Final-stage certification records, compared from the incomplete vehicle document and the build record.

An incomplete vehicle document, attached to the chassis or sent ahead, tells your shop what the chassis maker has and hasn't said about the finished truck. You build the body, mount the equipment and weigh the axles. A qualified person then decides what the label states, which certification statement applies and whether the build followed the document, and signs. The papers behind that decision are the file you would pull if anyone ever asked.

In the proof of concept, AI reads copies of finished units' documents and build records and drafts each unit's certification file: chassis identification, rating fields, the document's conformity statements, weighed axle fields and the fields a qualified person must complete or question. Every value shows where it was found. Nothing is judged, chosen or signed by the draft, and each one goes beside the file your team actually kept.

The document has a set order and three kinds of statement. Under 49 CFR 568.4 it carries the maker's name and address, the month and year of its last operation, the VIN or groups of VINs it covers, GVWR and each axle's GAWR for the completed vehicle, the vehicle types it may become, then each standard by number with a statement after it, and a table or chart summing them up. A Type 1 statement says the vehicle will conform if identified components aren't altered. A Type 2 sets conditions for final manufacture. A Type 3 says conformity can't be determined from what was supplied. Type 2 is where the work sits: the rule's own example for FMVSS No. 121, Air brake systems, turns on axle ratings, a center of gravity height at GVWR and leaving brake components alone. The draft lists every standard with its type and condition, ready for your qualified person to answer.

The document reaches past its own pages. Section 568.4(b) makes body builder guidance that the document incorporates by reference part of the document, without having to ride along with each vehicle. An intermediate manufacturer whose work changes a statement must add an addendum with its name and each change, under section 568.5. The draft notes the guidance and addenda each file relied on and lists whatever isn't there.

The label has fields of its own. Section 567.5 calls for the final-stage manufacturer's name, the month and year you finished, GVWR and each axle's GAWR, the VIN, the type classification such as truck or bus, and one of three certification statements: the vehicle conforms; it conforms and was completed under the document; or it conforms and was completed under the document except for standards you name. The date in that statement can't be earlier than the prior stage's manufacturing date or later than your completion, and section 568.6 lets the final stage select within that span. A label can also list more than one set of ratings with different tire sizes, so each set stays tied to its tires in the draft.

Not every job is final-stage. A van interior on a van already certified may be an alteration instead. Section 567.3 separates an alterer from someone adding readily attachable components, and section 567.7 has an alterer leave the original label in place and add a second one showing any ratings or vehicle type that changed. Some states also ask for a second stage manufacturer's statement of origin, which NTEA treats as a separate document from the label. The draft records which path each file took, and your qualified person decides whether it was the right one.

What your reviewer will watch, and how long files matter. Is the VIN the same on the document, build record, scale ticket and label? Did GVWR and every axle's GAWR carry over as written? Are the weighed axle fields set beside the ratings, with a person's note where a question remains? Is each Type 2 condition answered? The file outlasts the sale: 49 CFR 576 keeps a manufacturer's records on malfunctions that may relate to safety for 10 calendar years, and NTEA says a lost label can be replaced only by the original final-stage manufacturer. Nothing on this page is legal or engineering advice, and those questions belong with your counsel and engineers.

Units finished over the next 30 days or so get the same draft file.

Your qualified person completes, questions and signs every certification, and the label goes on through whatever process you use today. A person approves each file before it joins your records, and the comparison keeps running on the same table.