NHTSA Complaint #11484670 — 2022 D AND A CUSTOM CUSTOM TRAILER

During my second trip with my new 2022 trailer I was driving south on I-95 in South Carolina when the entire left panel of my cargo trailer blew off of the trailer. There was no prior damage to the trailer and the panel ripped from the trailer unexpectedly. The single metal panel is approximately 4 feet wide by 8 feet tall. The panel was not fastened to the front frame of the trailer. Not a single rivet or screw fastener was connecting the panel front edge to the trailer. At the top of this panel is a fresh air intake that was not fastened to the frame and allowed the wind to rip the panel off. This razor sharp metal panel could have caused serious injury to any vehicle following behind me, had the panel struck another vehicle. The failed panel was repaired by the trailer manufacturer and confirmed that the cause was due to either poor design, poor mfg quality control or both. Prior to this failure there was no indication that the panel would fail under wind loads and there was no damage at all on the practically new trailer. This trailer was purchased in December of 2021 and the incident occurred around May 23 of this year.