Grover Sellers
Hon. W. J. Townsend Opinion No. O-6349
County Attorney Re: Passenger automobile used as
Angelina County commercial motor vehicle must be
Lufkln, Texas registered as commercial motor ve-
hicle, and operator of said auto-
mobile Is required to hold a com-
Dear Sir: mercial operator’s license.
We have received your recent request for an opinion,
quoted as follows:
“1 beg
” . leave
. . to ~advise that
._ there
. . Is a
citizen 01. cnis county operating nis ,passenger
automobile on the state hlghways,of thfs section
of the state, transporting and delivering mer-
chandise therefrom to merchants only.
“1 have advised him that it is Illegal for
him to thus use his passenger automobile, licensed
as such, for the purposes of transporting and de-
livering merchandise therefrom and that in order
.for him to use or drive any ~motor vehicle lawfully
for the purpose of transporting and delivering mer-
chandise therefrom to merchants, that he must first
have license as a ~Commerclal Operator’, as shown
by paragraph (N) of the Texas Highway laws..
“Please advise me as to your construction of
this law. May any one use lawfully his ~passenger
automobile, as a vehicle for the transporting and
delivering merchandise therefrom over the highways
of this state, without first taking out a ‘Commer-~
cial Operators’ license?”
Article 6675-,(i), Vernon’s Annotated Civil Stat-
utes defines a 81commerclal motor vehicle” as %ny motor vehi-
cle [other than a motorcycle or passenger car) designed or used
primarily for the transportation of p.roperty, including any
passenger car which has been reconstructed so as to be used,
and which is beina use& primarily for delivery purposes with
the exception of passenger cars used in the delivery of ihe
United States mails.” (underscoring added)
Hon. W. J. Townsend, page 2 (o-6349)
Art. 6687b, Ssctlon 1, (n) V.A.C.S.
mercial operator” as ‘Ievery person who is the Arc% : iI%&
The said next above articles are Uin pari materiaw,
and will therefore, be taken, read and construed together~ and
any con&at between their provisions will be harmonized, if
possible. See 39 Tex.Jur. 2%
OUr Opinion No. 0-3936 holds in r‘egard to a similar
question that the test to be applied under the foregoi
“iso; of a ,I;0lmmercial operator” Is the use to which th 2 V z%t-
2 einit mu We believe this test is also aoclicable to the
foregoing de; ‘inition of a %ommercial motor b v&icle.v We here-
with enclose a copy of said Opinion No. O-31936.
Th; qy;tion to decld; is whether the vehicle is beiq
ysed orimari Y o C&UQ,QZimercial o elivery marDose in the t an -
portatlon of ~uronertvf This fact we leave to the determina&.oi
of the proper authorities In each case*
Therefore, it is our opinion that a passenger automo-
bile which is being used primarily as a commercial motor vehicle,
sho 3 d be registered as a commercial motor vehicle, and the oper-
ator of same is reqtired to hold a commercial operator’s license.
We trust the foregoing fully answers your question.
I.
APPROVEDMAY12, 1945 Yours very truly
/s/ Carlos C. Ashley
FIRST ASSISTART ATTORNEY
GENRMLOF TEXAS
ATTORNEY GENFRAL
By /s/ Robert L. Lattlmore, Jr.
APPROVED.:;X’&iI~;C);~TTB Robert L. Lattlmore, Jr.,
BY: , Assistant
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