Court Opinion

ID: 3266683
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-07-05 16:35:05.766008+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:18:54.475634
License: Public Domain

The use of public highways by a public carrier is a privilege which the State may give or withhold, and the privilege may be granted upon such terms as may be determined by the lawmakers. Such use may be regulated, and, as a part of the regulation, the number of conveyances to be used on a given route may be limited. Pond on Public Utilities, 714, 715. Now, if the statutes of this State have conferred upon the Commission the power to issue permits and determine the number of such permits to use a given route (and I think such power is conferred in the statute), then it necessarily follows that such use cannot be taken without first securing a permit not even during the period of delay while an application is being considered by the Commission or while the proceedings are in progress. The burden is on the applicant to show that the public convenience requires additional service, and that he is entitled to a permit to furnish the same. Pond on Public Utilities, 820. *Page 24 
Our statute provides a remedy by appeal to the circuit court of Pulaski County from erroneous orders of the Commission. Acts 1921, p. 177, 20. An applicant cannot bid defiance to the order of the Commission and use the highway without a permit, nor is he entitled to use the highway while the application is pending. He must wait until he gets the permit.
I dissent from that part of the opinion of the majority which holds that, until there has been a final hearing by the Commission and determination of an application, the applicant may continue to use the highway.