Chap. 377.—An ACT to revise and clarify certain provisions of law relating to the
registration, taxing and licensing of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers,
and to arrange such provisions in orderly sequence; to provide a system of
registering, taxing and licensing motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers not
designed and used for the transportation of passengers, based on the gross
weight of such vehicles when loaded; to impose a road tax on the gross receipts
of persons operating certain motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers for
compensation, under certain conditions and with certain exemptions; to provide
a system for the registration of certain motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
not otherwise required by law to be registered in Viroinia+s tn petahlieh ane
982 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY _ [va., 1942

ex-officio reciprocity board and to prescribe for it certain powers and duties with
respect to reciprocal agreements relating to motor vehicles; to authorize the
State Highway Commission, under certain conditions and within certain limits,
to increase certain maximum weights permitted on certain highways; to provide
for the administration and enforcement of certain provisions of this act; to
prescribe certain penalties and remedies; for the purposes aforesaid, to amend
and re-enact Section 35, as amended, and Sections 35-a, 35-c, 35-e and 36 of
the Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia, and to further amend said Code by adding
thereto six new sections, designated Sections 35-b, 35-d, 36-a, 36-b, 36-c and
113-a, said new sections embracing certain provisions of existing law with
amendments; and to repeal, under certain conditions, Section 6 of Chapter 360,
Acts 1932, relating to certain taxes on common carriers by motor ae

H B 198]
Approved April 2, 1942

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
thirty-five, as amended, and sections thirty-five-a, thirty-five-c, thirty-
five-e, and thirty-six of the Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia be amended
and re-enacted, and that the said Code be further amended by adding
thereto six new sections, designated sections thirty-five-b, thirty-five-d,
thirty-six-a, thirty-six-b, thirty-six-c and one hundred and thirteen-a, as
follows:

Section 35. Registration of passenger carrying vehicles; fees
therefor—(a) All motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers designed
and used for the transportation of passengers shall be licensed according
to weight, and the manufacturer’s shipping weight shall be used in de-
termining the license fees herein prescribed. Except as hereinafter pro-
vided, the fee for the certificate of registration and license plates, to be
paid to the director by the owner of the motor vehicle, shall be seventy
cents per hundred pounds of weight or major fraction thereof ; provided
that no fee for an automobile shall be less than eight ($8.00) dollars per
year, and no fee for a motorcycle shall be less than three ($3.00) dollars
per year and two ($2.00) dollars additional for each side car; provided
further, that the fee for the certificate of registration and license plates
to be paid by the owner of any private motor vehicle, other than a motor-
cycle, designed and used for the transportation of passengers not for
compensation shall be forty cents per hundred pounds of weight, or
major fraction thereof.

(b) For the operation of each motor vehicle, trailer or semi-
trailer kept or used for rent or hire for the transportation of passengers,
or operated by a contract carrier by motor vehicle of passengers oper-
ating, or which should operate, under a permit issued by the State Cor-
poration Commission as provided by law, or operated by a contract carrier
by motor vehicle of passengers operating, or which should operate, under
a permit issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission as provided by
law, there shall be paid to the director in addition to the fees provided
in subsection (a) of this section, the sum of five ($5.00) dollars for
each revenue producing seat.

(c) Persons who operate as common carriers or restricted common
carriers by motor vehicle of passengers under certificates issued by the
State Corporation Commission or by the Interstate Comnterce Commis-
sion, may use any of their regularly licensed vehicles, of a seating capacity
of more than twelve, for infrequent trips, for the transportation of special
parties, either on or off their regular routes, upon the written permission
of the director, and upon payment to the director of a fee of five ($5.00)
dollars for each such trip, for each vehicle so employed. Every such trip
shall be made in accordance with such reasonable rules and regulations
prescribed by the State Corporation Commission as may elsewhere be
provided for by law.

