The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposed rule to revise and upgrade Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 119, which specifies requirements for new truck tires.


NHTSA proposes to require a more stringent endurance test and to add a new high speed test for several heavy load range tires for vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds. NHTSA also proposed that truck tire sidewalls be labeled with the tire's maximum speed rating.

Upgrading the truck tire test standards was one of several mandates under the TREAD Act, passed in 2000.

In remarks to the Rubber Manufacturers Association in April, David Strickland, NHTSA administrator, noted that "FMVSS 119 went into effect in 1973 and has not been significantly updated since then. Heavy truck tires on the market today perform far and above the requirements of FMVSS 119. We've been conducting extensive testing to determine what the new performance requirements should be."

Comments to the proposed rule are due Nov. 29, 2010. You can read the notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-24347.pdf.