The purpose of this Act is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of
this state through the registration of transportation service providers and freight
forwarders that operate in this state. This Act is not intended to regulate the rates,
routes, or services provided by transportation service providers or freight forwarders.
(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of licensing and regulation.
(2) "Department" means the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation.
(3) "Motor carrier" has the meaning assigned by 99 U.S.C. Section
13102.
(4) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, or
association.
(5) "Transportation service provider" or "freight forwarder"
means a person, other than a motor carrier, that holds itself out to the general public to
provide transportation in this state only of property for compensation and in the ordinary
course of its business:
(A) assembles and consolidates, or provides for assembling and consolidating, a
shipment;
(B) performs or provides for break-bulk and distribution operations of a shipment;
(C) assumes responsibility for the land transportation of property at any point from
origin to destination; and
(D) uses a motor or rail carrier for any part of the transportation.
SECTION 3. Registration Required; Exceptions.
(a) A person may not operate as a transportation service provider or freight forwarder
in this state without a certificate of registration issued under this Act.
(b) This Act does not apply to a person that acts as a licensed customs broker as
defined by 19 U.S.C. Section 1641.
(c) This Act does not apply to a person that is engaged in the wholesale distribution
of alcoholic beverages and that operates trucks and delivery vehicles under Chapter 19,
20, 21, 64, or 65, Alcoholic Beverage Code.
(d) This Act does not apply to an ocean freight forwarder as defined by 46 U.S.C.
Section 1702.
SECTION 4. Registration Procedure.
(a) A person seeking to register under this Act as a transportation service provider
must submit to the department:
(1) an application on a form prescribed by the commissioner; and
(2) a nonrefundable registration fee.
(b) The application form prescribed under this section must require that an applicant
include:
(1) the current and each previous business name of the applicant, if the applicant is
not an individual;
(2) the physical business address of the applicant;
(3) the type of business organization of the applicant and the date the business was
started or incorporated, if applicable;
(4) the applicant's federal employer identification number or social security number,
as applicable; and
(5) if the applicant is a corporation, a list of related domestic or foreign entities
and the names and social security numbers of the corporation's officers and shareholders.
(c) A certificate of registration is valid for two years after the date the certificate
is issued.
(d) To renew a certificate of registration, the registration holder must submit to the
department:
(1) an application for renewal on a form prescribed by the commissioner; and
(2) a registration renewal fee.
(e) A registration holder may not transfer or assign a certificate of registration
issued under this Act.
Section 5. Fees.
The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall set the registration and renewal
fees in amounts reasonable and necessary to cover the cost of administering this Act.
Section 6. Transportation Service Provider Fund.
The department shall deposit fees collected under this Act to credit of the
transportation service provider fund. Money in that fund may be appropriated only to the
department and only to administer and enforce this Act.
Section 7. Denial, Suspension, or Revocation of Certificate of
Registration.
(a) The commissioner may deny, suspend, or revoke a certificate of registration for a
violation of this Act or a rule adopted under this Act.
(b) The denial, suspension, or revocation of a certificate of registration by the
commissioner and the appeal from that action are governed by 'he procedures for a
contested case hearing under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
Section 8. Adoption of Rules.
The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to implement this Act, including
requirements for the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of a
certificate of registration.
Section 9. Qualifications.
(a) An individual is not eligible for a certificate of registration or must surrender
an existing certificate if:
(1) during the period the individual holds the certificate of registration or during
the 10-year period preceding the date the certificate is issued, the individual has been
convicted of a crime under Chapter 481 or 483, Health and Safety Code, or laws containing
substantially the same elements under the laws of any other state, the United States, or
another country; or
(2) the individual owes delinquent taxes to any local, state, or federal taxing entity.
(b) The department may refuse to grant a certificate of registration to a person, other
than an individual, or may suspend or revoke the person's certificate if:
(1) the department determines that, during the period the person holds the certificate
or during the 10-year period preceding the date the certificate is issued, an officer,
director, member, or shareholder of the person or of a person that owns shares in the
person has been convicted of a crime under Chapter 481 or 483, Health and Safety Code, or
laws containing substantially the same elements under the laws of any other state, the
United States, or another country; or
(2) the person owes delinquent taxes to any local, state, or federal taxing entity.
Section 10. Records.
(a) A transportation service provider shall maintain a record that contains for each
shipment of property the transportation service provider assumes responsibility for
transporting:
(1) the name of the shipper of the property;
(2) the type of property that is being transported;
(3) the destination point of the property that is being transported;
(4) the name of the person receiving the property; and
(5) the name of the person transporting the property.
(b) The transportation service provider shall keep a copy of a record required under
this section until the fourth anniversary of the date the property is transported.
Section 11. Audit.
(a) The department may periodically audit the business records of a transportation
service provider registered under this Act.
(b) For the purpose of carrying out this Act, the department may:
(1) examine a record required to be maintained under Section 10 of this Act or another
book, record, paper, or object that the department determines is necessary for conducting
a complete examination; or
(2) question, under oath, any person associated with the business, including an
officer, director, or employee of the transportation service provider, or any person
claiming the person was negatively affected by an alleged violation of this Act by the
transportation service provider.
(c) If a person required by the department to submit to an examination under this
section refuses to permit the examination or to answer any question authorized by this
Act, the commissioner may suspend the transportation service provider's certificate of
registration until the examination is completed.
Section 12. Enforcement.
The commissioner, with the assistance of the Department of Public Safety, may
investigate a violation of this Act or a rule adopted under this Act. The commissioner or
any law enforcement agency may file a complaint with the district attorney of Travis
County or with the prosecuting attorney of the county in which a violation is alleged to
have occurred.
Section 13. Cooperative Agreements.
The department shall cooperate with federal or state agencies in carrying out this Act.
Section 14. Criminal Penalty.
(a) A transportation service provider commits an offense if the person knowingly
violates this Act.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
Section 15. Civil Penalty.
A transportation service provider that knowingly violates this Act or knowingly fails
to comply with a rule adopted under this Act is liable for a civil penalty of not less
than $100 or more than $500 for each violation.
Section 16. Posting of Certificate Required.
A registration holder shall post the certificate of registration issued under this Act
in the person's place of business in a location visible to the public.
Section 17. Effective Date.
This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, except that Section 3 of this Act, which
prohibits a transportation service provider from operating in this state without a
certificate of registration, and Section 14 of this Act take effect January 1, 1998.
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