(d) Every person engaged in hiring or renting motor vehicles for
the transportation of passengers, and every contract carrier by motor
vehicle of passengers who operates, or who should operate, under a
permit issued by the State Corporation Commission or by the Interstate
Commerce Commission, as provided by law, shall furnish to the director,
whenever required so to do, a list of motor vehicles used or employed in
such business, with a description thereof, when and as may be required
by the director. , ,

(e) The fees required by subsection (b) of this section to be paid
for certificates of registration and license plates for the operation of
motor vehicles used for rent or hire shall not be required for the opera-
tion of any motor vehicle with a normal seating capacity of not more
than six adult persons while used not for profit in transporting persons
who, as a common undertaking, bear or agree to bear all or a part of the
actual costs of such operation; and for the purpose of subsection (a) of
this section every such motor vehicle shall be treated as a private motor
vehicle for which the fee for the annual certificate. of registration and
license plates shall be forty cents per hundred. pounds of weight, or
major fraction thereof. Provided that the fee for the annual certificate
of registration and license plates on each contract school bus shall be
thirty-five cents per hundred pounds of weight, or major fraction thereof.

(1) The director may issue appropriately designated tags for
passenger carrying vehicles to applicants who keep or use such vehicles
for rent or hire for the transportation of passengers for private trips.
The director shall issue appropriately designated tags to applicants who
operate as contract carriers or common carriers or restricted common
carriers by motor vehicle of passengers under permits or certificates
issued by the State Corporation Commission or by the Interstate Com-
merce Commission, as provided by law. |

(g) Any person who operates, or who permits the operation of,
any motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer over any highway of this State
for the transportation of passengers for rent or for hire, or as a contract
carrier or common carrier or restricted common carrier by motor vehicle
of passengers operating, or which should operate, under a permit or
certificate issued by the State Corporation Commission or by the Inter-
state Commerce Commission as provided by law, without first having
paid to the director the fee prescribed by this section, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine
of not less than fifty ($50.00) dollars nor more than five hundred
($500.00) dollars, or by imprisonment in jail for a period not to exceed
six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
tion 35-a. Registration of other vehicles; fees therefor—<(
as hereinafter otherwise provided, the fees for certificates

‘ion'and license plates, to be paid by owners of all motor vehicl
and semi-trailers not designed and used for the transportati
ngers, shall be. determined by the gross weight of the vehicle,

tion of vehicles of which it is a part, when loaded to the maximu
for which it is registered and licensed, according to the schedt
herein set forth. For each hundred pounds of gross weight,

raction thereof, for which any such vehicle is registered a:
, there shall be paid to the director-the fee indicated in the fe
schedule immediately opposite the weight group into which su
or any combination of vehicles of which it is a part, falls wh
o the maximum capacity for which it is registered and license
d, that in no case shall the fee be less than twelve dollars ($12.00

Gross Weight Groups Fee Per Hundred Pounds
(Pounds) of Gross Weight
10,000 and less..0.. eee eee e cee eee eeee eee 12 cents
10,001-11,000....w eee eee eee 13 cents
11,001-12,000. 2. cece ee 14 cents
12,001-13,000..00 eee eee eeeeeeeeeeeee eee 15 cents
13,001-14,000...0 o.oo eee 16 cents
14,001-15 000... 17 cents
15,001-16,000....0. 00 e eee 18 cents
16,001-17,000...0. eee cence 20 cents
17,001-18, 000... eee ec eeeeeeeeeeeeee eee 22 cents
18,001-19,000... eee cence 24 cents
19,001-20,000....... ooo eee eee eee ee 26 cents
20,001-21 OOO... eee cee eeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeees 28 cents
21,001-22 OOO... eee eeeeceeeeeeeceeeeeeeesneceseees 30 cents
22,001-23 OOO... eeeee ee eneeeeeeeceeeeeeececeeeees 32 cents
23,001-24 O00... eee eeeeeeeeeeeneeeeneeeceesececeees 34 cents
24,001-25 O00... eee ence eeeeeeeeee eee 36 cents
25,001-26,000. 0.002. eee cee eee 38 cents
26,001-27 OOO... 2... --eeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 40 cents
27 001-28 OOO... eee ee eeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeees 42 cents
28,001-29, 000.2... eee ee ceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 44 cents
29,001 and OVED............::::ec--eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 45 cents

