[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43507-43508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14863]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2005-21192; Notice 2]


ArvinMeritor, Inc., Denial of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    ArvinMeritor Inc. (ArvinMeritor) has determined that certain 
automatic slack

[[Page 43508]]

adjusters assembled by the petitioner in 2004 do not comply with 
S5.1.8(a) and S5.2.2(a) of 49 CFR 571.121, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 121, ``Air brake systems.'' Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 
30118(d) and 30120(h), ArvinMeritor has petitioned for a determination 
that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and 
has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect 
and Noncompliance Reports.'' Notice of receipt of the petition was 
published, with a 30 day comment period, on May 17, 2005 in the Federal 
Register (70 FR 28352). NHTSA received two comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 187 automatic slack adjusters 
assembled between October 13, 2004 and December 20, 2004. S5.1.8(a) is 
applicable to trucks and buses, and S5.2.2(a) is applicable to 
trailers. Both sections are titled ``Brake adjuster,'' and both require 
that:

    Wear of the service brakes shall be compensated for by means of 
a system of automatic adjustment. When inspected pursuant to S5.9, 
the adjustment of the service brakes shall be within the limits 
recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.

    ArvinMeritor states that the noncompliant automatic slack adjusters 
were assembled with housings supplied by TaeJoo Ind. Co., Ltd., and 
these housings were below the dimensional specifications. The 
petitioner states that as a result, there is interference between the 
automatic slack adjuster pawl and the housing cavity in which the pawl 
is positioned, preventing the pawl from properly engaging the actuator, 
which can result in a reduction or elimination of the automatic 
adjustment function as required by S5.1.8(a) and S5.2.2(a).
    ArvinMeritor believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. 
ArvinMeritor states that it has conducted dynamic testing of vehicles 
simulating the affected automatic slack adjusters and based on the 
results of this testing, ArvinMeritor is satisfied that the braking 
systems will still halt a vehicle within the stopping distances 
required by FMVSS No. 121.
    NHTSA has reviewed the petition and has determined that the 
noncompliance is not inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the 
following reasons.
    First, we believe that out-of-adjustment brakes present a 
significant safety concern. As indicated in NHTSA's October 20, 1992 
final rule establishing automatic brake adjuster requirements, ``When 
brakes are under-adjusted, stopping ability is reduced and the 
probability of a crash is increased. When brakes are over-adjusted,* * 
*the possibility of a crash [is] increased as a result of excessive 
lining wear, wheel lock, or brake drum cracking. Such improper brake 
adjustment contributes to a significant number of crashes, including 
those in which vehicles are unable to stop in time and those in which 
there are `runaways' on steep mountain grades'' (57 FR 47793 at 47794).
    Second, ArvinMeritor's testing showed no major degradation in 
stopping distance of trucks with temporarily disabled slack adjusters. 
However, their data did not address long-term effects of non-
functioning slack adjusters on braking performance. Because automatic 
slack adjusters are designed to address degradation of braking 
performance over time, we believe that the petitioner's test results 
are not persuasive.
    The agency received two public comments. The first commenter, 
Freightliner LLC (Freightliner), supports the petitioner's belief that 
the noncompliance is inconsequential to safety based on three points.
    First, Freightliner says that the potential failure rate for these 
automatic slack adjusters is below Freightliner's warranty rate for 
this type of component.
    NHTSA cannot determine that a noncompliance is inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety because a potentially serious safety failure 
occurs relatively infrequently.
    Second, Freightliner states that it instructs drivers of the 
vehicles to conduct a visual inspection of the slack adjuster, brake 
free stroke, and brake adjustment on all axles daily; thus any failure 
of the slack adjuster would be identified through this daily 
inspection.
    NHTSA cannot determine that a noncompliance is inconsequential to 
safety because of recommended maintenance procedures or instructions 
established in response to a potential safety hazard. Among other 
things, we have no assurances that drivers would in fact follow 
Freightliner's visual inspection instructions.
    Third, Freightliner states that it agrees with ArvinMeritor's 
contention that the affected vehicles will continue to meet the 
stopping distance requirements of FMVSS No. 121 even in the out-of-
adjustment condition.
    As explained above, we cannot accept Freightliner's argument 
because the tests conducted by the petitioner did not show that the 
noncompliance would not negatively affect braking performance over 
time.
    The second comment suggested that the agency deny the petition but 
did not elaborate.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has not met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
ArvinMeritor's petition is hereby denied.

    Authority: (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

    Issued on: July 21, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-14863 Filed 7-26-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P