[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20345-20348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9867]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-97-2341]


Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Manufactured 
Home Tires

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to deny petitions for rulemaking; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The FMCSA announces its intent to deny petitions for 
rulemaking from the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and 
Multinational Legal Services, PLLC (Multinational) concerning 
overloading of tires used for the transportation of manufactured homes. 
Currently, these tires may be loaded up to 18 percent over the load 
rating marked on the sidewall of the tires, or in the absence of such a 
marking, 18 percent above the load rating specified in publications of 
certain organizations specializing in tires. The termination date of 
the rule allowing 18-percent overloading of these tires was originally 
set for November 20, 2000, but was delayed until December 31, 2001, to 
provide the agency time to complete its review of the MHI's petition to 
allow 18 percent overloading on a permanent basis. The agency has now 
completed its review of the MHI's data and believes that there should 
be no further delay in the termination date. The agency has also 
completed its analysis of Multinational's petition to rescind the final 
rule which delayed the termination date until December 31, 2001, and 
determined on a preliminary basis that the petition should be denied. 
Denial of both petitions would result in transporters of manufactured 
homes being prohibited from operating such units on overloaded tires on 
or after January 1, 2002.

DATES: We must receive your comments by May 21, 2001. We will consider 
comments received after the comment closing date to the extent 
practicable.

ADDRESSES: You can mail, fax, hand deliver or electronically submit 
written comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001, FAX (202) 493-2251, on-line at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. You must include the docket number that appears in the heading 
of this document in your comment. You can examine and copy all comments 
at the above address from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t. Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. If you want us to notify you that we received 
you comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or 
postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry W. Minor, Office of Bus and 
Truck Standards and Operations, MC-PSV, (202) 366-4009, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

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Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 18, 1998, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly published 
a final rule amending, respectively, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations (FMCSRs) and an interpretation of the Manufactured Home 
Construction and Safety Standards (see 63 FR 8330). The FHWA and HUD 
actions reduced the amount of tire overloading allowed (at the time up 
to 50 percent above the tire manufacturer's load rating) on tires used 
to transport manufactured homes. As a result of the rulemaking, the 
maximum amount of loading on a manufactured home tire was reduced so 
that it cannot exceed the tire manufacturer's load rating by more than 
18 percent. Manufactured homes transported on tires overloaded by 9 
percent or more may not be operated at speeds exceeding 80 kilometers 
per hour (km/hr)(50 mph). The final rule allowed 18-percent overloading 
for a two-year period. The two-year period began on November 16, 1998, 
the effective date of the final rule, and was scheduled to end on 
November 20, 2000.
    In publishing the final rule and interpretative bulletin, the 
agencies indicated there was sufficient data to support the premise 
that overloading tires may be potentially unsafe. The agencies also 
indicated that unless both of them were persuaded by the end of the 
two-year period that 18-percent overloading did not pose a risk to the 
traveling public, or have an adverse impact on safety or the ability of 
motor carriers to transport manufactured homes, any overloading of 
tires beyond their design capacity would be prohibited.

