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 compenaation with in the meaning or Section 2of Article 8m, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code. Wereceived your letter dated April 17, 1941, which la aelf explanatory and reads au follower

“There are 8everal trucks from Oklahoma, Colorado and NewMexico tranmportlng gasoline *III and through Xoore County, Texas. Someof 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 mayjustify. The question has been raised as to the Classlflcatlon of the Oaeollne broker or Independent Dealer, whether they should be cla8sed as hauling 

### Sorcompensation or hire. Someof these Independent dealers have been advlsed th8t au such Independent Dealers or Brokers they should not be classified a8 hauling for compensation or hire andwould 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 traneportatlon and resele should be clasalfled as hauling for compensation whenit la the intent of the purchaser 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 2of Article 827b, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code, reads, In part, aa followsr

“Anonresident 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 16a resident and In accordance with the lsws thereof, mw, In lieu of registering aLck vehicle a8 otherwiseHonorable Eli

required Willis, Page 2 O-3442

by law, apply to the State Iiighy~r Depart-

- ment through a County Tax Collector for the 

### reglmtrstlon thereof a8 provided by law,

Section 5of Article 82’i’b, aupra, reads a6 follows~

“Nonon-resident owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or reml-trbiler shall operate any euah vehicle OFcau6e or permit it to be operated upon the public highway6 of this State, either before or while It 16registered under this Section, unless there shall at all times be dltlplayed thereon the registration numberplate6 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 temporary registration, when issued trlereto 68 In this Section provided rhall be placed on aald motor vehicle In the mannerto be rrpeclfled by the Department. Provided the Department shall not adopt anypatented container, holder or device for the certificate of temporary 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 aprivately owned and duly registered vehicle, not operated 

### for hire In this State at will, for the purpose of pmchasing goods, wares andmerchandise. Andprovided, further, that an? non-resident owner .:.fa priVnte1: ownedmotor vehicle maybe permitted fo makean occasionsl trip into this State w:th such.vehicle uD.derth; privileges of thlz set wlthoiit 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<z i:>an: p;;;, n:t e:-;e&in& p&?r,!;;..f ’?-;c ($rf,,;:J) ;:ll,?p:* ‘I
Asweundsrstand t:?e facts, r.;;::; 3ut of State trucks csze Into this State for the purpose of ‘uuyi.y gao$line and hauling It beck to their home6tetc. Further, weare Informed that freight differentials from place of purchase to destination are deducted from the quoted price of t!le gasoline. Weare **also** i?‘:rlned ths5 the particular Stater Mcntl2ned lr. :-%a letter requi+ ‘~:a t before 2?,:! such trtc,:k5Honorable El1 Yillie, Page 3 3-3442

It appears to UIIthat the out of st8te trucks mentioned in your letter are operating over the highway6 of Texae for compensation within the meaning of the above quoted Section8 of Article 827b, supra. See NewWa-LumberCompany, et al. v. Smith, et al., (Supreme Court) 96S.W. i2) 282. Youre very truly ATTORNEYGENERAL OFTEXAS By 6/ Lee Shoptaw Lee Shoptaw Assistant LSrMPtwc

APPRovEDJ-UNE

6, 1941 I/ GROVER

SELLERS PIRSTASSISTANT ATTORNEYGENERAL

Tnis Opinion Considered AndApproved In Limited Conference