OF TEXAS 

Honorable W. J, 

County Attorney 

Angellna County 

Lufkin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Townsend 

Opinion NO. o-6571 

Re: Whether a person transporting a 'load 

of steel by truck of which he is 

the bona fide owner is exemp,t from 

regulation of Motor Carrier Act. by 

reason of Sec. la(l) (a) and Set, 

lb of Art. glib, V.A,C,S,, under 

the facts stated. 

We have your opinion request reading as follows: 

"I write your department for an opinion, covering 

this situation: 

"A person.owning and operating his own 

motor vehicle, "%owit: a truck, purchases steel 

at Port Arthur, Texas, on a basis of $50.00 per 

ton, when he transports tie'same over the highways of the State of Texas and resells such 

steel wherever he is able to do so at an advanead 

price, to say, about $78.30 per to:., the profit 

in the transaction being his compensation for 

the service rendered, This party claims to own 

a junk yara at Longview, and may claim to carry 

such products transpord'i,ed by him to his junk yard 

located at Longview for resale. 

"This par~ticular load of steel, here referred to, is apparently r:either junk or scrap 

steel o 

"I enclose you herewikh for your information 

copy of said party's invoice, as well as ruport 

of the inspector of the Railroaa Commission, relating to this s\tuation, 

"(a) Is the cam;gf:?g of such steel by this 

party without a permit from the Railroad Commission of Texas unlawful? 
Hon, W. J, zToz!send, page 2 o-6571 

“(b) Is the profit in the resales of this 

steel at an advanced pric’e, such compensation as to 

make t.he use of the highways of Texas unlawful by 

such party in transporting the sam,e without a permit?” 

Under the facts stated the person inoulred about is 

subject to the Motor Carrier Act and must have a permit from’ tr,e 

Railroad Commission unless he is exempt by’ Section la(l) (a) a:& 

Section lb of Art. 911, V.A.C.S., which reads as follows: 

“Sec. la(l) Provided, however, that the term 

‘Motor Carrier’ and the term ‘Contract Carriers as 

defined in the preceding section shall not be held 

to include: 

“(a), Any person having a regular, separate, 

fixed and established place of business, other t,han 

a transportation business, where goods, wares, and 

merchandise are kept in stock and are primarily and 

regularly bought from the public or sold to the public or manufactured or processed by such~‘person in 

the ordinary course of the mercantile, manufacturing, 

or processing business, and who, merely incidental to 

the operation of such business, transports over the’ 

highways of this State such goods of which such person 

is the bona fide owner by meansof a motor vehicle 

of which such person-is the bona fide owner; . D . D 

. 

“Sec. lb, Any person who transports goods, 

wares 9 or merchandise under the circumstances set 

forth in the foregoing Section la so as to be excluded by the terms of said section from the definition of !motor carrier’ or ‘contract carrier’ 

shall be deemed to be a private motor vehicle owner; 

and such use of the highways by such private motor 

vehicle owners, as herein defined, shall be constn%ed 

as use of tne highways for the general public and 

not the use of such highways for the carrying on 

the business of transporting property for compensation for hire.” 

This article is part of House Bill No, 25, ch. 29G, 

Acts of the 47t.h Legislature (1941) p* 463. 

The Invoice which you enclosed recites that the steel 

was sold. on terms of net cash. However, the Inspection report 

by Mr. J-J, Ray, Jr, states that the steel was paid for after it 

was resold o We will assume, however, that this was not a,consignment to an agent for sale but that a sale was made of t’he load 

of steel by ,the Port Iron & SUpply Company, Inc, at Port Arthur, 
Hon. W.J. Townsend, page 3 o-6571 

Texas, to the person inquired about who received it in his own 

truck. 

Our answer to your question'wlll also depend on 

whether the person Inquired about has a "regular, separate, fixed and established place of business" for sale at retail of the 

steel which he was hauling. His 'junk yard" at Longvlew may or 

may nbt be. such an established business. This would depend on 

the facts and you have not given us enough information in.'your 

Ietterfor us to determine this point. However, we will assume 

as a basis of this bpinion that the person inquired about does 

have a "junk yard" at Longview where he sells steel to the 

public. 

Under the foregoing assumptions, our answer to your 

inquiry Is that the person inquired about does come within the 

terms of the statute above quoted and is not required to have 

a permit from the Railroad Commission. The fact that he'makes 

a profit on the steel after he gets it to Longview over and 

above what he bought it for, OP that one particular load was 

resold.by him at retail without actually carrying it to Longview and redelivering it from that point, does not alter our 

answer~to'your question. From ~the facts'stated in your letter 

It is apparent that the person inquired'about is enga 

iness for himself (other than transportation business k 

ed In busand Is 

hauling his own merchandise in his own trucks. 

Trusting that the foregoing answers your inquiry, we 

are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/%'agan Dickson 

Fagan Dickson 

Assistant 

FD:BT:wc 

APPROVED MAY 23, 1945 

s/Grover Sellers 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/GWB Chairman