MHI Petition for Rulemaking

    On August 7, 2000, the MHI filed a petition for rulemaking with the 
FMCSA and HUD to initiate a joint rulemaking to amend the agencies' 
rules concerning manufactured home tires to enable the manufactured 
home industry to continue to exceed the tire manufacturer's load rating 
by up to 18 percent, indefinitely. The MHI requested that: (1) The 
FMCSA amend 49 CFR 393.75(g); and (2) HUD revise Interpretative 
Bulletin J-1-76 to 24 CFR part 3260. MHI recognized that it would be 
difficult, if not impossible, for the FMCSA and HUD to act on the 
petition and, if granted, complete the rulemaking before November 20, 
2000. Therefore, the MHI also petitioned the FMCSA and HUD to provide 
interim regulatory relief from the November 20, 2000, deadline until 
the agencies acted on the petition for rulemaking. A copy of the MHI's 
petition for rulemaking and request for an exemption are included in 
the docket referenced at the top of this document.
    The MHI indicated that during the first 18 months of the two-year 
period for 18-percent overloading, it sponsored studies of the safety 
risk associated with tire overloading. This work included a study of 
the movement of manufactured homes under actual operating conditions 
and a survey of principal manufacturers, transporters and suppliers. 
The study involved observing and recording the results of 503 shipments 
of manufactured homes during a 12-month period from June 1999 through 
June 2000. The MHI believes the results of the study demonstrate that 
tire performance improved when the industry operated under the 18-
percent overloading rule.
    The MHI indicated that of the 3,708 tires used on the 503 
manufactured home sections transported, there were 81 tire failures (a 
2.2 percent tire failure rate). The MHI believes that only a fraction 
of these failures were attributable, in whole or in part, to the tires 
being overloaded. Of the 81 tires that failed, 62 (76.5 percent) were 
used tires, indicating that repeated usage of tires may be more of a 
factor in the tire failure rate than overloading. The MHI believes the 
2.2 percent tire failure rate represents a significant improvement 
given the estimated eight percent tire failure rate the FHWA and HUD 
presented in the April 23, 1996, notice of proposed rulemaking (61 FR 
18014). None of the 81 tire failures resulted in an accident causing 
damage to a manufactured home, other property, or personal injury. The 
81 tire failures occurred on 61 of the 503 sections transported. The 
MHI stated:

    The dramatic decrease in tire failures attributable, in whole or 
in part, to tire over-loading beyond tire load ratings and the total 
absence of any accidents resulting in damage to the manufactured 
home, other property, or personal injury, based upon a 
representative sampling of manufactured homes transported throughout 
the country, demonstrates the lack of any safety risk associated 
with the permanent removal of the November 20, 2000 ``sunset'' date 
for the 118% Rule.

FMCSA and HUD Preliminary Responses to the MHI Petition

    On November 21, 2000, the FMCSA published a final rule delaying the 
termination date of the rule allowing overloading of manufactured home 
tires (65 FR 70218). The FMCSA indicated that it had met with officials 
from HUD to discuss the MHI's request. Both agencies believed that 
MHI's petition and its supporting documentation warranted a thorough 
review, but because relevant staff were otherwise committed, neither 
was able to complete such an analysis before November 20, 2000, the 
termination date established by the 1998 final rule. On November 21, 
2000, HUD amended Interpretative Bulletin J-1-76 to remove a paragraph 
that referenced the November 20, 2000, termination date.

Multinational Petition to Rescind November 21, 2000, Regulatory Actions

    On January 16, 2001, Multinational filed a petition with the FMCSA 
and HUD requesting that the FMCSA and HUD rescind their actions 
relating to overloading of manufactured home tires. A copy of 
Multinational's petition is included in the docket referenced at the 
beginning of this document. Multinational argued that the FMCSA and HUD 
actions delaying the termination date are contrary to both Federal law 
and the public interest. Multinational believes that the FMCSA violated 
5 U.S.C. 553(b) by publishing the final rule without prior notice and 
request for public comment. Multinational believes the agencies could 
have requested public comment when the MHI submitted its preliminary 
data on July 7, 2000. Multinational argues that the ``good cause'' 
exception to the requirement for requesting public comment prior to 
issuing a final rule should not apply in this case.
    In addition, Multinational believes the delay in the termination 
date was issued in violation of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113, 110 Stat. 775) which requires 
that Federal agencies use standards established by voluntary consensus 
standards organizations unless the adoption of the voluntary standards 
would be impractical or inconsistent with law.
    Multinational argues that delaying the termination date is contrary 
to the public interest.

FMCSA Analysis of the Petitions

    The FMCSA has reviewed the MHI's and Multinational's petitions and 
believes that both should be denied.

