional source of a trailer's weight and loading 
characteristics may be found physically in the form of a book in the 
vehicle's owner's manual, or more often are typically found online.
    Jayco notes that NHTSA has previously granted similar 
inconsequential petitions with respect to this error. The noted example 
was that of a General Motors, LLC grant of petition for inconsequential 
noncompliance due to vehicle tire placards that incorrectly stated the 
spare tire size and cold tire pressure. In that case, the agency agreed 
with the petitioner that there were several alternative locations to 
retrieve the desired information.
    In this case, the agency agrees that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety as the information which was 
the subject of the petition itself--the CCC and the cold tire pressure 
values--are available and obtainable by other reasonable means. The 
maximum cargo carrying capacity may be obtained from the CCC label and 
may be calculated by subtracting the unloaded vehicle weight from the 
gross vehicle weight rating. Besides the vehicle's tire and information 
placard, the vehicle operator could seek out the certification label, 
one of the mounted tires on the vehicle, or the vehicle's owner's 
manual for specific information related to the cold tire pressure that 
the vehicle may safely be operated with.

VII. NHTSA'S Decision

    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that Jayco has met 
its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 110 noncompliance 
at issue is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    Accordingly, Jayco's petition is hereby granted and Jayco is 
consequently exempt from the obligation of providing notification of, 
and a free remedy for, that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 
30120.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, this decision 
only applies to the subject trailers that Jayco no longer controlled at 
the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, the 
granting of this petition does not relieve vehicle distributors and 
dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, or 
introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of

[[Page 84244]]

the noncompliant trailers under their control after Jayco notified them 
that the subject noncompliance existed.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 49 
CFR 1.95 and 501.8)

Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-24310 Filed 10-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P