Chap. 532.—An ACT to define “Household Goods Carriers”; to provide for the
regulation, supervision and control of such carriers and their rates, charges
and services; and to prohibit unfair discriminations therein; to provide for the
issuance, suspension and revocation of certificates of convenience and
Necessity for such carriers by the State Corporation Commission; to provide
for the enforcement of this act and penalties for violation thereof; and to
make applicable to such carriers certain provisions of the Motor Vehicle
Carrier Laws of Virginia. {S 127]

Approved April 6, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia as follows:

1. Section 1. Definitions —Whenever used in this act, unless
expressly stated otherwise:

(a) The term “person” means any individual, firm, co-partnership,
corporation, company, association or joint-stock association, and | in-
cludes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

(b) The term “Commission” means the State Corporation Com-
mission of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(c) The term “highway” means every public highway or place of
whatever nature open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicle
travel in this State, excluding the streets and alleys in towns and cities.

(d) The term “motor vehicle” means any vehicle, machine, tractor,
trailer, or semi-trailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used
upon the highways in the transportation of property, but does not include
any vehicle, locomotive or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails.

(e) The term “Household Goods Carrier” means any person who
or which undertakes whether directly or by a lease or other arrangement,
to transport “household goods”, as hereinafter defined, by motor vehicle
for compensation, on any highway in this State, between two or more
points in this State, whether over regular or irregular routes.

(f)° The term “household goods” means personal effects and
property used or to be used in a dwelling when a part of the equipment
or supply of such dwelling; also uncrated new furniture, or used furni-
ture, fixtures, equipment, and similar property of stores, offices,
museums, institutions, hospitals, or other establishments when a part of
the stock, equipment, or supply of such stores, offices, museums, institu-
tions, hospitals, or other establishments; objects of art, displays and
exhibits; also articles which because of their unusual nature or value
require specialized handling and equipment usually employed in moving
such household goods.

(g) The “services” and “transportation” to which this act applies
include all vehicles operated by, for, or in the interest of any “household
goods carriers’, irrespective of ownership or contract, express or implied,
together with all facilities and property operated or controlled by any
such carrier or carriers and used in the transportation of “household
goods” or in the performance of any service in connection therewith.

(h) The term “certificate” means a certificate of public convenience
and necessity issued by the commission to “household goods carriers”
under this act.

Section 2. This act shall not be construed to apply to any of the
following who or which are hereby declared to be exempt from this act:

(a) Any common carrier of property by motor vehicle while
holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity, as such, issued
by the Commission.

(b) Motor vehicles owned and operated by the United States,
District of Columbia or any state, or any municipality or any other
political subdivision of this State.

(c) Transportation of household goods between any point in
this State and any point outside this State, or between any points wholly
within the limits of any city or town in this State, or for any lesser
distance than fifteen miles.

(d) Occasional or infrequent transportation of “household goods”
outside the limits of any city or town for a greater distance than fifteen
miles.

Section 3. No “household goods carrier”, as defined herein, not
herein exempted, shall operate any motor vehicle for the transportation
of property for compensation on any highway in this State except in
accordance with the provisions of this act, and every such carrier is
hereby declared to be subject to control, supervision and regulation by
the Commission. Nothing in this act shall confer any proprietary or
property rights in the use of the public highways.

Section 4. (a) The Commission shall have the power and be
charged with the duty of supervising, regulating and controlling all
“Household Goods Carriers”, as defined herein, not herein exempted,
doing business in this State, in all matters relating to the performance
of their duties as such carriers and their rates and charges therefor,
which rates and charges may be filed with the Commission by individual
household goods carriers or by groups of such carriers, as each individual
carrier may prefer, and of correcting abuses therein by such carriers;
and to that end the Commission shall, from time to time, prescribe
reasonable rules, regulations, bills of lading, forms and reports for such
carriers in furtherance of the administration and operation of this act;
and the Commission shall have the right at all times to require from such
carriers special reports and statements, under oath, concerning their
business; and shall, from time to time, make and enforce such require-
ments, rules and regulations as may be necessary to prevent unjust or
unreasonable discriminations by any such carrier in favor of, or against,
any person, locality, community or connecting carrier in the matter of
service, schedule, efficiency or transportation or otherwise, in connection
with the duties of such carriers; and the Commission shall have power
and it shall be its duty to administer and enforce all provisions of this
act, and from time to time to prescribe reasonable rules, regulations and
procedure looking to that end ; and

(b) Before the Commission shall prescribe or fix any rate, charge,
or classification of traffic, and before it shall make any order, rule,
regulation or requirement directed against any one or more “‘household
goods carriers” by name, the carrier or carriers to be affected by such
rate, charge, classification, order, rule, regulation or requirement shall
first be given, by the Commission at least ten days’ notice of the time
and place when and where the contemplated action in the premises will
be considered and disposed of, and shall be afforded a reasonable oppor-
tunity to introduce evidence and to be heard thereon to the end that
justice may be done, and shall have process to enforce the attendance
of witnesses. And before the Commission shall make or prescribe any
general order, rule, regulation or requirement, not directed against any
specific motor carrier or motor carriers by name, the contemplated gen-
eral order, rule, regulation or requirement shall first be published in
substance, not less than once a week for two consecutive weeks in one or
more of the newspapers of general circulation published in the city of
Richmond, Virginia, together with notice of the time and place when
and where the Commission will hear any objections which may be
urged by any persons interested, against the proposed order, rule,
regulation or requirement ; and every such general order, rule, regulation
or requirement made by the Commission shall be published at length
in the final form approved and adopted by the Commission, for the
time and in the manner above specified, before it shall go into effect, and
shall also, as long as it remains in force, be published in each subsequent
annual report of the Commission.

