Dan Hill & Associates, Inc.; Grant of Application for Temporary Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224

Topics:  Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Ricardo Martinez
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
January 26, 1998

[Federal Register: January 26, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 16)]
[Notices]               
[Page 3784-3785]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26ja98-125]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-97-3122; Notice 2]

 
Dan Hill & Associates, Inc.; Grant of Application for Temporary 
Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224

    This document grants the application by Dan Hill & Associates, 
Inc., of Norman, Oklahoma, for a one-year temporary exemption from 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224 Rear Impact Protection. The basis 
of the application was that compliance would cause substantial economic 
hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with 
the standard.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published on November 21, 
1997, and an opportunity afforded for comment (62 FR 62398).
    The applicant manufactures and sells a horizontal discharge trailer 
(``Flow Boy'') that is used in the road construction industry to 
deliver asphalt and other road building materials to the construction 
site. The Flow Boy is designed to connect with and latch onto various 
paving machines (``pavers''). The Flow Boy, with its hydraulically 
controlled horizontal discharge system, discharges hot mix asphalt at a 
controlled rate into a paver which overlays the road surface with 
asphalt material.
    Standard No. 224 requires, effective January 26, 1998, that all 
trailers with a GVWR of 4536 Kg or more, including Flow Boy trailers, 
be fitted with a rear impact guard that conforms to Standard No. 223 
Rear impact guards. Installation of the rear impact guard will prevent 
the Flow Boy from connecting to the paver. Thus, Flow Boy trailers will 
no longer be functional and contractors will be forced to use standard 
dump body trucks or trailers with their inherent limitations.
    The applicant, which manufactured 81 Flow Boy trailers in 1996 
(plus 21 other trailers), asked for a one-year exemption in order to 
explore the feasibility of a rear impact guard that will allow the Flow 
Boy trailer to connect to a conventional paver. In the absence of an 
exemption, it believes that approximately 60 percent of its work force 
would have to be laid off. Its gross revenues would decrease by 
$6,000,000 (these have averaged $13,885,000 over its 1994, 1995, and 
1996 fiscal years). Present studies show that the placement of the 
retractable rear impact guard would likely catch excess asphalt as it 
was discharged into the pavement hopper. Further, the increased cost of 
the Flow Body would likely cause contractors to choose the cheaper 
alternative of dump trucks. Finally, the applicant asserted that the 
increased weight of the retractable rear impact guard would 
significantly decrease the payload of the Flow Boy.
    Applicant sent its Product Specialist to Germany in 1994 to view 
underride protection guards installed by a German customer on Flow Boy 
trailers but the technology proved inapplicable because of differences 
between German and American pavers. Manufacturers of paving machines 
are not interested in redesigning their equipment to accommodate a Flow 
Boy with a rear impact guard. The applicant has contacted a British 
manufacturer of a retractable rear impact guard but the information 
received to date does not look encouraging. If an exemption is granted, 
the applicant will continue to explore the feasibility of a retractable 
rear guard that allows connection with a paver.
    The applicant believes that an exemption would be in the public 
interest and consistent with traffic safety objectives because the Flow 
Boy aids in the construction of the national road system. It spends 
very little of its operating life on the highway and the likelihood of 
its being involved in a rear-end collision is minimal. In addition, the 
design of the Flow Boy is such that the rear tires act as a buffer and 
reduce the likelihood of impact with the trailer.
    No comments were received in response to the Federal Register 
notice.

[[Page 3785]]

    The applicant differs from the usual hardship petitioner in that it 
is a corporation whose net revenues are positive and healthy. The 
hardship to be borne in this instance is the effect of a denial upon 
the company. The applicant's production is limited in number; it 
produced 102 trailers in 1996, of which 86 are of the type for which 
exemption is sought. This is approximately 85 percent of its 
production. Although the remaining trailer types appear to contribute a 
proportionally greater part of the company's gross revenues, these 
revenues would decline by a significant percentage. There is also the 
economic cost, not discussed by the company, of maintaining unused 
manufacturing facilities and settling accounts with suppliers for goods 
ordered and canceled.
    The company's efforts to comply appear to have been stymied by the 
unacceptability of a redesign of the Flow Boy to its consumers. Its 
application indicates that, for the past three years, it has looked at 
home and abroad in search of a solution that meets both safety and 
market needs. It will continue to do so if granted an exemption.
    The applicant has argued that an exemption is in the public 
interest because the Flow Boy aids in construction of the national 
highway system. While the company did not quantify its work force, it 
estimated that approximately 60 percent of it would have to be laid off 
in the wake of a denial. Thus, the company could have argued that 
continued full employment of its work force is also in the public 
interest.
    Finally, the company believes that an exemption is consistent with 
objectives of motor vehicle safety because the Flow Boy spends very 
little of its operating life on the highway and the likelihood of it 
being involved in a rear-end collision is minimal. NHTSA understands 
this to mean that proportion of time spent in transit on the roads from 
one job site to another will be small in comparison with the time spent 
at rest at construction sites amidst other road equipment. This 
indicates that the exposure of a Flow Boy without a rear underride 
guard to a potential crash situation will be reduced. The small number 
of trailers that may be produced under the exemption, less than 100, 
further reduces the crash potential.
    In consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby found that 
requiring compliance with Standard No. 224 as of its effective date 
would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has 
tried in good faith to comply with the standard. It is also found that 
an exemption would be in the public interest and consistent with the 
objectives of motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, the company of Dan 
Hill & Associates is hereby granted NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 98-1 
from 49 CFR 571.224 Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224 Rear 
Underride Protection, expiring February 1, 1999.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113, 49 CFR part 555; delegation of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    Issued on January 20, 1998.
Ricardo Martinez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-1784 Filed 1-23-98; 8:45 am]
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