390.020. Definitions.

Definitions.

390.020. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requiresotherwise, the words and terms mean:

(1) "Agricultural commodities in bulk", commodities conforming to themeaning of "commodities in bulk" as defined in this section, which areagricultural, horticultural, viticultural or forest products or any otherproducts which are grown or produced on a farm or in a forest, and whichhave not undergone processing at any time since movement from the farm orforest, or processed or unprocessed grain, feed, feed ingredients, orforest products;

(2) "Certificate", a written document authorizing a common carrier toengage in intrastate commerce and issued under the provisions of thischapter;

(3) "Charter service", the transportation of a group of persons who,pursuant to a common purpose and at a fixed charge for the vehicle, haveacquired the exclusive use of a passenger-carrying motor vehicle to traveltogether as a group from a point of origin to a specified destination orfor a particular itinerary, either agreed upon in advance or modified bythe chartering group after having left the place of origin;

(4) "Commercial zone", unless otherwise increased pursuant to theprovisions of subdivision (4) of section 390.041, any municipality withinthis state together with that territory either within or without the stateof Missouri, extending one mile beyond the corporate limits of suchmunicipality and one additional mile for each fifty thousand inhabitants orportion thereof; however, any commercial zone of a city not within a countyshall extend eighteen miles beyond that city's corporate limits and shallalso extend throughout any first class charter county which adjoins thatzone;

(5) "Commodities in bulk", commodities, which are fungible, flowable,capable of being poured or dumped, tendered for transportation unpackaged,incapable of being counted, but are weighed or measured by volume and whichconform to the shape of the vehicle transporting them;

(6) "Common carrier", any person which holds itself out to thegeneral public to engage in the transportation by motor vehicle ofpassengers or property for hire or compensation upon the public highwaysand airlines engaged in intrastate commerce;

(7) "Contract carrier", any person under individual contracts oragreements which engage in transportation by motor vehicles of passenger orproperty for hire or compensation upon the public highways;

(8) "Corporate family", a group of corporations consisting of aparent corporation and all subsidiaries in which the parent corporationowns directly or indirectly a one hundred percent interest;

(9) "Division", the division of motor carrier and railroad safety ofthe department of transportation;

(10) "Driveaway operator":

(a) Any motor carrier who moves any commercial motor vehicle orassembled automobile singly under its own power or in any other combinationof two or more vehicles under the power of one of said vehicles upon anypublic highway for the purpose of delivery for sale or for delivery eitherbefore or after sale;

(b) A person engaged in the business of furnishing drivers andoperators for the purpose of transporting vehicles in transit from oneplace to another by the driveaway or towaway methods; or

(c) A person who is lawfully engaged in the business of transportingor delivering vehicles that are not the person's own and vehicles of a typeotherwise required to be registered, by the driveaway or towaway methods,from a point of manufacture, assembly or distribution or from the owner ofthe vehicles to a dealer or sales agent of a manufacturer or to anyconsignee designated by the shipper or consignor;

(11) "Dump truck", any open-top vehicle, including dump trailers, andthose trailers commonly referred to as hopper trailers and/or belly dumptrailers, that discharges its load by tipping or opening the body in such amanner that the load is ejected or dumped by gravity but does not includetank or other closed-top vehicles, or vehicles that discharge cargo bymeans of an auger, conveyor belt, air pressure, pump or other mechanicalmeans;

(12) "Household goods", personal effects and property used or to beused in a dwelling when a part of the equipment or supply of such dwelling;new or used furniture; store or office furniture or fixtures; equipment ofmuseums, institutions, hospitals and other establishments; and articles,which because of their unusual nature or value require specialized handlingand equipment usually employed in moving household goods;

(13) "Interstate commerce", commerce between a point in this stateand a point outside this state, or between points outside this state whensuch commerce moves through this state whether such commerce moves whollyby motor vehicle or partly by motor vehicle and partly by any otherregulated means of transportation where the commodity does not come to restor change its identity during the movement;

(14) "Intrastate commerce", commerce moving wholly between pointswithin this state, whether such commerce moves wholly by motor vehicle orpartly by motor vehicle and partly by any other means of transportation;

(15) "Irregular route", the course or line of travel to be used by amotor carrier's vehicle when not restricted to any specific route or routeswithin the area the motor carrier is authorized to serve;

