WASHINGTON (Jan. 14, 2013) — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed minor revisions to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 119, covering tires for heavy trucks, buses and motorcycles.
NHTSA issued a final rule for FMVSS 119 in June 2003, according to the NHTSA supplemental notice published in the Jan. 10 Federal Register.
In May 2012, NHTSA said, Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. wrote the agency, asking about tire strength test requirements for rayon cord tires. Table II of the 2003 rule contained a footnote specifying a lower breaking energy requirement for rayon cord tires than for other tires, Conti said.
Looking into Conti's question, NHTSA determined that it had inadvertently omitted two footnotes for Table II.
Though one of those footnotes is no longer necessary, the second—covering rayon cord tires—should be reinstated, NHTSA said. The footnote reads: "For rayon cord tires, applicable energy values are 60 percent of those in table."
The standard also contains an error in the descriptions of the metric formula used to compute the breaking energy of a tire.
Because nearly a decade has passed since the rule was published, NHTSA said, it is appropriate to make a formal proposal of rulemaking to make the corrections and open the process to public comment. Interested parties have until March 11 to file comments with NHTSA on the issue.
The tire industry recommended the changes and supports them fully, said a spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association. The only problem, he said, is that they will not become final until NHTSA issues a further complete revision to the truck tire safety standard. That revision, though long in the making, has an indeterminate date of publication, he said.