) In the case of a combination of a tractor-truck and a trailer
uiler, each vehicle constituting a part of such combination shall
ed as a separate vehicle, and separate license plates shall be isst
r, but, for the purpose of determining the gross weight group 11
any such vehicle falls pursuant to the foregoing subsection, —
ation of vehicles of which such vehicle constitutes a part shall
red a unit and the aggregate gross weight of the entire combi
all determine such gross weight group. For the purpose of |
ng the fee for the registration certificate and license plates to
1 account of any tractor-truck which constitutes a part of <
such combination of vehicles, however, the empty weight of the tractor-
truck shall be multiplied by the rate prescribed in the foregoing schedule
for the gross weight group into which such tractor-truck falls, as pro-
vided in the preceding sentence. For the purpose of determining the fee
for the registration certificate and license plates to be paid on account of
any trailer or semi-trailer which constitutes a part of any such combina-
tion of vehicles, the empty weight of such trailer or semi-trailer, plus the
difference between the empty weight of the entire combination and the
gross weight on the basis of which it is registered and licensed, shall be
multiplied by the rate prescribed in the foregoing schedule for the gTOss
weight group into which such trailer or semi-trailer falls, as hereinabove
provided. | :

(c) The owner of every vehicle registered pursuant to this section
shall cause to be painted on each side of such vehicle, in letters and figures
of such color and in such position as shall be prescribed by the director,
not less than three inches in height, the empty weight of the vehicle and
the gross weight on the basis of which it is registered and licensed.

(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate, or to permit
the operation of, any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer for which the
fee for registration and license plates is prescribed by subsection (a) of
this section, on any highway of this State, under any of the following
circumstances : |

(1) Without first having paid the registration and license plate
fee hereinabove prescribed, or

(2) Without having painted on each side thereof the empty
weight of such vehicle and the gross weight on the basis of which it js
registered and licensed, or

(3) If, at the time of any such operation, the gross weight of the
vehicle, or of the combination of vehicles of which it is a part, is in
excess of the gross weight on the basis of which it is registered and
licensed. :

Any officer authorized to enforce the motor vehicle laws, having
reason to believe that the gross weight of any motor vehicle, trailer, or
semi-trailer being operated on any highway of this State exceeds that.on
the basis of which such vehicle is registered and licensed, is authorized
to weigh the same by such means as the director may prescribe, and the
operator, or other person in possession of such vehicle, shall permit such
weighing whenever requested by such officer. ,

Any person who violates any provision of this subsection is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than five hundred
dollars ($500.00), or by confinement in jail for not more than six
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. |

(e) The fee for the certificate of registration and. license plates to
be paid to the director by the owner of a one or two wheel trailer with a
body length of not more than six feet and a width not greater than the
width of the motor vehicle to which it is attached at any time of opera-
tion, to be attached to the owner’s own motor vehicle and used only for
carrying property belonging to the owner of such. trailer, not to exceed
one thousand pounds at any one time, shall be three dollars and fifty
cents ($3.50). It shall be unlawful to operate any trailer so registered and
licensed, however, contrary to any restriction prescribed in the preceding
sentence.

(f) The fee for the certificate of registration and license plates to
be paid by the owner of any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer, upon
which well-drilling machinery is attached and which is permanently
used solely for transporting such machinery shall be ten dollars.

(g) The director shall issue appropriately designated tags for
property carrying vehicles to applicants holding themselves out for
private employment as property carriers for rent or for hire, and to
applicants who operate as contract-carriers or common carfiers or re-
stricted common carriers by motor vehicle of property under certificates
or permits issued by the State Corporation Commission or by the Inter-
state Commerce Commission.

(h) As used in this section the term “gross weight” means the
aggregate weight of a vehicle, or combination of vehicles, and its load.

Section 35-b. Fees reduced after certain periods—One-half of
the annual fees prescribed by sections thirty-five and thirty-five-a shall
be collected whenever any registration certificate and license plates are
issued during the period beginning on the first day of October in any
year, and ending on the fifteenth day of January in the same license year,
and one-third of such fees shall be collected whenever any registration
certificate and license plates are issued after the fifteenth day of January
in any license year.

