Case Information

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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

xionorable Jantee E. lulday; Direator -

Motor Treutsportation Division

Railroad CoamcLasion of Pezaa

Austin, Texaa.

Daar Sirr

. Sp&lalieed motors aarrler aikifiaate PO. jj533’iauthor- service by Rederal TranapoFtat2on Company:~ itel the iolloulng

, -

torable James IL lQ.lday, page 2

“IT IS RsPmxAIJz UEDRRSTOOD AED AaiRED TEAT THISCONSIHATIOB QRDBRANDCERTIFICAT~AUTHORIZES TEETRANSPORTATIOH OFTEEFOLLOUIEO COMMODITIES OELY:

"FOUR TRUCKSAUTEORIZBDTOTRAHSPORT: 8HousxomQoo~, UBRB OFFIcEFuExxT~AriD BQUIP~,~ToQL,~ToCKpEEDs1IoFpS,P~ YdcFIIwRY AXD QRAIE from Boueton to all pointa in Texas and from all potits in Texas tb Eouston.

"OIIZIEU EQUIPMEET to and tram all points In Texas.

'TXMADDITIOHALTR~CKSAUTEORIZEDTOTRAES- PORTt.

~EouSmoLDG0on5,uSl3DOFFIcBFuR~1IlD lWJU%mTrromIiou8tontoallpolnts lniexas and from all points In Wxan to Eonattm.~~ "RESTRICTIOES iS TO AI& !fFiUCKS: *The tranrportatloio~ HOUSkXD GOOD& USED-' OFFICEFmwITuRxAmlzQuIPlumT,zilmST~~ ~' STUFFS AIfD FARN IfAGEIB'ERY ia~prohiblted f'rom one dealer to another dealer.

'The transportation of OIXZIISID BQMPMEHT irr restricted to that transported to or from actual ollflelda, and the carrier 1s problblted Srom tranaportlng sane from one dealer or refinery to another dealer or rerlnery or from a dealer to a refinery, or fYom a refinery to.a dealer.

*ALL EQUIPK6BT to be operated under author- ity of this aombfnatlon order and certiilaate ahall not exceed POURTREE TRUCKS.~

'THIS CERTIFICATE Issued in prlvlty ulth Spe- aLa1 Commodity Permit PO. l2775 ac arid permit wan ln fores and effect on January 1, 1941, under the : ~Qrandfather~ alawe OS Eowe Bill Ho. 351." ., ” *3 Honorable James E..Xilday, page 3

Federal Tranaportatlon Company haa petitioned the Rall- road Commission to divide thie certificate as follova:

.One part authorizing the transportation of houae- hold goods, wed office furniture and equipment from

Houston to all pointa in Texas, and from all points In ~~ Texas to Bowton, to uhlch operation there ahnll be " alloaated ten trucka. The rentadnbg authority and

rights to be retained in the other part of the dlvl-

sion of said certificate.* ?

Federal Trawportatlon Compauy alao aeeka +proval by the Commlaalon of a sale to the Wald Tranater eud Storage, Com- pany, Iuo., of that part of the certlf'lcate described aa 'ten additional trucka authorize&to tranaportt household goods, used ofrice f'urnlture and eqtipment from EWaton to all point8 ,in ~~_ .; Texua, and from all polnta in Texus to 'Houatoa8 i

It la lmaedlately~aeen-that 32' the dl&alon'and &&i of auclipurt 18 approved, the orlghtul ovner, and 8eLler;~ar~~uell aa the purahaaer, till poaaeaa the right and authorlty~to trana- port household goods, oaed offloe fumlture and equipment f'rom Houaton to all pointa ln Texas andfiom all polnta In Tezm,.to

,:I Houston. The result vi11 be~that two aurrlera vill be Suthor-. I w ',C lzed to transport these aonmdltiea by virtue of one aertif%oate i f orlglnally granted to oue aarrler. Thla urlaea, of aowae;be- cause of the dupllaate~grant Sn the orlglnal certificate apper- talnlng to howehold gooda, wed oifloe furniture and equipment.

