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-
penaation with in the meaning or
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 trucks from Oklahoma, Colo-
rado and New Mexico tranmportlng gasoline *III and
through Xoore County, Texas. Some of these tNCk
owner6 are hauling for direct oompensatlon or hire
and are buying Texas llcenaea 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 be cla8sed as hauling Sor compensation
or hire. Some of these Independent dealers have been
advlsed th8t au such Independent Dealers or Brokers they
should not be classified a8 hauling for compensation
or hire and would not be required to purchase Texas
licenses f’or their trucks. I have been of the opinion
that purchasers of property for the purpose of trane-
portatlon and 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 the 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
Honorable Eli Willis, Page 2 O-3442
required by law, apply - to the State Iiighy~r Depart-
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 the
public highway6 of this State, either before or while
It 16 registered under this Section, unless there
shall at all times be 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 be 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 in 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
owned and duly registered vehicle, not operated for
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 fo make an occa-
sionsl 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;’
proviEi3;1 of this scctim ohall te ecca2e milt3 31‘ 2
nisdcccsncr; sr.;: qrn c*~.~:;:cti~:*. 21zerczf s!:all tc fi:>O 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 trucks csze
Into this State for the purpose of ‘
uuyi.y gao$line and hauling It
beck to their home 6tetc. Further, we are Informed that freight
differentials from place of purchase to destination are deducted
from the quoted price of t!le gasoline. We are also i?‘:rlned ths5
the particular Stater Mcntl2ned lr. :-%a letter requi+ ‘~:at before
2?,:! such trtc,:k5
Honorable El1 Yillie, Page 3 3-3442
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 GENERALOF TEXAS
By 6/ Lee Shoptaw
Lee Shoptaw
Assistant
LSrMPtwc
APPRovEDJ-UNE6, 1941
I/ GROVERSELLERS
PIRST ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Tnis Opinion Considered And Approved In Limited Conference