Design of a Generic Rear Impact Guard to Meet FMVSS 223

Trailer manufacturers must individually design and qualify a rear impact guard under FMVSS 223 for trailers built, sold or operated into the U.S. The Canadian Transportation Equipment Association (CTEA) found this onerous for smaller manufacturers, so requested the Centre for Transportation Technology of the National Research Council Canada (NRC/CSTT) to develop a generic rear impact guard suitable for trailers and trucks.

This paper outlines the constraints, design analysis and tests conducted to verify performance of the CTEA generic rear impact guard.