Vehicle Gross Axle Weight Rating

Source of Definition: 49 CFR 571.3; 49 CFR 567.4

A federal regulation covering Certification of vehicles. For details see 49 CFR 567 on eCFR.

A federal regulation covering Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. For details see 49 CFR 571 on eCFR.

Source of Data: MVA

Synonyms: GAWR

A weight specified by the manufacturer as the load carrying capacity of a single axle system, as measured at the ground-tire interface. The GWAR includes the weight of the vehicle (be it a car truck or trailer), passengers, cargo and even trailer tongue weight (if applicable). It is not uncommon for front and rear axles to have different GAWRs. 49 CFR 567.4 requires manufacturers to post the GAWR in the Vehicle ID plate. The rule specifies where the plate is to be located, for cars and trucks the preferred location is inside the vehicle's door frame on the B-pillar.

• Safety is the primary reason for manufacturers to place a limit on how much weight each axle can carry, so each individual axle of a vehicle should never be loaded beyond the manufacturers listed GAWR.
• Another important reason for this field, is to manage the weigh of loads, because overloaded axles can cause damage to bridges.

This element holds the numeric quantity, using the default units of measure of the jurisdiction. Given a source document showing "14,500 LB/6,577 KG", this element would hold a value of 14500 in a U.S. jurisdiction.

Logical Format (Type/Max Length): N/9

VVHGAW

grossAxleWeightRating type: string