MHI Petition

    The MHI's petition requesting that 18 percent overloading be 
allowed on a permanent basis is not supported by the data submitted. 
The MHI provided detailed data (on-the-road performance data which 
included the amount of tire

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loading) on 53 shipments of manufactured homes. However, data from 
industry indicates that in 1999, the manufactured housing industry 
shipped 122,926 single-section and 225,745 multi-section homes for a 
total of 582,498 sections transported. Therefore, any inferences made 
from the data would be based on a sample size of approximately 0.0091 
percent [100  x  (53/582,498)] of all shipments transported in 1999. 
The agency believes this sample size is entirely too small to make any 
valid judgment about the on-the-road performance of tires overloaded by 
18 percent.
    Although information was collected on 503 shipments of manufactured 
home sections, individual wheel weights were measured on only 53 of 
these shipments. The information gathered from the remaining 450 trips 
is important for looking at the overall tire failure rate but not for 
examining the percentage of tire failures attributable in whole, or in 
part, to tire overloading.
    Another factor complicating the analysis of tire failures is that 
both the number of tires overloaded, and the amount of overloading on 
those tires, varies from trip to trip. Not all manufactured home tires 
are overloaded by 18 percent on every trip. Because of the variability 
in the amount of overloading per tire and the number of tires that are 
typically overloaded on a given shipment, it is extremely difficult to 
draw inferences on the performance of overloaded tires. This is 
especially the case when an extremely small sample size is involved.
    Despite the inadequacy of the MHI data for some kinds of analysis, 
one figure is hard to ignore: tire failures occurred on 12 percent of 
the trips involving sections of manufactured housing (61 of 503). 
Although the incidence of tire failure seems to have declined since 
overloading was limited to 18 percent in 1998, the fact that 12 percent 
of the trips examined by the MHI were still marred by tire failure--for 
whatever reason--is not reassuring. This is a far higher number than 
other segments of the motor carrier industry experience. The 
manufactured housing industry may not have been involved in any recent 
fatalities or property-damage accidents, but with a tire-failure rate 
that high one cannot be optimistic about the future. Even if a tire 
failure does not send the affected combination out of control, tire 
fragments can cause other vehicles to swerve, perhaps triggering a 
secondary accident. When units of manufactured housing are stopped for 
tire replacement, other vehicles will usually slow down to look, 
increasing the risk of rear-end accidents in the traffic stream. 
Finally, because drivers typically orient themselves by following other 
cars or trucks, drivers who are fatigued or distracted sometimes fail 
to distinguish between moving vehicles and parked vehicles, with 
disastrous consequences. While the FMCSA cannot identify the exact role 
of tire overloading in the failure rate experienced by the manufactured 
housing industry, we have concluded that this rate is too high and that 
the agency should take what actions it can to lower the rate. We have 
therefore decided to end the allowance of overloaded tires on 
manufactured housing.
    The FMCSA requests comments on the adequacy of the sample size used 
by the MHI in its data collection, and on the analysis and 
interpretation of that data. The agency also requests comments on its 
own analysis and conclusions.
Multinational Petition
    The FMCSA does not consider its actions to be in violation of the 
Administrative Procedure Act or the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1995. Furthermore, our actions were not contrary to 
the public interest.
    The FMCSA was not required to place the information it received 
from the MHI in the docket until it issued its November 21, 2000, final 
rule. Doing so earlier would not have served as a request for public 
comment, or provided information about the agency's evaluation of the 
petition, or accelerated the agency's analysis of the MHI data. The 
period from August 7 to November 20, 2000, was not long enough to allow 
the agency, occupied with a wide variety of prior commitments, to 
prepare a notice that discussed the issues in meaningful detail, review 
the public comments submitted, and issue a final decision. Therefore, 
the agency stands by its previous determination that notice and comment 
were impracticable.
    The FMCSA believes notice and comment were unnecessary because the 
November 21, 2000, delay in the termination date did not change the 
substance of 49 CFR 393.75(g). The agency relied on its expertise in 
transportation safety to delay the termination date until December 31, 
2001. The agency is not aware of any accidents (as defined in 49 CFR 
390.5) involving manufactured homes prior to the 1998 final rule, or 
subsequent to the publication of that rule. The agency believes the 
data presented by the MHI is an acceptable indicator that the overall 
tire failure rate decreased after tire overloading was reduced from 50 
percent to 18 percent. The MHI's estimate of a decrease in the overall 
tire failure rate justified the conclusion that the level of safety had 
improved (in terms of reducing the potential for an accident 
attributable to tire failure) since the publication of the February 18, 
1998, final rule. The only uncertainty was whether the level of safety 
was comparable to, or better than, what would be expected if all 
overloading of manufactured tires were prohibited. The postponement of 
the termination date did not increase the safety risks to the traveling 
public. The actions of the agency were not contrary to public interest.
    With regard to the Multinational's other point, neither the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, nor the 
Office of Management and Budget's Circular No. A-119, which provides 
executive direction to Federal agencies in implementing the statutory 
requirements, is applicable to the debate about overloading 
manufactured home tires. The FMCSA's did not establish a government-
unique standard for the design of manufactured home tires, or a 
government-unique standard concerning the use of such tires. 
Furthermore, the agency's actions did not ignore a private-sector 
``consensus standard'' as defined in OMB's Circular No. A-119.
    The FMCSA has carefully reviewed the Tire and Rim Association, 
Inc.'s ``Year Book'' to determine whether the publication could be 
construed as a consensus standard establishing guidelines that differ 
from the agency's final rule. The ``Year Book'' states:

