STATE, EX REL. NORRIS COATS,
v.
H. R. WHITAKER, SHERIFF OF FLAGLER COUNTY

Fla. | 1936-12-18
Whitfield, C. J., and Ellis, Buford and Davis, J. J., concur., Brown, J., dissents.
126 Fla. 543 Florida Supreme Court (1936) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 171 So. 521
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

Norris Coats, a truck owner operating under a private license, was arrested for transporting fertilizer for compensation without a Railroad Commission permit. The Florida Supreme Court held that while his outbound haul of agricultural products to Jacksonville was exempt under state law, his return load of fertilizer from manufacturer to consumer was not within any statutory exemption and therefore violated Chapter 14764, Acts of 1931.


Holding

The petitioner's return haul of fertilizer was not within any exemption provided by Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts of 1931, and therefore constituted a violation of that statute requiring a Railroad Commission permit or certificate. While casual or irregular trips by private-licensed vehicles for compensation may be exempt in some contexts, they are not exempt merely because they are casual and irregular; the specific operation must fall within a defined exemption.


Key Quotes

“Where a motor vehicle is being operated in hauling for compensation as defined by Chapter 14764, Acts of 1931, not devoted 'exclusively' to an operation exempted by Section 30 of said Chapter 14764, Acts of 1931, from the requirement of a certificate or permit from the Railroad Commission to conduct such business of haulage for compensation, it is subject to the requirements of said Act”

Establishes the exclusive devotion requirement for exemptions under Chapter 14764

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Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner Coats owned a truck and trailer licensed for private use under Chapter 16085, Acts of 1933. He hauled agricultural and horticultural produc…

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Opinion of the Court
Per Curiam.

Per Curiam.

Petitioner in this case is the owner of a truck and four-wheel trailer licensed under Chapter 16085, Acts of 1933, for “private use,” that is to say, his motor *544vehicles are not equipped with “for hire” license tags, issued under said Act, although he hauls for compensation agricultural and horticultural products exclusively from the point of production, assembly or primary manufacture of such products to Jacksonville, a'point of trans-shipment of same by rail, or water, carriage, as he is permitted to do by the express provisions of Section 2 of Chapter 16085, Acts of 1933 (Section 1011 R. G. S., as amended).

On a return trip from Jacksonville, petitioner was arrested in Flagler County for being engaged in the transportation for compensation of a load of fertilizer directly from the Virginia-Cárolina Chemical Corporation, the manufacturer thereof, to a farmer consumer in Fort Pierce. The committing magistrate before whom he was hailed on a charge of operating his motor vehicle without a permit as required by Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, found as a fact that the hauling was on a return load made as a casual and irregular trip, and with no fixed termini or regular schedule, but remanded him for trial under Chapter 14764, supra, on the ground that fertilizer so hauled from manufacturer to consumer for compensation was not within any of the exceptions of Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, although it might be considered the haulage of an agricultural supply that would be within the exception of Section 2' of Chapter 16085, Acts 1933, in so far as “for hire” licensing of the vehicle is concerned.

Where a motor vehicle is being operated in hauling for compensation as defined by Chapter 14764, Acts of 1931, not devoted “exclusively” to an operation exempted by Section 30 of said Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, from the requirement of a certificate or permit from the Railroad Commission to conduct such business of haulage for compensation, it is subject to the requirements of said Act, and, absent a *545certificate or permit from the Railroad Commission, a prosecution will lie under said Act for carrying on any of the operations therein described for which a permit or certificate from the Railroad Commission is required.

Under Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, casual or irregular trips' by motor vehicle (even for compensation) where the vehicles involved are not engaged in the business of for hire carriage, and are permitted by law to operate under a private license (although compensation is received) in so far as the motor vehicle license law is concerned, do not subject the owner or operator of such vehicles to the requirement 'of permits or certificates as imposed by Chapter 14764, supra, for ordinary contract carriers. But said Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, does not excuse violations of the terms of said Chapter 14764, supra, merely because the violations are casual and irregular in their occurrence.

The committing magistrate’s recital of his findings of fact upon which the petitioner was committed for trial for a violation of Chapter 14764, supra, show that while petitioner’s movement and haulage of agricultural products is from the point of production of such agricultural and horticultural products to Jacksonville as a. point of trans-shipment and is to that extent an exempt operation within the purview of Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts 1931, that nevertheless petitioner’s return haulage for compensation of fertilizer from Jacksonville to consumer consignees thereof is not within the description of any of the particularly exempt operations defined by Section 30 of Chapter 14764, Acts 1931. Therefore, petitioner is prima facie shown to have been violating said Chapter 14764, supra, in the particulars charged in his commitment, and should accordingly be remanded to custody to be dealt with according to law.

*546Prisoner remanded.

Whitfield, C. J., and Ellis, Buford and Davis, J. J., concur.

Brown, J., dissents.

Brown, J.

(dissenting). — The petitioner was engaged in transporting for compensation fertilizer, an' agricultural supply, direct to the grower, under his private license, on casual or irregular trips. Section 30 of Chapter 14764 exempts such operation from that Act “so long as such motor vehicles may not lawfully be required to operate under for hire license tags.” This, of course refers one to the Motor Vehicle License Act, Chapter 16085, to see whether this petitioner could lawfully be required to operate under a “for hire” license tag. The proviso in Section 3 of that Act, Chapter 16085, expressly provides that vehicles used in the transporation of “agricultural supplies direct to the growers or consumers of said supplies” shall not be deemed “for hire” vehicles within the terms of this Act.” So, the petitioner should be discharged.

Dissent
Brown, J.

Brown, J.

(dissenting). — The petitioner was engaged in transporting for compensation fertilizer, an' agricultural supply, direct to the grower, under his private license, on casual or irregular trips.

Section 30 of Chapter 14764 exempts such operation from that Act “so long as such motor vehicles may not lawfully be required to operate under for hire license tags.” This, of course refers one to the Motor Vehicle License Act, Chapter 16085, to see whether this petitioner could lawfully be required to operate under a “for hire” license tag. The proviso in Section 3 of that Act, Chapter 16085, expressly provides that vehicles used in the transporation of “agricultural supplies direct to the growers or consumers of said supplies” shall not be deemed “for hire” vehicles within the terms of this Act.” So, the petitioner should be discharged.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Ramsey, 132 Fla. 647 (Fla. 1938)
    …emselves, and for the conservation of the public highways. We are further agreed that the last class of regulation arises independently of the nature of the business done by the vehicles regulated.” In the case of State, ex rel. Coats, v. Whitaker, 126 Fla. 543, 171 So. 521, the petitioner was the owner of a truck and trailer and had a license under Chapter 16085, Acts of 1933, to use the same on the highways for “private use” and the vehicle was not equipped with “for hire” license tag. The truck was used…
  • …y. But the statute is not clear as to whether private passenger automobiles making trips as an incident of the-insured’s funeral business must meet the requirements of “for hire” vehicles. The insurer relies on State ex rel. Coats v. Whitaker, 1936, 126 Fla. 543, 171 So. 521; State ex rel. Kelley v. Ramsey, 1936, 132 Fla. 647, 181 So. 885; Coleman v. Achim, 1934, 114 Fla. 89, 153 So. 96. Coats v. Whitaker involved a truck owner charged with violation of the Florida licensing and permit requirements. The Sup…

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