Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration April 17, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA requests public comment on an application for exemption from Ford Motor Company (Ford) to allow motor carriers to operate Ford's Transit commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that do not meet the exhaust system location requirements in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). The FMCSRs require (1) the exhaust system of a bus powered by a gasoline engine to discharge to the atmosphere at or within 6 inches forward of the rearmost part of the bus and (2) the exhaust system of every truck and truck tractor to discharge to the atmosphere at a location to the rear of the cab or, if the exhaust projects above the cab, at a location near the rear of the cab. Based on the results of performance-based tests it has conducted to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) in the occupant compartment of the Transit-based CMVs, Ford believes that the location of the exhaust system on these vehicles, as currently designed, will maintain a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption. Ford is requesting the temporary exemption in advance of petitioning FMCSA to conduct a rulemaking to amend 49 CFR 393.83.