Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

THEATORNEY GENERAL OF-XAS FVILL WILSON A-GXUGZY GENERAI. August 26, 1960 Honorable William J. Gillespie ww-916 opinion I-JO. County Attorney Lubbock County Be: May a business that temporarily Lubbock, Texas furnlahes trallera to its farm customers for hauling a tank and poison apparatus claim an exemption from registering such trailer under Art. 6675n-2. Dear Mr. Gillespie: V.A.T.S.? We quote your letter of May 21, 1960, to the Attorney General in part ae foilowe: "During certain periods of the growing eeaeon here on the plains, a majorportion of the agricultural business is the selling of poisons to farms. . . . These businesses furnish the trailer on which the apparatus is hauled. In most cases, the trailer is used only to haul. All of the businesses who furnish trailers . .are claiming an exemption f&rregistration under Article 6675~-2, Vernon's Annotated Texas Statutes. They claim an exemption under the above cited article as Par!n trailers. “Question: May a bueineas that temporarily furnishes trailers to ita farm cuetomera for hauling a tank and poison spraying apparatus claim an exemption from regis- tering such trailer under Article 6675A-2, V.A.T.S.?" Article 667>A-2, V.A.T.S. is the Texas Registration law requir- ing the owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer used or to be used on the public highways of this State to register such vehicle. This law excepts "owners of farm tractors, farm trailers, farm semi- trailers, implements of husbandry and machinery . . .ouerated or moved temporarily upon the highways . . . and providing further that the exemp- tion in this section shall not apply to any farm trailer or farm semi- trailer when the same is used for hire . . .“ (Emphasis added.) Article 6675A-2 (q) states: By "operated or moved temporarily upon,the highways is meant the operation or conveying between different farme, and the operation or conveyance from the owner's farm to the place where his farm produce is prepared Honorable William J Gillespie, page 2 (w-916) for market or where seme Is actually marketed and return." (Emphasis added.) Here the trailers are not owned by farmers, but by people or firms who sell to farmers. Subsection (q) quoted just above, applies to trailers owned by farmers. Since the business firm temporarily furnishing the trailers cannot conform to the requirements set out in definition (q) of Article 6675~-1, as to‘what constitutes a trailer "operated or moved temporarily upon the highways" (Article 6675A-2), these trailers cannot come under the exemptions contained in Article 6675A-2 and must be registered as said Article requires. SXIMMARY A business that temporarily furnishes trailers to its farm customers for hauling a tank and poison apparatus cannot claim an exemption from registering such trailer under Article 667%-2, V.A.T.S. Very truly yours, WILL WILSOR ygy;;Y& Assistant JCP:bg APPROVED: OP3xIOBICOMwTTEE W. V Geppert, Chairman James M. Farris William T. Blackburn Virgil Pulllam Martha Jo Stroud REVIEWEDFOR THE ATTORNEY GEZ?ERAL BY: Leonard Passmore