Are your trailers properly equipped with reflective tape?
If not, you could be in violation of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations calling for trailers to be retrofit by June 1.
Trailers made before Dec. 1, 1993, must be equipped with retroflective tape or reflex reflectors that meet the requirements of FMCSR title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Section 393.13. Trailers made since that date are covered by another regulation that requires the proper conspicuity devices to be installed at the factory.
Retroflective sheeting must be installed along the sides, lower rear and upper rear of trailers. The sheeting or reflectors along the sides and lower rear area must be in an alternating red and white pattern. The upper rear of the trailer requires white reflective tape or reflectors.
Motor carriers that voluntarily fitted pre-1993 trailers with colors other than red and white tape can continue using the non-conforming colors until June 1, 2009.
A study released a month ago by the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that once fully implemented, these regulations will prevent 7,800 crashes and as many as 350 fatalities each year.
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