## THE A-RNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIS. TFZXAR 7s.711 October 25, 1972
Chairman Byron Tunnel1 Railroad Commission ofTexas P.0. Box 12967, Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Mr. Tunnel]: Opinion No. M- 1248 Re: Under Arti~cle 911b, V.C.S., is a common carrier required to register, under its authority, vehicles used solely for pickup and delivery within a zone designated by the Rai,lroad Commission as a “commercial zone” where’such vehicles connect with and form an integral part of the carrier’s total regulated movements into and out of the
“commercial zone”? Inrelation to your question, you provide us with the following facts: ARailroad Commi,ssion certificated regular route, regular schedule motor common carri,er, is authorized to conduct regulated fo:r.-hi,re transportation originating at or rermi,nating a,tapoint within a commercial zone designated by the Railroad Commi~ssi,on under t:he author&y confer-red upon it by Article 911b, Secti,on 1(g), Vernon’s Civil Statutes. The carrier possesses, in addition to its over-the-road, or line-haul, vehi,cles, certain other pi,ckup and delivery equipment which i,semployed entirely wi,thin t:hecommercial zone. The two types of equipment are used together in this manner: The carrier’s over-the-road vehicles load and disc,harge freight at the c,arri.er’s terminal within the commerci,al zone, while the carri.er’s Eghter vehicles pick up and deliver the freight from shippers or to consignees within the zone. You ask us whether the pick-up and deljvery equipment whi,ch moves freight in conjunction wi,th regulated transportation by the same ca’rr ier, i,s operated under r.hecertificate under whic,h t/he carrier operates and is thus subject to the reporting requirement a~ndannual payment apeci,fi,ed by Motor Transpo-rt:ation Regulati,ons ofrhe Railroad Cornmi,ssion ofTexas? Section 9. 1(Apr. 29, 1970), issued pursua,nt to Article 91,lb, or whether ir:s employment falls wi~thi,nthe statutory cri,terion of oper,acion wirhin a,co:mmercial
-6108-Chairman Byron Tunnell, page 2 (M-1248)

zone and is thus not operated under the c,ertificate under which the carrier operates and need not be reported upon. It is our opini,on that such equipment is not operated under the carrier’s certi~ficate and need not be reported upon. The Motor Transportation Regulati.ons, supra, Secti.on 9. 1(a), requires that “each motor ca,rrier
. . . shall fi,le withRailroad Commission, separately for each ce:rti,fi,ca,te or permit under which it operates. . . an equipment report. 1Daccompani~ed by a cashier’s check or certified check or money order payable to th,e State Treasurer covering the payments~prescribed in subsections (b) and (c) of t:his Section.” Subsection (b) sets out the schedule for such annual payments by motor carriers. The term “motor carrier” is defined to include:

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. any person, firm, corporati,on, company, copartnership, associ,ati,on or joint stock association, and their lessees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court whatsoever owni,ng, controlling, managing, operating, or causing to be operated any motor-propelled vehicle used in transporting propercy for compensation or hire over any public highway in this state, where in the course of such transportation a highway between two or more incorporated cltles, towns or villages 1~straversed. ” Art. Y lib, Section 1(g). Ihmphasis added. J However, Article 911b, Secti,on 1(g), a~lsoauthorizes the Rai.lroa,d Commission to:

“define and prescribe,
. . commercial zones adja~cent to and commerc,ially apart of any specified incorporated muni,cipality and wi,thin whi~choperations as a motor carrier may be performed with,out a certi,fi.cate or permit authorizing same and within whi,ch strictly local service wholly withi.n such commercial zon,e may be performed a,t rates a,ndcharges orher than t:hose prescribed by the [Rai,lroad] Comm,issi,on. ‘” It is our opi,ni,on r.hat:the Legi,slature intended to grant t,hewidest possible freedom from ,regula,ti,on to those car.riers who perform “strictly local service wh,olly wi~thin [a] commercia,l zone, ” (Art. 91,lb, Sec. 1(g)), and that Secci,on ‘1(g) looks to rhe geographic employment: of the equipment,.

-6109-Chairman Byron Tunnell, page 3 (M-1248)

Therefore, equipment which is employed both within and without the commercia.1 zone is operated under the carrier’s certifi,cate and must be reported upon, while equipment employed enti~rely within the zone meets the statutory criteri,on, is not operated under the carrier’s certificate and t:hus need not be reported, upon. In the present situation, the carrier need not either report upon or make annual payments for his pick-up and delivery equipment as long as it is employed entirely within the commercial zone designated by the Railroad Commission, even though thi,s equipment is employed in conjunction with the delivery of shipments whi,ch ori~ginated in the commercial zone but:were desti~ned to apoint beyond the commercial zone as well as shipments moving i,nthe opposite direction.
SUMMARY Motor ca,rrier equipment operated entirely within the boundaries of a commercial zone established by the Rai,lroad Commission is not operated under a certi~fied carrie~r’s certificate and need not be reported upon although i.ti,semployed in conjunction with regulated transportati,on by equipment owned by the same regula,.r route, regular schedule motor common carri,er. Very&y yours,

DC. MARTIN Prepared by Rex H. Whi,te, Jr. Assistant Attorney Genera,1 APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Kerns Taylor, Cha~i-rman W. E Allen, Co-Chai.rm,an

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Chai-rman Byron Tunnel& page 4 (M-1248)

Jack Spa,rks James Maxwell Bill Flanary R. D. Green SAMUEL D. MCDANIEL Staff Legal Assistant ALFRED WALKER Executive Assistant NO’LAWHITE First Assistant

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