Section 35-c. Certain other provisions of law to be complied with.—
In addition to their compliance with the requirements of sections thirty-
five and thirty-five-a of this act, persons who operate as contract carriers
or common carriers or restricted common carriers by motor vehicle of
passengers or property over the highways of this State shall comply with
all of the applicable provisions of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine
of the Acts of the General Assembly of nineteen hundred and thirty-six,
as amended, and of chapter three hundred and sixty of the Acts of the
General Assembly of nineteen hundred and thirty-two, as amended,
except insofar as the latter is expressly repealed, and every provision of
either of the said acts which relates or refers to fees (exclusive of filing
fees), charges or taxes, or to the registration of motor vehicles, trailers
or semi-trailers, or to registration certificates or license plates, shall be
interpreted to relate or refer to the applicable provisions of sections
thirty-five, thirty-five-a and thirty-five-b of this act.

Section 35-d. Registration of dealers, et cetera; fees theretor.—
Every manufacturer, agent or dealer in motor vehicles, trailers or semi-
trailers, on or before the first day of April in each year, or before he
commences to operate vehicles to be sold by him, shall make application
to the director for a dealer’s certificate of registration and license. The
application shall state the make of the machines handled by the manufac-
turer, agent or dealer. On the payment of the fee of thirty-five dollars a
certificate of registration and license shall be issued to the dealer in suck
form as may be prescribed by the director. For such fee the director shal!
issue to such dealer two (2) sets of license plates, and for each additiona
set in excess of two (2) a fee of seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50)
per set shall be paid provided that the fee for a motorcycle dealer shall be
fifteen ($15.00) dollars for the first three (3) sets of plates and four
($4.00) dollars for each additional set of plates. If the application of
such manufacturer, agent, or dealer in motor vehicles, as herein provided,
be made after the first day of December of any year, then the amount
or amounts he shall be required to pay for the certificate of registration
and license, provided for hereunder, shall be half, only, of the fee herein
prescribed.

It shall be unlawful for any such manufacturer, dealer, agent, or any
other person to use such license plates otherwise than on motor vehicles,
trailers and semi-trailers used in connection with their business ; provided
that dealer’s tags shall not be used on motor vehicles for the use or opera-
tion of which dealers charge or receive compensation, such as wrecking
cranes or other service motor vehicles. Any person who violates any
provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five ($25.00)
dollars, and not more than one hundred ($100.00) dollars.

Section 35-e. Taxes and license fees imposed by cities and towns.—
Except as hereinafter otherwise provided, incorporated towns and cities
may levy and assess taxes and charge license fees and taxes upon vehicles,
except license fees and taxes upon vehicles used by a dealer or manufac-
turer for sales purposes, and except vehicles used by common carriers of
persons or property operating between cities and towns and not in intra-
city transportation. Such license fees and taxes shall be charged, imposed
and assessed in such manner, on such basis, and for such periods, as the
proper authorities of such incorporated towns and cities may determine,
and subject to proration for fractional periods of years in the same man-
ner as prescribed in section thirty-five-b, but the amount of the license
fees and taxes imposed by any city or town on any class of vehicles shall
not be greater than the amount of license tax imposed by the State on
vehicles of like class. , '

No city or town shall impose any taxes or license fees upon any
vehicle on which similar taxes or fees are imposed by the city or town
of which the owner of such vehicle is a resident ; nor shall more than one
city or town impose any such license fee or tax on the same vehicle. Nor
shall any city or town impose taxes or license fees upon any vehicle
belonging to any person who is not a resident of such city or town, when
used exclusively for pleasure or personal transportation and not for hire,
or for transporting into and within such city or town, for sale in person
or by his employees of wood, meats, poultry, fruits, flowers, vegetables,
milk, butter, cream or eggs produced or grown by him, and not purchased.
by him for sale, or for both such purposes, provided, that such vehicle is
not used in said city or town in the conduct of any business or occupation:
other than those herein set out. .

