[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR579.24]

[Page 935-936]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                            OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 579--REPORTING OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL DEFECTS--Table of Contents
 
            Subpart C--Reporting of Early Warning Information
 
Sec. 579.24  Reporting requirements for manufacturers of 500 or more trailers annually.

    For each reporting period, a manufacturer whose aggregate number of 
trailers manufactured for sale, offered for sale, imported, or sold, in 
the United States, during the calendar year of the reporting period or 
during either of the prior two calendar years is 500 or more shall 
submit the information described in this section. For paragraphs (a) and 
(c) of this section, the manufacturer shall submit information with 
respect to each make, model and model year of trailer manufactured 
during the reporting period and the nine model years prior to the 
earliest model year in the reporting period, including models no longer 
in production.
    (a) Production information. Information that states the 
manufacturer's name, the quarterly reporting period, the make, the 
model, the model year, and the production. The production shall be 
stated as either the cumulative production of the current model year to 
the end of the reporting period, or the total model year production for 
each model year for which production has ceased. For each model that is 
manufactured and available with more than one type of service brake 
system (i.e., hydraulic or air), the information required by this 
subsection shall be reported by each of the two brake types. If the 
service brake system in a trailer is not readily characterized as either 
hydraulic or air, the trailer shall be considered to have hydraulic 
service brakes.
    (b) Information on incidents involving death or injury. For all 
trailers less than ten calendar years old as of the beginning of the 
reporting period:
    (1) A report on each incident involving one or more deaths or 
injuries occurring in the United States that is

[[Page 936]]

identified in a claim against and received by the manufacturer or in a 
notice received by the manufacturer which notice alleges or proves that 
the death or injury was caused by a possible defect in the 
manufacturer's trailer, together with each incident involving one or 
more deaths occurring in a foreign country that is identified in a claim 
against and received by the manufacturer involving the manufacturer's 
trailer, if that trailer is identical or substantially similar to a 
trailer that the manufacturer has offered for sale in the United States. 
The report shall be submitted as a report on trailers and organized such 
that incidents are reported alphabetically by make, with each make 
alphabetically by model, and within each model chronologically by model 
year.
    (2) For each incident described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, 
the manufacturer shall separately report the make, model, model year, 
and VIN of the trailer, the incident date, the number of deaths, the 
number of injuries for incidents occurring in the United States, the 
State or foreign country where the incident occurred, each system or 
component of the trailer that allegedly contributed to the incident, and 
whether the incident involved a fire, coded as follows: 02 suspension, 
03 service brake system, hydraulic, 04 service brake system, air, 05 
parking brake, 11 electrical, 12 exterior lighting, 16 structure, 17 
latch, 19 tires, 20 wheels, 21 trailer hitch, 23 fire, 98 where a system 
or component not covered by categories 02 through 21 is specified in the 
claim or notice, and 99 where no system or component of the trailer is 
specified in the claim or notice. If an incident involves more than one 
such code, each shall be reported separately in the report with a limit 
of five codes to be included.
    (c) Numbers of property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty 
claims, and field reports. Separate reports on the numbers of those 
property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field 
reports which involve the systems and components that are specified in 
codes 02 through 21 in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, or a fire (code 
23). Each such report shall state, separately by each such code, the 
number of such property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty 
claims, or field reports, respectively, that involves the systems or 
components or fire indicated by the code. If an underlying property 
damage claim, consumer complaint, warranty claim, or field report 
involves more than one such code, each shall be reported separately in 
the report with no limit on the number of codes to be included. No 
reporting is necessary if the system or component involved is not 
specified in such codes, and the incident did not involve a fire.
    (d) Copies of field reports. For all trailers less than ten calendar 
years old as of the beginning of the reporting period, a copy of each 
field report (other than a dealer report) involving one or more of the 
systems or components identified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, or 
fire, containing any assessment of an alleged failure, malfunction, lack 
of durability or other performance problem of a motor vehicle or item of 
motor vehicle equipment (including any part thereof) that is originated 
by an employee or representative of the manufacturer and that the 
manufacturer received during a reporting period. These documents shall 
be submitted alphabetically by make, with each make alphabetically by 
model, and within each model chronologically by model year.