(16) "Less-than-truckload lots", lots of freight, other than atruckload lot, being transported on the motor vehicle at one time;

(17) "Mobile home", house trailers, cabin trailers, bungalowtrailers, mobile homes and any other transportable building unit designedto be used for residential, commercial, industrial or recreationalpurposes, including special equipment, wheels, tires, axles, springs,racks, undercarriages and undersupports used or useful in connection withthe transportation of mobile homes when transported as part of thetransportation of mobile homes;

(18) "Motor carrier", any person engaged in the transportation ofproperty or passengers, or both, for compensation or hire, over the publicroads of this state by motor vehicle. The term includes both common andcontract carriers;

(19) "Motor vehicle", any vehicle, truck, truck-tractor, trailer, orsemitrailer, motor bus or any self-propelled vehicle used upon the highwaysof the state in the transportation of property or passengers;

(20) "Party", any person admitted as a party to a division proceedingor seeking and entitled as a matter of right to admission to a divisionproceeding;

(21) "Permit", a permit issued under the provisions of this chapterto a contract carrier to engage in intrastate or interstate commerce or toa common carrier to engage in interstate commerce;

(22) "Person", any individual or other legal entity, whether suchentity is a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, company, associationor joint-stock association, including the partners, officers, employees,and agents of the person, as well as any trustees, assignees, receivers, orpersonal representatives of the person;

(23) "Private carrier", any person engaged in the transportation ofproperty or passengers by motor vehicle upon public highways, but not as acommon or contract carrier by motor vehicle; and includes any person whotransports property by motor vehicle where such transportation isincidental to or in furtherance of his commercial enterprises;

(24) "Public highway", every public street, road, highway orthoroughfare of any kind used by the public, whether actually dedicated tothe public;

(25) "Regular route", a specific and determined course to be traveledby a motor carrier's vehicle rendering service to, from or between variouspoints or localities in this state;

(26) "School bus", any motor vehicle while being used solely totransport students to or from school or to transport students to or fromany place for educational purposes or school purposes;

(27) "Taxicab", any motor vehicle performing a bona fide for-hiretaxicab service having a capacity of not more than five passengers,exclusive of the driver, and not operated on a regular route or betweenfixed termini;

(28) "Truckload lot", a lot or lots of freight tendered to a carrierby one consignor or one consignee for delivery at the direction of theconsignor or consignee with the lot or lots being the only lot or lotstransported on the motor vehicle at any one time.

(RSMo 1939 § 5720, A.L. 1941 p. 522, A.L. 1951 p. 547, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1428, A.L. 1988 S.B. 423 merged with S.B. 663, A.L. 1991 H.B. 262, A.L. 2004 S.B. 757 merged with S.B. 1233, et al.)

Prior revision: 1929 § 5264

CROSS REFERENCE:

Division of motor carrier and railroad safety abolished, duties and functions transferred to highways and transportation commission and department of transportation, RSMo 226.008

(1964) Missouri law does not require that service in terminal collection and distribution traffic be performed over designated and specific courses or lines of travel when within a municipality or suburban territory thereof. A fixed, specific and determined course and regular route service refers to a course to, from or between various points, localities or municipalities and a municipality, together with territory extending one mile beyond corporate limits and one mile additional for each 50,000 population thereof is a regular route point. State ex rel. Sandhaus v. Missouri Public Service Commission (A.), 383 S.W.2d 165.

(1964) A partnership composed of individual truck owners bought stone from a quarry and stone was hauled to buyer on trucks owned individually by the various partners at less than Public Service Commission rates. The individual partners were paid on the basis of loads hauled after partnership collected from the buyer; held that there was no service performed by the partnership or the individual members other than a transportation service and that the partnership could not qualify as a private carrier under section 390.020(7). Maag v. Public Service Commission (A.), 384 S.W.2d 801.

(1977) Held, that people transported must be formally enrolled and the movement must be expressly approved by the school board or other governing body of the school authorizing the movement. State ex rel. Hering v. State Public Service Commission (A.), 549 S.W.2d 658.

(1986) A motor carrier licensed by the Public Service Commission pursuant to section 390.020, RSMo, is under the Commission's exclusive authority, and, not withstanding section 94.270, RSMo, no municipality may regulate such carrier. Wilson v. City of St. Robert, 714 S.W.2d 738 (Mo.App.).