Section 36. Gross receipts tax.—(a) Except as hereinafter other-
wise provided, every person who operates, or causes to be operated, on
any highway in Virginia, any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer for the.
transportation of property for compensation, whether for rent, or for
hire, or as a contract carrier, or as a common carrier, and every common
carrier by motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer of passengers, shall pay
quarterly to the State Treasurer, on or before the fifteenth day of April,
July, October and January of each year, in addition to any other fees
and taxes imposed by law upon motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers,
and upon the operation thereof, and in addition to any motor fuel tax
paid or payable by such person, a road tax calculated on the gross receipts
derived from such operations during the quarter year ending with the
preceding month, according to the following schedule:

(1) Two per centum (2%) of the gross receipts derived by such
person from all intrastate operations ; and

(2) Two per centum (2%) of such proportion of the gross re-
ceipts derived by such person from all interstate operations as the total
number of miles traveled in interstate operations by the vehicle of such
person on the public highways of Virginia bears to the total number ot
miles traveled in interstate operations by the vehicles of such person both
within and without Virginia, exclusive in each case of the miles traveled
in Virginia on any street maintained exclusively by any city or town.
All taxes so collected shall be credited to the highway maintenance and
construction fund.

(b) Each person subject to the tax imposed by subsection (a) of
this section shall be entitled to-an exemption from the payment of such
tax on three thousand five hundred ($3,500.00) dollars of his gross
receipts in each calendar year; provided that any such person operating
exclusively as a common carrier shall be entitled to an annual exemption
of only one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars.

(c) Every person subject to the tax imposed by subsection (a) of
this section shall make to the State Corporation Commission, hereinafter
called the. Commission, such reports, with respect to the operations ot
motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers operated or caused to be oper-
ated by him, as the Commission may require, from time to time ; provided,
that no person shall be required to make any such report unless and until
his gross receipts for the calendar year have exceeded the amount upon
which he is exempted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(d) The Commission, and its authorized agents and representa-
tives, shall have the right, at any reasonable time, to inspect the books
and records of any person engaged in any of the operations described in
subsection (a) of this section.

(e) The Commission may, after a hearing had upon notice, duly
served not less than ten days prior to the date set for such hearing, impose
a penalty, not exceeding five hundred ($500.00) dollars, upon any person
who violates any provision of this section, or who fails to comply with
any regulation of the Commission promulgated pursuant to this section,
which penalty shall be collectible by the process of the Commission as
provided by law. In addition to imposing such penalty, or without impos-
ing any penalty, the Commission may suspend or revoke any certificate,
permit or other evidence of right issued by the Commission which the
person so found in default holds. Any person convicted under this sub-
section (e) shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals
as in other cases of appeals of right from the Commission.
cH. 377] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 589

(f) This section thirty-six shall not apply to motor vehicles en-
gaged exclusively in transporting persons or property solely within the
limits of any city or town in this State, nor to any person, firm or cor-
poration operating taxicabs or passenger motor vehicles equipped with
taximeters or to taxicabs or passenger motor vehicles without taximeters
operated at a flat rate whose business originates wholly within the cor-
porate limits of any city or town in this State, but who may occasionally
operate beyond said limits, nor to public passenger vehicles offered for
hire and not conforming to the definition of a taxicab, and/or property
carrying vehicles offered for hire whose business originates wholly within
the corporate limits of any city or town in this State and which are oc-
casionally operated beyond said limits.

Section 36-a. Certain vehicles required to be registered with the
State Corporation Commission.—(a) Every person who operates, or
causes to be operated, any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer, for the
transportation of persons or property for compensation, upon the high-
ways of Virginia shall, if such vehicle is not required to be registered or
licensed in Virginia pursuant to some other statute or by reason of some
reciprocal agreement existing between the Commonwealth and any other
government, register such motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer with the
State Corporation Commission, hereinafter called the Commission, on
forms prescribed and furnished by the Commission, and obtain therefor
from the Commission a registration card and an identification tag or
marker.

(b) Every such person shall furnish the Commission, upon the
registration of each such vehicle, such reasonable information as the
Commission may require with respect to (1) the description of the ve-
hicle, (2) its ownership, (3) its registration in some other jurisdiction, if
such is the case, and (4) the purposes for which it is to be operated on
the highways of Virginia.

(c) Before the Commission shall issue the registration card and
identification tag or marker, the person applying shall appoint an agent
in this State on whom process and orders may be served, or in the
absence of the appointment of such an agent, the applicant shall designate,
over his signature, the Secretary of the Commonwealth as his agent for
the service of any process or orders under this section.
| (d) For the resigtration of each such vehicle there shall be paid
to the Commission such fee as shall be prescribed by the Commission,
sufficient to defray the costs incident to such registration and to the
furnishing of the identification tag or marker but not more than one
dollar ($1.00) in any such case.

