. . 

‘, 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

xionorable Jantee E. lulday; Direator - 

Motor Treutsportation Division 

Railroad CoamcLasion of Pezaa 

Austin, Texaa. 

Daar Sirr 

. 

Sp&lalieed motors aarrler aikifiaate PO. jj533’iauthoritel the iolloulng service by Rederal TranapoFtat2on Company:~ 

, - 
torable James IL lQ.lday, page 2 

“IT IS RsPmxAIJz UEDRRSTOOD AED AaiRED TEAT 

THISCONSIHATIOB QRDBRANDCERTIFICAT~AUTHORIZES 

TEETRANSPORTATIOH OFTEEFOLLOUIEO COMMODITIES 

OELY: 

"FOUR TRUCKSAUTEORIZBDTOTRAHSPORT: 

8HousxomQoo~, UBRB OFFIcEFuExxT~AriD 

BQUIP~,~ToQL,~ToCKpEEDs1IoFpS,P~ 

YdcFIIwRY AXD QRAIE from Boueton to all pointa in 

Texas and from all potits in Texas tb Eouston. 

"OIIZIEU EQUIPMEET to and tram all points 

In Texas. 

'TXMADDITIOHALTR~CKSAUTEORIZEDTOTRAESPORTt. 

~EouSmoLDG0on5,uSl3DOFFIcBFuR~1IlD 

lWJU%mTrromIiou8tontoallpolnts lniexas and 

from all points In Wxan to Eonattm.~~ 

"RESTRICTIOES iS TO AI& !fFiUCKS: 

*The tranrportatloio~ HOUSkXD GOOD& USED-' 

OFFICEFmwITuRxAmlzQuIPlumT,zilmST~~ ~' 

STUFFS AIfD FARN IfAGEIB'ERY ia~prohiblted f'rom one 

dealer to another dealer. 

'The transportation of OIXZIISID BQMPMEHT irr 

restricted to that transported to or from actual 

ollflelda, and the carrier 1s problblted Srom 

tranaportlng sane from one dealer or refinery 

to another dealer or rerlnery or from a dealer 

to a refinery, or fYom a refinery to.a dealer. 

*ALL EQUIPK6BT to be operated under authority of this aombfnatlon order and certiilaate 

ahall not exceed POURTREE TRUCKS.~ 

'THIS CERTIFICATE Issued in prlvlty ulth SpeaLa1 Commodity Permit PO. l2775 ac arid permit wan 

ln fores and effect on January 1, 1941, under the : 

~Qrandfather~ alawe OS Eowe Bill Ho. 351." 

., ” 
Federal Tranaportatlon Company haa petitioned the Rallroad Commission to divide thie certificate as follova: 

.One part authorizing the transportation of houaehold goods, wed office furniture and equipment from 

Houston to all pointa in Texas, and from all points In ~~ 

Texas to Bowton, to uhlch operation there ahnll be " 

alloaated ten trucka. The rentadnbg authority and 

rights to be retained in the other part of the dlvlsion of said certificate.* 

Federal Trawportatlon Compauy alao aeeka +proval by ? 

the Commlaalon of a sale to the Wald Tranater eud Storage, Company, Iuo., of that part of the certlf'lcate described aa 'ten 

additional trucka authorize&to tranaportt household goods, used 

ofrice f'urnlture and eqtipment from EWaton to all point8 ,in ~~_ 

Texua, and from all polnta in Texus to 'Houatoa8 

.

It la lmaedlately~aeen-that 32' the dl&alon'and &&i 

i 

of auclipurt 18 approved, the orlghtul ovner, and 8eLler;~ar~~uell 

aa the purahaaer, till poaaeaa the right and authorlty~to tranaport household goods, oaed offloe fumlture and equipment f'rom 

Houaton to all pointa ln Texas andfiom all polnta In Tezm,.to ,:

Houston. The result vi11 be~that two aurrlera vill be Suthor-. I w 

lzed to transport these aonmdltiea by virtue of one aertif%oate ',C 

orlglnally granted to oue aarrler. Thla urlaea, of aowae;be- i f 

cause of the dupllaate~grant Sn the orlglnal certificate appertalnlng to howehold gooda, wed oifloe furniture and equipment. 

Under Eouae Bill 351. Bats of &e Forty-seventh Isgfalature, apeclalized motor carrier certiiloatea may not be lsaued 

by the Comiaalon except upon a dhowlug by aubatantlal evldenoe 

that there exlrtia publlo neaeaaity for such aervloe and th8t 

the public oonrenlence vlll~ba promoted thereby. The certiilaate laaued authorize8 the holder to engage ln the bwlneaa of 

a llmlted oonunon ourrler. ~ln1os.x #IO: O-3700 by thla departnent. 