    The purposes of the Tire and Rim Association, Inc., include the 
establishment and promulgation of interchangeability standards for 
tires, rims and allied parts for the guidance of manufacturers of 
such products, designers and manufacturers of motor vehicles, 
aircraft and other wheeled vehicles and equipment, and governmental 
and other regulatory bodies.
    The Tire and Rim Association, Inc., has no responsibility or 
involvement with respect to the utility or performance of any tire, 
rim or allied part which may be manufactured in conformity to such 
standards.

    The Tire and Rim Association publication provides information on 
interchangeability standards for tires and rims--the ability to replace 
components, parts, or equipment of one manufacturer with those of 
another, without losing function or suitability. Furthermore, the 
organization disclaimed all responsibility or involvement with respect 
to the use or performance of any tire. Therefore, the Tire and Rim 
Association's ``Year Book''

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is not a consensus standard applicable to overloaded manufactured home 
tires. The FMCSA's actions have not undermined or compromised the 
interchangeability standards of the Tire and Rim Association. The tire 
overloading rule relates solely to the manner in which motor carriers 
use manufactured home tires, an issue that association never attempted 
to address. The FMCSA has not violated the NTTA.
    With regard to Multinational's concerns about the public interest, 
the FMCSA worked with HUD to require the manufactured housing industry 
to alter its practice of overloading tires by up to 50 percent above 
the tire manufacturer's load rating. The agencies have reduced the 
amount of overloading to 18 percent presently, and through the denial 
of the MHI's petition, transporters of manufactured homes would be 
prohibited from overloading tires. Transporters of manufactured homes 
would be required to adhere to the same standards as anyone else 
subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The delay in 
the termination date does not, in and of itself, change the substance 
of 49 CFR 393.75(g).
    Through this notice the agency is making clear its preliminary 
intention not to grant the MHI's petition to allow 18 percent 
overloading on a permanent basis. The agency intends to bring to an end 
the industry practice of transporting manufactured homes on overloaded 
tires, albeit approximately 13 months later than originally planned. 
The agency does not believe the delay in the termination date is 
contrary to the public interest because the level of safety provided by 
the November 21, 2000, final rule is no different than the level of 
safety provided prior to the delay.

Request for Comments

    The FMCSA requests comments from all interested parties concerning 
overloading of tires used in the transportation of manufactured homes. 
The agency encourages commenters to discuss any of the specific issues 
mentioned above and any other issues the commenters believe may be 
relevant. Depending on the comments received, the agency will issue a 
notice denying the MHI's and Multinational's petitions.

    Issued on: April 16, 2001.
Julie Anna Cirillo,
Acting Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-9867 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P