Case Information
*1 Honorable Eli Willls
County Attorney
i?Iz %2:~ ,
Dear 8l.r; Oplnlon No. O-3442
Ret Whether or not certain out of State truck8 we operated for hire or com- the meaning or penaation with Section 2 of Article 8m, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code.
We received your letter dated April 17, 1941, which la aelf explanatory and reads au follower
“There are 8everal from Oklahoma, Colo- rado and New Mexico tranmportlng gasoline *III and through Xoore County, Texas. Some of these tNCk owner6 are hauling and are buying Texas llcenaea for direct oompensatlon or hire
for their tNCkS. Others are Independent Dealers or Qasollne Brokers and buy the gasoline and traneport It our of’ State for resale at such profit as the market may justify.
The question has been raised as to the Classlflcatlon of the Oaeollne broker or Independent Dealer, whether they should cla8sed as hauling Sor compensation Some of these Independent dealers have been or hire.
advlsed th8t au such Independent Dealers or Brokers they should not classified a8 hauling for compensation or hire and would not be required purchase Texas licenses f’or their trucks. I have been of the opinion that purchasers of property for the purpose of trane- portatlon resele should be clasalfled as hauling for compensation when it la the intent of the pur- chaser to purchsse, transport and resell for profit.
In casea of the Independent Dealers or Gssollne Brokers the freight differentials fro- the place of purchase tc. d$stlnatlcn are allowed in the purchase of the gasoline.
n II . . . . . . . Section 2 of Article 827b, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code, reads, In part, aa followsr
“A nonresident owner of a motor vehicle, tra’ler or semi-trailer which has keen dul; realatered for the current year In the State or c::unty of which the owner 16 a resident and In accordance with the lsws thereof, mw , In lieu of registering aLck vehicle a8 otherwise *2 Willis, Honorable Eli O-3442 by law, apply to the State Iiighy~r Depart- required - ment through a County Tax Collector for the reglm- trstlon thereof a8 provided by law,
Section 5 of Article 82’i’b, aupra, reads a6 follows~ “No non-resident owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or reml-trbiler shall operate any euah vehicle OF cau6e or permit it to be operated upon public highway6 of this State, either before or while It 16 registered under this Section, unless there shall at all times dltlplayed thereon the registration number plate6 aeelgned to eald vehicle for the current calendar year by the country or state of which such owner Is a resident, nor unless the certificate of tem- porary registration, when issued trlereto 68 In this Section provided rhall placed on aald motor vehicle In the manner to be rrpeclfled by the Department. Pro- vided the Department shall not adopt any patented con- tainer, holder or device for the certificate of tem- porary registration nor shall any vieitor be required by said Department to purchase or have said container, holder or device for seld tertlflcate. Provided that nothing this Act shall prevent a non-resident owner of a motor vehicle from operating at will such vehicle in thi6 State for the sole purpose of marketing farm product6 raised exclusively by him, nor a resident of an adjoining State or county from operating a privately not operated for owned and duly registered vehicle, hire In this State at will, for the purpose of pm- chasing goods, wares and merchandise. And provided, further, that an? non-resident owner .:.f a priVnte1: owned motor vehicle may be permitted sionsl fo make an occa-
trip into this State w:th such. vehicle uD.der th; privileges of thlz set wlthoii t obtciclng such temporary registration cer:lf:cate. An;- person violatine; an;’ ohall te ecca2e milt3 31‘ 2 proviEi3;1 of this scctim sr.;: qrn c*~.~:;:cti~:*. 21zerczf s!:all tc fi:>O<z nisdcccsncr; i:> an: p;;;, n:t e:-;e&in& p&?r,!;; ..f’?-;c ($rf,,;:J) ;:ll,?p:* ‘I As we undsrstand t:?e facts, r.;;::; 3ut of State csze Into this State for the purpose of ‘uuyi.y gao$line hauling It Further, we are Informed that freight beck their home 6tetc. differentials from place of purchase to destination are deducted from the quoted price of t!le gasoline. We are also i?‘:rlned ths5 ‘~:a t before the particular Stater Mcntl2ned lr. :-%a letter requi+ 2?,:! such trtc,:k5 *3 3-3442
Honorable El1 Yillie, It appears to UII that the out of st8te trucks mentioned in your letter are operating over the highway6 of Texae for compen- sation within the meaning of the above quoted Section8 of Article 827b, supra. See New Wa- Lumber Company, et al. v. Smith, et al., (Supreme Court) 96 S.W. i 2) 282.
Youre very truly ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS By 6/ Lee Shoptaw Lee Shoptaw Assistant
LSrMPtwc
APPRovED J-UNE 6, 1941
I/ GROVER SELLERS
PIRST ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Tnis Opinion Considered And Approved In Limited Conference