Hon. Ben Ramsey and Ernest Opinion No..C-74 

0. Thompson 

Members Re: Whether certain advertising 

Railroad Commission of Texas on specialized motor vehicles 

Austin, Texas violate Article 1690 In Vernon's Penal Code? 

ATTENTION: C. R. McNamee 

Gentlemen: 

You have requested an opinion from this office as to the 

legality of the following tariff Item: 

"Upon tender of shipment In any quantity 

up to and including truckload lots, or when 

vehicle Is ordered by shipper for exclusive 

use, shipper may, at his option, afflx,advertlslng on carrier's vehicle advertising those 

goods being transported subject to the following terms and ,condltlons. No advertising Is 

permitted when shipments loaded on the truck 

and/or trailer consists of shipments from other 

shippers other than the shipper requesting advertising. Shipments loaded on the truck ,and/ 

or trailer are to be left to the discretion of 

the carrier." 

You have suggested that Paragraph (g) of Article 1690b, 

Vernon's Penal Code, might be applicable. That paragraph provides as follows: 

carri~~~co~o~h~~lc~~t~~~~f~ for any motor 

, or the owner ,of 

a certificate or permit, or his agent, servant 

or employee, directly or indirectly, to offer, 

permit or give to any person, directly or indirectly, any commission or other consideration 

to induce such person to deliver to such motor 

carrier or certificate or permit owner, property to be transported; and it likewise shall be 

unlawful for any shipper or consignee or his 

agent, servant or employee, to receive from 

such motor carrier, directly or Indirectly, any 

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. . 

Hon. Ben Ramsey and Ernest 0. Thompson, Page 2 (C-74 ) 

such commission or consideration as an lnducement to secure the transportation of any such 

property. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a 

misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be 

punished by a fine not to exceed Two Hundred 

($200) Dollars, and each such transaction shall 

constitute a separate offense." 

An analysis of this section of Article 1690b shows that 

the element of the criminal offense set out are: (1) the motor carrier or his representative must, directly or indirectly, 

offer permit or give a commission or other consideration to a 

shipper and (2) the reason for the commission or other conslderatlon must be to induce such person to deliver to such motor 

carrier or certificate or permit owner property to be transported. The offense so far as the shipper Is concerned Is 

that the shipper or his representative must receive some commission or consideration and such commission or consideration 

must be received as an inducement to secure the transportation 

of the property. 

If we examine the proposed Item for the tariff we find 

that It Is the shipper who may "at his option" affix the advertising on the carrier's vehicle when he ships on the carrier any quantity of goods up to and Including a truckload 

lot or when the vehicle Is ordered by shipper for his exclusive use. However, under the proposed Items such advertising 

1s not allowed If the shipment loaded on the truck and/or 

trailer contain Items from other shippers. It Is further to 

be noted that the carrier Is still in control of the shipment 

to be loaded on his trucks. It should further be noted that 

the Tariff will apply to all shippers under this item and all 

shippers will therefore be allowed the same prerogatives. 

We believe that advertising would be included as "other 

considerations" in the terms of the statute. However, such 

considerations, as pointed out above, must be given as an lnducement to the shipper and received by the shipper as an lnducement to transport goods. We read into the word inducement 

the connotation of "preferred treatment: as for example the 

type of preferred treatment that would be received from a motor 

carrier If he were to rebate part of the cost of the shipment. 

Inasmuch as all carriers and shippers are treated alike and 

all shippers are accorded the same opportunity under the item 

to place their advertisements on the carriers under the same 

conditions, it Is our opinion that the item would not be in 

violation of the motor carrier law and particularly would not 

be a violation of Paragraph (g) of Article 1690b, Vernon's 

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Hon. Ben Ramsey and Ernest 0. Thompson, Page 3 (C-74 ) 

Penal Code. 

SUMMARY 

An item placed In a Tariff allowing the affixing 

of advertising on the carrier's vehicle at the option 

of the shipper when such shipper ships a quantity of 

goods on the carrier up to and Including a truckload 

lot or when the vehicle is ordered by the shipper for 

his exclusive use and providing that no advertisement 

can be placed by such shipper on the carrier's vehlcle when such shipment on the carrier's truck consists 

of shipments from other shippers not Including the 

shipper requesting the advertisement will not be in 

violation of the Motor Carrier Law, particularly Article 1690b, Section (g), Vernon's Penal Code. 

Yours very truly, 

CARR 

Generat of Tnas 

wNoh?-%3!?~ . ‘w 

Assistant Attorne General 

NVS:nss 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Sam R. Wilson 

V. F. Taylor 

W. 0. Shultz 

Pat Bailey 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Stanton Stone 

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