Interpretation ID: 19090.ztv

Ken Silverman, Manager of Marketing
Portable Products Division
Ingersoll-Rand Company
501 Sanford Avenue
P. O. Box 868
Mocksville, NC 27028

Dear Mr. Silverman:

We regret the delay in responding to your letter concerning the portable air compressors that your company manufactures. According to your letter, some of these units are trailered behind vehicles. You asked our interpretation as to whether the compressors are trailers as defined in 49 CFR Part 571.3 and, if so, which lighting requirements in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (Standard) No. 108, Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment, are applicable.

Chapter 301 of Title 49, U.S. Code (U.S.C.) (Safety Act) authorizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. The Safety Act defines a "motor vehicle" as:

[A] vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line.

49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6).

Your letter enclosed pictures and a written description of the air compressors that indicated that the compressors are used for a variety of purposes and in a variety of locations. For example, they can be used at construction sites, agricultural locations, nuclear power plants, fairs and carnivals, movie sets, and the like.

Whether the agency considers your units to be motor vehicles depends on their intended use. It is the agency's position that this statutory definition does not encompass mobile construction equipment, such as cranes and scrapers, which use the highway only to move between job sites and which typically spend extended periods of time at a single job site. In such cases, the on-highway use of the vehicle is merely incidental and is not the primary purpose for which the vehicle was manufactured. In contrast are instances where vehicles, such as dump trucks, frequently use the highway going to and from job sites, and stay at a job site for only a limited time. Such vehicles are considered motor vehicles for purposes of the Safety Act, since the on-highway use is more than "incidental."

We do not have sufficient information about the use of your various air compressors to determine whether or not they are motor vehicles. I note, by way of guidance, that we concluded that mobile waterjet cutting and cleaning equipment was not a motor vehicle, based on the fact that it appeared to stay on job sites for extended periods of time ranging from a week to over a year.

If, however, your portable air compressors are used frequently on the highways, they would be considered motor vehicles and would be required to comply with all applicable FMVSSs, including Standard No. 108. For purposes of explaining how the standard would apply to your units, the following discussion assumes that they would be considered motor vehicles.

It appears from the pictures you sent us that the compressor is a trailer of less than 80 inches in overall width. The lighting requirements for a trailer of this size are set forth in Tables III and IV of Standard No. 108, copies of which I enclose. Table III lists the equipment required for trailers and the applicable SAE materials, and Table IV, the location of this equipment. The requirements of Table III are modified by certain exceptions in S5.1.1 and those of Table IV, by exceptions in S5.1.3 of Standard No. 108.

If the combination lamp on the rear of your trailer incorporates a turn signal function as well as tail and stop functions, the trailer appears to be equipped with the number and types of lamps and reflectors required by Table III of Standard No. 108. The location of this equipment also appears to accord with the requirements of Table IV. You still must determine, or assure yourself, that these devices meet the performance requirements of the standard before certifying that the trailer conforms to all applicable FMVSS. If, as we believe most likely, you are buying lighting equipment for the trailer in the aftermarket, the manufacturer of the equipment should already have certified its conformance with Standard No. 108, either by placing a DOT symbol on the item, or a certification on the container in which it is sold. This is your best assurance of compliance. If the lighting equipment is being manufactured to your specifications and is not being sold in the aftermarket, please call Taylor Vinson of this Office, who will explain to you manufacturer-supplier responsibilities in this situation.

We are also enclosing for your information a fact sheet listing the FMVSSs and other regulations applicable to trailers.

If you have any questions, you may refer them to Mr. Vinson as well (phone:202-366-5263).

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:108
d.2/9/99