The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has withdrawn a notice of proposed rulemaking that would have required a commercial motor vehicle to display a label attesting that it was compliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards when it was manufactured.

The NPRM, issued just six months ago, would have required that the decal by applied by the vehicle manufacturer or a DOT-registered importer. The notice of withdrawal was posted in the Federal Register for Dec. 30.

Earlier this year, Ted Scott, vice president of engineering for the American Trucking Associations, characterized the proposal, nicknamed the "mattress-tag rule," as "crazy."

The agency walked back the proposal because the comments it received made it apparent the rule would result in a redundant requirement.

FMCSA said it ended the rulemaking process because commenters “raised substantive issues which have led the agency to conclude that it would be inappropriate to move forward with a final rule based on the proposal.”

The agency noted that the FMVSSs that the decals would have attested to are cross-referenced in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and that “FMCSA has determined that it can most effectively ensure that motor carriers maintain the safety equipment and features provided by the FMVSSs through enforcement of the FMCSRs, making an additional FMVSS certification labeling regulation unnecessary.”