Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Manufactured Home Tires

The FMCSA is amending its tire regulation to reflect the expiration of a provision allowing the overloading of tires used for the transportation of manufactured homes. The agency is also denying petitions from the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) for rulemaking and for an extension of the expiration date of the overloading provision, and from Multinational Legal Services, PLLC (Multinational Legal Services), for rescission of an earlier extension of the expiration date. Currently, tires used in the transportation of manufactured homes may be loaded up to 18 percent over the load rating marked on the sidewall of the tires, or in the absence of such a marking, 18 percent above the load rating specified in publications of certain organizations specializing in tires. The rule was scheduled to expire--thus prohibiting tire overloading--on November 21, 2000, unless extended by joint agreement of FMCSA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The expiration date was delayed until December 31, 2001, to give the agency enough time to complete its review of the MHI's petition to allow 18-percent overloading on a permanent basis. Denial of all petitions means motor carriers are prohibited from transporting manufactured homes built on or after January 1, 2002, in interstate commerce on overloaded tires.