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 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, Colorado 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 traneportatlon and resele should be clasalfled as hauling 

for compensation when it 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 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 

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 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 temporary 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. Provided the Department shall not adopt any patented 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 a privately 

owned and duly registered vehicle, not operated for 

hire In this State at will, for the purpose of pmchasing goods, wares and merchandise. And provided, 

further, that an? non-resident owner .:.f a priVnte1: 

owned motor vehicle may be permitted fo make an occasionsl 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<z 

i:> 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+ ‘~:a t 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 compensation 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 GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By 6/ Lee Shoptaw 

Lee Shoptaw 

Assistant 

LSrMPtwc 

APPRovED J-UNE 6, 1941 

I/ GROVER SELLERS 

PIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Tnis Opinion Considered And Approved In Limited Conference