Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration August 26, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) withdraws its March 19, 2002, notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), which proposed requiring each commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operating in interstate commerce to display a label applied by the vehicle manufacturer or a registered importer to document the vehicle's compliance with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) in effect as of the date of manufacture. We issued the NPRM in coordination with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which published on the same day three companion notices related to the FMVSS certification requirement. Although the NPRM would have applied to all CMVs operated in the United States, its greatest impact would have been on motor carriers domiciled in Canada and Mexico. In withdrawing the NPRM, we conclude the proposed FMVSS certification label requirement is not necessary to ensure the safe operation of CMVs on our nation's highways. Vehicles operated by Canada-domiciled motor carriers meet Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSSs), which are consistent with the FMVSSs in all significant respects. Furthermore, since the FMVSSs critical to the operational safety of CMVs are cross-referenced in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), FMCSA, in consultation with NHTSA, has determined it can most effectively achieve the compliance of CMVs with the FMVSS through enforcement measures and existing regulations ensuring compliance with the FMCSRs, making additional FMVSS certification-labeling regulation unnecessary.