By Steve Spata
NTEA Technical Services
Manager
This article was published in the October 2012 edition of
NTEA News
Question: We are a truck equipment distributor and
have been getting more requests lately to build on glider kit chassis. What
certification responsibilities do we have when we add bodies and equipment to
complete vehicles based on a glider chassis that we receive from our
customers?
Answer: While glider kits are not a topic that the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has written about
extensively, your certification responsibilities are based on whether or not the
vehicle will be considered “new” for purposes of compliance to the Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
The following part from the regulations (49 CFR Part 571.7(e)
Combining new and used components) addresses what is considered to be a
new versus a used vehicle based on the content of the major components:
“When a new cab is used in the assembly of a truck, the truck will
be considered newly manufactured for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section,
the application of the requirements of this chapter, and the Act, unless the
engine, transmission, and drive axle(s) (as a minimum) of the assembled vehicle
are not new, and at least two of these components were taken from the same
vehicle.”
This means that if the glider chassis you build on came with a new cab,
then the completed vehicle will be considered new and require certification as
any other new vehicle unless it has at least the minimum used content of the
“engine, transmission and drive axle(s)” AND at least two of these are from the
same used vehicle. If these conditions are met for the used content in the
glider chassis, then the resulting vehicle would not be considered new, would
not require certification and can effectively assume the identity of the
previous used vehicle by inheriting its Vehicle Identification Number
(VIN).
This particular subject was addressed in a Federal Register
notice from 2005 (Federal Register/Vol. 70, No. 165/Friday,
Aug. 26, 2005/Proposed Rules): “In response to the concern regarding the use of
glider kits and service cabs, this matter is addressed in 49 CFR 571.7(e),
Combining new and used components. If a glider kit or a service cab were used to
replace an original cab that had been damaged beyond repair, and the cab were
fitted with at least two of the three components (engine, transmission, drive
axles) from another vehicle, the resulting vehicle would not be considered newly
manufactured and its VIN would be the same as that of the vehicle used to
provide at least two of the three components.”
Certification Obligations
If the content of the
rebuilt chassis you receive does not meet the conditions for being used, then
you would need to certify the completed vehicle as a final-stage manufacturer
and include a new VIN in the certification label as you would normally. The
certification obligations in this process are not contained to you in this
situation, though. A pair of older interpretations clarifies NHTSA’s position
that the assembler of the components using a glider kit to rebuild a chassis
(where the content would make the completed vehicle new) would need to meet the
requirements of an incomplete vehicle manufacturer, which would include
providing an incomplete vehicle document (IVD) [NHTSA interpretation responses
to J. Westlake letter 2-25-85 and S. Edidin letter 7-25-74].
Whether it was your
customer, a dealer or anyone else that assembled the glider chassis with
new/used components, whoever creates a new, incomplete vehicle effectively has
the same responsibilities as a chassis manufacturer. This includes, among other
things, providing you with an IVD and identifying their business as a
manufacturer of incomplete vehicles with NHTSA under 49 CFR Part 566.
Since most organizations outside of the chassis OEMs are not in a
likely position to provide an IVD, etc., you may want to request some form of
confirmation from your customer to ensure that the content of the components
used in the glider chassis meets the conditions for the vehicle to be considered
used.