(e) The idenification tag or marker shall be displayed on every
vehicle so registered, attached in such position as the Commission pre-
scribes, and the registration card shall be carried in the vehicle or on the
person of the operator thereof, at all times at which it is being operated
on the highways of Virginia.
| ({) The Commission shall make provision for the registration of
the vehicles described in subsection (a) of this section, shall prepare and
furnish forms to be used in the making of such registrations as well as
appropriate registration cards and identification tags and markers, and
shall take such other action as may be necessary for the administration
of the provisions of this section.

(g) The Commission may permit, under such reasonable terms
and conditions as it may prescribe, the operation of any vehicle required
to be registered by this section, pending the registration, whenever extra-
ordinary inconvenience cannot otherwise be avoided. Such permission
shall be communicated to the applicant in writing or by telegraph. No
such permission shall be operative for any period of more than ten (10)
days.

(h) Any person who operates, or causes to be operated, on any
highway in Virginia, any vehicle required to be registered pursuant to
this section without having registered such vehicle, or without having
the identification tag or marker: displayed thereon in such manner as is
prescribed by the Commission, or without having in the possession of the
operator or carrier in the vehicle the registration card, unless a temporary
permit has been issued as provided in subsection (g) of this section, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be pun-
ished by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than one
hundred dollars ($100.00), and each day’s operation in violation of the
provisions of this section shall constitute a separate offense.

(i) The Commission may at any time, by its order duly entered,
after a hearing had upon notice to the holder of any identification tag or
marker, which notice shall be duly served not less than ten days prior to
the date set for such hearing, at which hearing it is proved that such
holder has made any misrepresentation of a material fact in obtaining
registration under this section, has made any improper use of any identi-
fication tag or marker, has violated any law of this State regulating the
operation of motor vehicles for compensation on the highways of this
State, has refused to make any report or reports required by the Com-
mission, the State Tax Commissioner, or the Division of Motor Vehicles,
has refused to pay any fee or taxes properly assessed against him, or has
failed to comply with any proper order, rule or regulation of the Com-
mission, impose a penalty, not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,-
000.00), which shall be collectible by the process of the Commission as
provided by law. In addition to imposing such penalty, or without im-
posing any penalty, the Commission may, in any such case, suspend or
revoke the use of any identification tag or marker issued under this
section. From any order of the Commission imposing a penalty or sus-
pending or revoking an identification tag or marker, the said holder shall
have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals as in other
cases of appeals of right from the Commission.

(j) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be paid forth-
with into the State treasury and therein credited to the highway main-
tenance and construction fund. ,

Section 36-b. Certain operations defined—(a) The presence on
a motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer of property as to which the owner
or operator of such motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer is unable to
show evidence of ownership or of having produced same, or that he has
cH. 377] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 591

sold the.same in the regular course of his usual business, shall be prima
facie evidence that he is transporting such property for compensation.

(b) Any person who purchases articles, merchandise, commodities
or things at one point or points and transports them in a motor vehicle,
trailer, or semi-trailer to another point or points for sale at the latter point
or points, in the sale price of which is reflected a charge for the transpor-
tation of such articles, merchandise, commodities or things, or who per-
mits any such vehicle to be so used by another, shall be deemed to be
operating stich vehicle for compensation, provided, that this provision
shall not apply to merchants maintaining a bona fide and regular place
of business and transporting to and delivering from such place of business
by motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer, articles, merchandise, commodi-
ties and things sold by them, nor to peddlers, commission merchants or
brokers, holding the proper authority and having paid the State license
tax required for the business in which they are engaged, nor to persons
acting as authorized commission agents in the distribution of goods,
wares or merchandise.

