Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Dates

Send comments on or before September 25, 2024.

Supplementary Information

I. Overview: Goodyear determined that certain Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT tires do not fully comply with paragraph S5.5 of FMVSS No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles (49 CFR 571.139).

Goodyear filed a noncompliance report dated April 2, 2024, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. Goodyear petitioned NHTSA on April 2, 2024, for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.

This notice of receipt of Goodyear's petition is published under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or another exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.

II. Tires Involved: Approximately 3,758 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT passenger tires, manufactured between July 16, 2023, and September 23, 2023, were reported by the manufacturer.

III. Rule Requirements: Paragraph S5.5(f) of FMVSS No. 139 includes the requirements relevant to this petition. Each tire must have one sidewall marked with the generic name of each cord material used in the plies (both sidewall and tread area) and indicate the actual number of plies in the sidewall, as well as the actual number of plies in the tread area.

IV. Noncompliance: Goodyear explains that the noncompliance is due to a mold error and that as a result, the number of tread plies indicated on the sidewall of the subject tires does not match the actual number of plies in the tire construction as required by paragraph S5.5(f) of FMVSS No. 139. Specifically, the subject tires were manufactured with 2-plies polyamide cords in the tread area but were incorrectly marked to indicate a 1-ply polyamide cord in the tread area.

V. Summary of Goodyear's Petition: The following views and arguments presented in this section, "V. Summary of Goodyear's Petition," are the views and arguments provided by Goodyear; they have not been evaluated by the Agency and do not reflect the views of the Agency. Goodyear describes the subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.

Goodyear contends that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety because the tires were manufactured according to design and meet or exceed all applicable FMVSS performance standards. The sidewall markings for tire service, including load capacity and inflation pressure are accurate. Goodyear maintains that the labeling error does not impact safety, tire usage, or the repair and recycling industries. Further, Goodyear states that the affected tire mold has been corrected in production and future tires will correctly indicate the number of plies shown on the sidewalls.

Goodyear argues that NHTSA has previously granted petitions for similar noncompliances concerning tire construction information, based on surveys indicating that most consumers do not use tire construction information from the sidewall when making purchasing tires.

Goodyear concludes by stating its belief that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and its petition to be exempted from providing notification of the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.

NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on this petition only applies to the subject tires that Goodyear no longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, any decision on this petition does not relieve tire distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of the noncompliant tires under their control after Goodyear notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8)