[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR579.24]

[Page 1033-1034]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                   CHAPTER V--NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC
                    SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT
                            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, sold, offered for sale, introduced or 
delivered for introduction in interstate commerce, or imported into 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, the type, 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 and air), the information required 
by this subsection shall be reported by each of the two brake types 
(i.e., ``H'' for hydraulic, ``A'' for air). 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. If a 
model has no brake system, it shall be reported as ``N,'' for none.
    (b) Information on incidents involving death or injury. For all 
trailers manufactured during a model year covered by the reporting 
period and the nine model years prior to the earliest model year in the 
reporting period:
    (1) A report on each incident involving one or more deaths or 
injuries occurring in the United States that is 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

[[Page 1034]]

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 manufactured during a 
model year covered by the reporting period and the nine model years 
prior to the earliest model year in 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 trailer 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, within each make alphabetically by 
model, and within each model chronologically by model year. For purposes 
of this paragraph, if a field report refers to more than one make or 
model of trailer produced by a manufacturer on a particular platform, 
the manufacturer shall submit the report alphabetically by platform 
rather than by make or model. If such a field report refers to more than 
one platform, separate copies shall be submitted for each such platform. 
If a field report refers to more than one model year of a specified 
make/model or platform, the manufacturer shall submit it by the earliest 
model year to which it refers.

[67 FR 45873, July 10, 2003, as amended at 68 FR 18143, Apr. 15, 2003; 
68 FR 35143, June 11, 2003]