LAWv1.docx

MEMORANDUM
TO:RON LAW
ADMINISTRATOR, MOTOR CARRIER DIVISION
FROM:WELDON STUTZMAN
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
DATE:JULY 24, 1996
Recently you asked whether Idaho law requires an out of state motor carrier to obtain authority from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission before traveling Idaho highways to get to a job site.  The question arose in regard to a Washington house mover that drove to an Idaho city, lifted a house and moved it to an adjacent location without entering a public highway.  Apparently, the mover obtained a trip permit from the Idaho Department of Transportation and a license from the city, but did not obtain operating authority from the PUC.  I also understand the carrier did not have authority as an interstate carrier registered under the single state registration system.
Idaho’s Motor Carrier Act, Idaho Code, Title 61 Chapter 8, makes it “unlawful for any motor carrier, . . . to operate any motor vehicle in motor transportation without first having obtained from the Commission a permit covering such operation.”  Idaho Code 61-802.  Thus if the Washington carrier is operating a motor vehicle in motor transportation, it is required by Idaho law to obtain operating authority from the Commission.  A motor vehicle is defined by Section 61-801(e) as “any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semi-trailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used upon the highway in the transportation of passengers and/or property.”  “Transportation” is defined as including “all vehicles operated by, for, or in the interest of any motor carrier irrespective of ownership or contract, express or implied, together with all services, facilities and property furnished, operated or controlled by any such carrier or carriers and used in the transportation of passengers and/or property in commerce in the state.”  Idaho Code § 61-801(j).  Idaho Code § 61-107 further defines “transportation of property” as including “every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer, switching, carriage, ventilation, . . . and handling.”  Finally, Section 61-801(k) contains exemptions for transportation which do not require PUC authority.  Section 61-801(k)(7) excludes “transportation of persons and/or property, including mobile and modular houses manufactured with wheels and undercarriage as part of the substructure, but not transportation of other houses, buildings or structures within a municipality.”  In other words, transportation of mobile homes within a city is  exempt, but transportation of other houses within a city is specifically included as a transportation of property that requires PUC operating authority.
Because “transportation of property” includes acts in connection with or incidental to the actual hauling of the property, and specifically its “elevation, transfer, and handling”, it does not matter in this case that the motor carrier did not transport the house on the public roadways.  Although the definition of motor vehicle includes a provision that the vehicle is “used upon the highway in the transportation of passengers and/or property”, the more specific inclusion within the definition of “transportation of property” of acts incidental to that transportation indicates a legislative intent that the particular act subject to PUC regulation need not take place on the highways of the state.  In addition, the phrase “used upon the highway” within the definition of “motor vehicle” may well mean only that the vehicle is intended to be used upon the highway, not that the particular act being analyzed must have occurred on the public highways.  Otherwise, the PUC’s authority would extend to motor carriers only in the instances when their vehicles are loaded.  This result would be anomalous to the purpose of the motor carrier regulation contained in the Idaho Motor Carrier Act.
This memorandum is provided to assist you.  The response is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office based upon the research of the author.
Weldon Stutzman
vld/M:law.ws