Section Sk(a) of House Bill. 351; mzpra, aontalna .Jhe 

;T 

follovlng grunt of authority to the Commlaalonr '-

'Any certlfioste, held, ovned, or obtained by 

any motor aarrl4r operating aa a ~apealallced motor 

c&rlerl under the provialona of thla act may be sold. 

aaaigued, leased, transferred or lnheritedl provided, 

houever, that any proposed sale . . . ahall be first 

L 

Honorable James E..Xilday, page 3 
Ronorable J&es $. aEild8y, psge 4 

c 

presented in~wrlting to the Coaaaiaslon for Its spproval or dla8pprovel and the Coamlssionmamy~approve 

or disapprove such proposed sale. . . . 

The subject application does not.propose the sale of 

8 certificate but only a 8818 of 8 part thereof. 

Ott opinion Eo. O-1096 this dep8rtment upheld the authority of the R8Ilro8d Coamlaslon to approve, uudur certain conditlona the sale of 8 portion of 8 caaaaon carrier motor certiflcate of aonvenlence 8nd nticesslty uuder Section 5, Article glib, 

Vernon's Annotsted Civil Statut.est. The question decided in this 

opinion v8s Involved In the case of Houston.end Horth Texas Wotor 

Freight Lines, Ina., et 8l vs. Y. A. Jobnsaat, et 81, decided by 

the Gslveaton Court of Civil Appeals on the 11th dsy of Deaember, 

1941. The court upheld the action of the CcmmIssIon in approving 

the sale of a portion of such certlflcate under the conditions 

and facts presented. Three things p8rtIcularly were enrphasized by 

the court. First, certlflaatea rapresent property rights and as 

such ordlnatiy carrythe right to sell and convey a portion thereof as veILas the vholet second, the fact that for many years the 

Railroad CoPrmission has approved the sale of portions of aerttilcates vhere the certiiIc8tes~vere severed l horizontally' 8nd not 

%mgthvise' and such departrnentsl construction la entitled to 

great velght; and third, the fact that a neu service uas not created 

by the sale of a part. 

Upon applying the nasoidpg of the Court to the subject 

proposal we an met vith difficulties. 

-Under the aertificate held by Federal Transportation Coari'j

psny, ve vi11 say it h8s a.property right In the rigat to transport -"5

household goods, wed offlce~furulture 8nd equipment; 8s veil as In 

other comamdIt.Ies not Involved. True, this property ‘right Is divided .:y

into tvo paragrgphs in the aertIficste'8nd llmlt8tions plaaed thereupon by restrictions upon the number of truoks that may be used. 

Federal Transportation Comp8ny does not, hovever, propose to sell 

its property rlghta in the right to trsnspart household goods, used 

office fumIture 8nd equipment; It retains p8rt of such property 

rights, Both lt,.8nd the purchaser under the~sale, vi11 h8ve the 

authority to transport these commodities. 

In the second place, the Railrosd Ccmanissfon h8sa never 

approved sales of portions of specialized motor carrier certificates. 

Hence the veight of depsrtmentcrl construction Is absent. 
Honorable James E. lKl&ey, p8ge 5 

And, finally, it38 apparent that a nev service vi11 

be created under the propaaal. Two cart%era all1 be authorZced 

to tmmaport household gooda, used office furniture and equlpment from Houston to ti points ln Teurs and from al1 points in 

Texas to Houston. The enterprise of eaoh vlll seek the bualneaa. The limitation upon the number'of&ruckr doea not vouchsafe the aervlce or destroy the faat that 

tva carriers vould authorized to trsnaport the 

a8me aoamodltles issued to only one. 

Routes traversed 8nd the: hlghwaya used are not &de 

aigulfieant under.the lau ereatlng apealallced aiator carriers, 

in contrast to that provldlng for aammon Oarrlera. The comodlties transported 8re the essential ooualderatlnna. Conaequently, the apllttlng of a~apeol8llzed motor aarrler Certlflaate 

upon the baa18 of the ~8me eommo~tlea to be tr8naported, and, 

a scr2ewhlchYouldretainlqthe aellerand&tthe aametlme 

transfer to the purch8aer the autharlty to trqpoet the same~' 

commodltiea, rould m8nlfeat;l+ be opposed to thehnderlying purposes add reanQp(I motivating the legislature ti its MthOriZ8- 

tlon or apeclallsed motor carrier iqeratlaua. 

It Ia'our opinion, thiweik, th8t eaoh of your que8- 

tions should be anauered ln the negative. 

Tours very truly