May 30, 1975
Colonel Dennis Eisnach
Division of Highway Patrol
Public Safety Building
Pierre, South Dakota 57501
OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 75-97
Uniform vehicle registration and reciprocity agreement
Dear Colonel Eisnach:
You have requested my opinion based on the following factual situation:
The ABC Trucking Company of Post Hole, Montana, has several trucks which are base-licensed in Montana under the Uniform Vehicle Registration and Reciprocity Agreement, and also in South Dakota for 35.7% of their total fleet miles. The ABC Trucking Company also has a South Dakota Public Utilities Commission permit granting them authority to haul intrastate in South Dakota.
You have asked whether the ABC Trucking Company may make wholly intrastate hauls in South Dakota without paying additional license and compensation fees.
SDCL 32-10-7 provides that the reciprocity and pro-ration administrator may enter into compacts authorizing both interstate and intrastate operation without payment of further fees. Pursuant to this section, the administrator entered into the Uniform Vehicle Registration Pro-ration and Reciprocity Agreement. The South Dakota appendix to that agreement states that:
Pro-rate registration in South Dakota shall entitle a vehicle to engage in interstate operations or intrastate operations which are simultaneous with interstate movements only, unless such vehicle is licensed in South Dakota.
This provision would appear to be proper under SDCL 32-10-7 and would prohibit wholly intrastate movement by a proportionally licensed carrier. However, SDCL 32-10-20 provides:
Proportionally registered interstate fleet vehicles . . . shall be deemed to be fully licensed and registered in this state for any type of movement or operation, except that, in those instances in which a grant of authority is required for intrastate movement or operation, no such vehicle shall be operated in intrastate commerce in this state unless the owner or operator thereof has been granted intrastate authority or rights by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. . . . (Emphasis added.)
This section authorizes "any type of movement or operation," which includes interstate, combined interstate and intrastate, or wholly intrastate movements for proportionally registered carriers. The only qualification on intrastate operation is the requirement for Public Utilities Commission authority if necessary. ABC Trucking Company has the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission's permission to make intrastate hauls.
SDCL 32-10-20 is specific; 32-10-7 is general and permissive. Therefore, SDCL 32-10-20 controls. 82 C.J.S. Statutes § 332, pp. 657-658.
SDCL 2-14-13 requires uniform laws to be interpreted and construed so as to effectuate the general purpose of the law and to promote interstate uniformity. The Missouri Supreme Court has determined that the purpose of the Uniform Pro-ration Agreement can best be served by allowing vehicles in base-licensed fleets to make wholly intrastate hauls without paying the full registration fee. (Missouri, like South Dakota, has appended the Act to prohibit solely intrastate transportation of goods.) Ruan Transport Corp. v. Missouri Highway Reciprocity Comm., 369 S.W. 2d 220 (1963). The proportional allocation of license and compensation fees based on miles driven within the state ensures that each state will receive its fair share of license fees without imposing an undue burden upon the free flow of commerce.
The rules of statutory construction mandate adherence to the provisions of SDCL 32-10-20.
It is therefore my opinion that ABC Trucking Company may make wholly intrastate hauls based on their proportional registration without paying additional compensation or license fees.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM J. JANKLOW
ATTORNEY GENERAL
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