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The current certification requirements under CFR 49, Part 567 state that GVWR of a motor vehicle shall not be less than the sum of the unloaded vehicle weight, rated cargo weight and 150 pounds times the number of designated seating positions. Actual occupant weight distributions versus certified weight per occupant seat causes a potential conflict between a vehicle's in-use weights versus its certified GVWR. Population weight distributions were developed based upon The Center for Disease Control's (CDC) publication of 2007 - 2010 anthropometric reference data and publically available weights of a special population from high school football teams. For five buses from small (18-seat) to large (55-seat), key parameters were measured.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Coast Guard recently adapted increases in the average passenger weight used to calculate load and conduct safety analysis and tests in multiple modes of transportation. The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) has proposed similar measures. The increased passenger weight requirements were created in response to the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) documented rise in weight among the country's citizens and followed crash or failure incidents in which a cause was overweight equipment. The current certification requirements under CFR 49, Part 567 state that Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of a motor vehicle shall not be less than the sum of the unloaded vehicle weight, rated cargo weight and 150 pounds (68 kg) times the number of designated seating positions. Actual occupant weight distributions versus certified weight per occupant seat causes a potential conflict between a vehicle's in-use weight versus its certified GVWR.