Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1950 )

THER'PI'OKNEY GENERAL
Q,P-XAS
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENeRAL
Hon. W. J. Murray, Jr., Chairman
Railroad Commission of Texas
Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-1053
Res Valfdity of the Commls-
slon'a order of February
8, 1950, entered in Motor
Carrfer Docket No. 3658,
upon an applicationto
divide certificateNo.
Dear Commissioner: 3079.
The questions presented In yaw recent let-
ter relating to the validity of the Commission'sorder
entered February 8, 1950, denying an applicationto
divide common carrier motor carrier ceptiflcateNo.
3079 have been carefully consldered.
A copy of the order In question was sub-
mitted with your request, and under the facts you aska
"1. Is the Comml~siow~sorder of
February 8, 9950, entered fn Docket No.
3658, a valid order?
"2. Comfelerfngthe _^terms
..of^Cep-
^
tfffcate No. 307g0 8s we&l a5 we commm-
sfon@s OPdePs of 1940 upon whfch t;hfe
ceptfffcate is based, does the Railroad
Coarwfsafon have legal authority to grant
the applicatfonof the receiver to divide
CertificateNo. 3079 and sell Its divided
portlons to Southern Pacific and to Santa
Fe, and to pant the applicationsof
Southern Pacfflc and Santa Fe to bu such
portions (Dockets A-1211 and A-l.212 T7
(See paragraph 2 of Comm%ssfonQ&s order
dated FebPuaz=y8, 1950, for the .langPlage
of CertfffcateNo. 3079, dated July 2,
1940.)
Hon. W. J. Murray, Jr., page 2 (V-1053)
“3. If lt be determined that the
Railroad Commlsslon hae authority to grant
the referenced application a~ prayed for,
then uhat terms and phraseology should be
employed In the Commlsslon’e orders ac-
complishing that purpose?
“4. I,f it be determined that the
Commleslon has authority to grant the ref-
erenced appllaatlons a8 prayed for, then
doea the Railroad Commission have any au-
thorlty in granting the applicationa to
impose any restrictions (not presently ex-
isting In Certificate No. 3079) upon that
portlon of the certificate granted to
Southern Pacific, or upon that portlon
of the certificate granted to Santa Fet
”. . . .
“5. Would Airline Freight Lines,
Ino., have the right to Interchange freight
at Rosenberg under the aertlflcate dated
July 2, 19401”
The question of the Commleslon~e authority
to divide an existing certificate was before the Sup-
reme Court of Texas in B. & N.T. Motor Freight Lines
v. Johnson, 140 Texo 166 166 S W 26 78 (1942) . wrft-
ing for tse court* the l&e Chiif’Justlce Alexander
announced that the Commlsslon hala authority to author-
ize the dlvlalon of a route covered by a certlflcate
Into two or more parts and approve the sale of less than
the whole thereof and said8
“Since the dlvlslon of an exletlng
certfflaate into two parts fs, ln effeot,
the equivalent of the granting of two new
certificates, and slnoe two short routes
might not adequately serve the pub110 ln-
tereste in the same manner aa one through
route over the name territory, it would
BeepLthat in order to authorize the dlvi-
slon of the existing oertlftcate into two
parts and the sale of one of the parts the
Combdon, after statutory notice to the
pub110 and all interested parties and a
.: .
pubB%c &ear%mg, ahaounld
f%mt3that the ap-
p,rovaBof the d9vfsloa of such certfflcate
and sale of a pap& theaoeofwl%l not lmpafr
tae serv%c@ %c the publfe."
From thfw hoMiii of th@ coot It Is clear to
u<hat the pawep of the C~~813fsslon
to authoplze the
dl?&t&m of a ee~t%fieate and approve the sale of por-
%%om fAemoT %o d%ffe~a-& pu*ce8jtsae~speats upon a find-
fng of fact &hat sueI-8
d%vfs%onnand safe "wfP1 not Impair
the eer'vfee$0 me publfa."
sh,ee the ~omiseiom fo~~3 ,thatthe afm4f0n
of %he ce~%%~%e%feand the sale of po2~tPonathersof
wouna remilt im a aeerea5e of eerv%ae with respect to
cie~%a%inpof~ts on the lpoute%~~Bved and aw Increase
as %o other, l-8fast crux= op%m%onathat the Commlssfon fs
wfthout power &O authoz?lee t&e dltv%us%on
ax-xl
approve the
sale 0P"pc~tioma of %be ce~%%8%ca%e%;cr dffferewt pup-
chasers0
Any en2a~gementof a~thog~ltywould have to be
baeed on a heaping a82adete~m%nationepponthe question
Hon. W. J. Murray, Jr., page 4 (V-1053)
or Issue of convenlenoe and necessity. Sunse% Express
v. Gulf C; k S.F. Ry., 154 S.W.2d 860, m (Tex. Clv.
App. 1941, error ref., w.0.a.).
We therefore answer your first question In
the afflmnatlve and your second In the negative, and In
view OS our opinion In response to these questions, we
do not deem it appropriateto answer your third and
fourth questions.
While It Is undoubted that oommon carrier
motor carriera operating under certifloatesof conven-
lenoe and necessity without restrlotlons have~the,rlght
to and do lnterahangefreight In dally operations,the
rule Is otherwise where a carrlerfs certificatecontains
restrlotlonsand llmlts the service that may be rendered.
As we construe Certificate No. 3079, It Is
clearly one restricting the scope of operations that may
be conducted under It. It does not authorize the per-
formanoe of every act or servlae which m%ght ordinarily
be performed by a common carrier motor carrier operating
between the termlnl. Rosenberg Is not an unrestrioted
service point and the language of the cert%f%oatelndl-
oates no purpoae on the part of the Commission to au-
thorlse the Interchangeof tie%ght at that point. The
oontrars aDpears from the llm1ted acope of author%ts
evldenoed a$ the cart%
C. deS.F. RyaI,supPa;
1% follows that our m-tswe~ to yaw f%Pth quea-
tlon Is a negative one,
The order of the Ra%l.rwC.Comfs-
slon of Febmary 8, 1950, enter& %n
Docket No. 3658, Is a va$%d order and the
Commlsslon %a without authority to authop-
lee dfvfslon of”the ceptfffcate, H. & N.
T, Motor Freight Lfnes vI Johnson,7
Tex. 166 166 S W 2d 7U \m)-Riller v.
m, 161 S,W.;d’501 (Tex, C%i. A 1944,
error ref, n.p.e.). Common car~le~p~otor
carrier aertfffcateNo. 3079 does not au-
thorise lnterohangeof freight at Rosenberg.
-’ -
Hon. W. J. Murray, Jr., page 5 (V-1053)
Sunset Express v. Gulf C. & S.F. Ry.,
154 S W 2d 860 862 (Tex. Clv. App.
1941,'eLor rei. w.0.m.).
Very truly youra
APPROVED:
PRICE DANIEL
Charles D. Mathews Attorney Qeneral
Executive Assistant
Price Daniel BYkd J d-&CL -.
Attorney General Everett Hutchinson
EHrdb