Section 36-c. Governor may make certain reciprocal agreements ;
Reciprocity Board created, its powers prescribed—(a) There is hereby
established a board, to be known as the Reciprocity Board, hereinafter
called the Board. The Board shall consist of three ex-officio members,
namely, the principal administrative officer of the agency whose duty
it is to administer the provisions of this act relating to the registration and
licensing of motor vehicles, the State Highway Commissioner, and one
of the members of the State Corporation Commission who shall be desig-
nated by the State Corporation Commission. A majority of the members
of the Board shall constitute a quorum, and the action of the majority of
the members in attendance at any meeting shall be the action of the Board.
Whenever a member of the Board is absent from a meeting of the Board,
he may designate one of his assistants or employees to attend on his
behalf. Any such assistant or employee shall be entitled to participate in
the discussions and proceedings of the Board, but he shall not be entitled
to vote.

(b) The Governor shall have the power, with the advice of the
Board, to enter into reciprocal agreements, on behalf of the Common-
wealth, with the appropriate authorities of any state in the United States,
or of the District of Columbia, with respect to all taxes imposed by this
State and by any such other state on motor vehicles, or on the operation
of motor vehicles, or upon any transaction incident to the operation of
motor vehicles.

(c) All authority heretofore vested in the Director of the Division
of Motor Vehicles with reference to the making of reciprocal agree-
ments, except with respect to chauffeurs’ and operators’ permits and
licenses, is hereby transferred to, and vested in the Governor, subject,
however, to the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) next above.

(d) All agreements entered into by the Governor with respect to
any subject of reciprocity as to which provision is expressly made by
statute shall conform to the provisions of such statute. As to any. other
subject of reciprocity appropriate to the powers vested in the Governor
by this section, the Governor shall have full authority, with the advice of
the Board, to agree to such terms and conditions as in his judgfnent are
best calculated to promote the interests of the Commonwealth.

Section 113-a. (a) The State Highway Commission may, by
general or special order, which may be amended or rescinded from time
to time, increase the maximum weight permitted on the road surface
through any one axle of any vehicle to not exceeding eighteen thousand
(18,000) pounds, and the maximum gross weight permitted for any six
wheel vehicle or combination of vehicles to not exceeding forty thousand
(40,000) pounds, on such highways, or parts thereof, as in the opinion
of the Commission are capable, from the standpoint of construction and
maintenance, of carrying such increased weights.

(b) The State Highway Commission shall cause every highway
or part thereof on which the maximum weight per axle and the maximum
gross weight have been increased as provided in sub-section (a) of this
section, to be marked with appropriate signs indicating the respective
weight limits permitted. On every highway or part thereof so marked
it shall be lawful to operate a six wheel vehicle, or a combination of ve-
hicles, in conformity with other applicable provisions of law and so
loaded as not to exceed the respective weight limits thus indicated not-
withstanding that the weight transmitted through any axle of such vehicle,
or combination, or the gross weight thereof, or both, exceed the weight
limits prescribed by section one hundred and thirteen; provided, how-
ever, that in the event a valid regulation of interstate commerce, recog-
nized by the Virginia State Highway Commission, permits the use in
interstate commerce over the highways in Virginia, or any of them, of a
greater size, weight or load limit than may be prescribed as hereinabove
provided, then the State Highway Commission may prescribe a similar
size, weight and load limit for vehicles operated in intrastate commerce
over the same highways.

2.. Be it further enacted, That section six, as amended, of chapter
three hundred and sixty of the Acts of the General Assembly of nineteen
hundred and thirty-two, approved March twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred
and thirty-two, is hereby repealed, provided, however, that if any pro-
vision of any section of the Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia amended or
added by this act, which provision relates to the same subject matter as
some provision or provisions of the section hereinabove repealed, is, or
should become, invalid or inoperative for any reason, the provisions of
the said section six of the said chapter three hundred and sixty relating
to the same subject matter shall not be construed as repealed.

3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall be in force on and
after January first, nineteen hundred and forty-three; except that the
provisions of sections thirty-six-c and one hundred and thirteen-a shall
become effective ninety days after the adjournment of the General As-
sembly of nineteen hundred and forty-two.

Provided that where the operator owns two trucks or less of the
one and one-half ton rating or less and the gross load on the road does
not exceed fifteen thousand pounds of each vehicle then the provisions
of this act with reference to the placing of such operator under the regu-
cHS. 377, 378] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 593

lation of the State Corporation Commission shall not apply; but in all
other respects the benefits and obligations of this act shall apply to such
operator.