Under Eouae Bill 351. Bats of &e Forty-seventh Isgfa- lature, apeclalized motor carrier certiiloatea may not be lsaued by the Comiaalon except upon a dhowlug by aubatantlal evldenoe that there exlrtia publlo neaeaaity for such aervloe and th8t the public oonrenlence vlll~ba promoted thereby. The certiil- aate laaued authorize8 the holder to engage ln the bwlneaa of a llmlted oonunon ourrler. ~ln1os.x #IO: O-3700 by thla departnent. ;T Section Sk(a) of House Bill. 351; mzpra, aontalna .Jhe '-.

follovlng grunt of authority to the Commlaalonr L 'Any certlfioste, held, ovned, or obtained by any motor aarrl4r operating aa a ~apealallced motor

c&rlerl under the provialona of thla act may be sold.

aaaigued, leased, transferred or lnheritedl provided,

houever, that any proposed sale . . . ahall be first

Ronorable J&es $. aEild8y, psge 4

c

presented in~wrlting to the Coaaaiaslon for Its sp-

proval or dla8pprovel and the Coamlssionmamy~approve or disapprove such proposed sale. . . .

The subject application does not.propose the sale of 8 certificate but only a 8818 of 8 part thereof.

Ott opinion Eo. O-1096 this dep8rtment upheld the au- thority of the R8Ilro8d Coamlaslon to approve, uudur certain con- ditlona the sale of 8 portion of 8 caaaaon carrier motor certifl- cate of aonvenlence 8nd nticesslty uuder Section 5, Article glib, Vernon's Annotsted Civil Statut.est. The question decided in this opinion v8s Involved In the case of Houston.end Horth Texas Wotor Freight Lines, Ina., et 8l vs. Y. A. Jobnsaat, et 81, decided by the Gslveaton Court of Civil Appeals on the 11th dsy of Deaember, 1941. The court upheld the action of the CcmmIssIon in approving the sale of a portion of such certlflcate under the conditions and facts presented. Three things p8rtIcularly were enrphasized by the court. First, certlflaatea rapresent property rights and as such ordlnatiy carrythe right to sell and convey a portion there- of as veILas the vholet second, the fact that for many years the Railroad CoPrmission has approved the sale of portions of aerttil- cates vhere the certiiIc8tes~vere severed l horizontally' 8nd not %mgthvise' and such departrnentsl construction la entitled to great velght; and third, the fact that a neu service uas not created by the sale of a part. the nasoidpg of the Court to the subject

Upon applying proposal we an met vith difficulties. i'j.

-Under the aertificate held by Federal Transportation Coar- psny, ve vi11 say it h8s a.property right In the rigat to transport household goods, wed offlce~furulture 8nd equipment; 8s veil as In -"5! other comamdIt.Ies not Involved. True, this property ‘right Is divided .:y, into tvo paragrgphs in the aertIficste'8nd llmlt8tions plaaed there- upon by restrictions upon the number of truoks that may be used.

Federal Transportation Comp8ny does not, hovever, propose to sell its property rlghta in the right to trsnspart household goods, used office fumIture 8nd equipment; It retains p8rt of such property rights, Both lt,.8nd the purchaser under the~sale, vi11 h8ve the authority to transport these commodities.

In the second place, the Railrosd Ccmanissfon h8sa never approved sales of portions of specialized motor carrier certificates.

Hence the veight of depsrtmentcrl construction Is absent.

Honorable James E. lKl&ey, p8ge 5

And, finally, it38 apparent that a nev service vi11 be created under the propaaal. Two cart%era all1 be authorZced to tmmaport household gooda, used office furniture and equlp- ment from Houston to ti points ln Teurs and from al1 points in Texas to Houston. The enterprise of eaoh vlll seek the bual- neaa. The limitation upon the number'of&ruckr doea not vouch- safe the aervlce or destroy the faat that authorized to trsnaport the tva carriers vould a8me aoamodltles issued to only one.

Routes traversed 8nd the: hlghwaya used are not &de aigulfieant under.the lau ereatlng apealallced aiator carriers, in contrast to that provldlng for aammon Oarrlera. The comodl- ties transported 8re the essential ooualderatlnna. Conaequent- ly, the apllttlng of a~apeol8llzed motor aarrler Certlflaate upon the baa18 of the ~8me eommo~tlea to be tr8naported, and, a scr2ewhlchYouldretainlqthe aellerand&tthe aametlme transfer to the purch8aer the autharlty to trqpoet the same~' commodltiea, rould m8nlfeat;l+ be opposed to thehnderlying pur- poses add reanQp(I motivating the legislature ti its MthOriZ8- tlon or apeclallsed motor carrier iqeratlaua.

It Ia'our opinion, thiweik, th8t eaoh of your que8- should be anauered ln the negative. tions

Tours very truly