Section 5. (a) No person, not herein exempted, shall engage in
motor vehicle transportation of “household goods”, as herein defined,
for compensation on any highway within the State, unless and until he
has obtained from the Commission a certificate of public convenience and
necessity as a “Household Goods Carrier”. Such certificate shall
authorize the holder to engage in the business of a “Household Goods
Carrier”, as herein defined, over regular and irregular routes between
all points within this State and, subject to approval of vehicles by the
State Highway Commission as provided by section five (b) of this
act, on all of the highways of this State.

(b) No “Household Goods Carrier” shall conduct his operations
on any highway until he has obtained from the State Highway Commis-
sion a statement or statements of approval of the size, weight, and type
of vehicles of such carrier for the highway involved in said operations ;
and a like statement or statements of approval shall be obtained by such
carrier before operation of any different size, type, or weight of vehicles.

(c) The Commission shall prescribe the form of the application
for a certificate of convenience and necessity, and such reasonable
requirements as to notice, publication, proof of service and information
as may in its judgment be necessary.

(d) Upon the filing of an application for a certificate of public
convenience and necessity as a “Household Goods Carrier”, the Com-
mission shall, within a reasonable time, fix a time and place of hearing
of such application. If the Commission shall find the proposed operation
justified by public convenience and necessity, it shall issue a certificate
to the applicant, subject to such terms, limitations and restrictions as
the Commission may deem proper. If the Commission shall find the
proposed operation not justified, the application shall be denied.

(e) Any person, not herein exempted, who was in operation and
was engaged in the business of transporting “household goods”, as
herein defined, over the highways of this State by motor vehicle for
compensation under bona fide contracts and who held a CH tag issued
by the Director, Division of Motor Vehicles of Virginia, for each motor
vehicle engaged in such operation or business on December first, nine-
teen hundred and forty-seven, shall be issued a Certificate of Conven-
ience and Necessity as a “Household Goods Carrier”, as herein defined,
by the Commission for such vehicles and such additional vehicles as
may be required in his operations from time to time, without further
proceedings, if application for such certificate is made to the Commission
within sixty days from the effective date of this act or within such addi-
tional time, not to exceed an additional ninety days as the Commission
may prescribe.

Section 6. Certificates issued pursuant to this act shall be effective
from the dates specified therein and shall remain in effect until termi-
nated as herein provided. The Commission may at any time, by its
order duly entered after hearing had upon notice to the holder of any
such certificate and an opportunity to such holder to be heard, at which
it shall be proved that such holder has made any misrepresentation of
a material fact in obtaining such certificate, or has violated or refused to
observe any of the laws of this State touching such certificate, or any of
the terms, limitations and restrictions of his certificate, or any of the
Commission’s proper orders, rules or regulations, impose a penalty not
exceeding one thousand dollars, which may be collected by the process
of the Commission as provided by law; or the Commission may suspend,
revoke, alter or amend any such certificate, whenever the Commission
finds after a hearing upon notice as above that such certificate holder
knowingly misrepresented any material fact in obtaining his certificate,
or willfully violated or refused to observe any of the laws of this State
touching his certificate, or willfully violated or failed to observe any
of the proper orders, rules or regulations of the Commission, or any
term, condition or limitation of such certificate. Proceedings looking to
the imposition of any penalty provided for herein may be commenced
upon the complaint of any person or upon the Commission’s own
initiative. No such certificate shall be suspended, revoked, altered or
amended for any cause not stated in this section. From any order of the
Commission suspending, revoking, altering or amending any certificate,
the holder thereof shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court
of Appeals of Virginia, as a matter of right, as in other cases of appeals
from the Commission.

Section 7. Any such certificate may be transferred or leased subject
to the approval of the Commission, and under such reasonable rules and
regulations as may be prescribed by the Commission. The application
shall be made jointly by the transferor and transferee, seller and pur-
chaser, or assignor and assignee, or lessor and lessee.

Section 8. Every “Household Goods Carrier”, upon filing with
the Commission an application for a certificate, shall deposit with the
Commission as a filing fee the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), and
for the transfer of such certificate the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00),
and for the issuance of-a duplicate certificate the sum of three dollars
($3.00), and for the filing of a lease the sum of five dollars ($5.00) ;
said fees to be paid for the purpose of defraying the expenses of adminis-
tering the provisions of law with respect to the issuance and transfer of
such certificate.

Section 9. The provisions of sections twelve, nineteen, twenty,
twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six of
chapter one hundred twenty-nine of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen
hundred thirty-six, approved March ninth, nineteen hundred thirty-six,
(generally known as the “Motor Vehicle Carrier Act’) with reference
to the filing of insurance with the Commission by motor carriers,
warrants for vehicles used by motor carriers, reports, forms and
accounts of motor carriers, enforcement of laws applicable to motor
carriers, prohibition of rebates and discriminations, and appeals from
orders and judgments of the Commission, to the extent not inconsistent
with this act, shall be applicable to “Household Goods Carriers” » as
herein defined, and to the regulation thereof.

Section 10. As to “Household Goods Carriers”, the provisions of
this act shall be controlling, and no laws in conflict herewith, or incon-
sistent herewith, shall have any application to “Household Goods
Carriers”.
Section 11. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or any other
part of this act, is for any reason held or declared to be unconstitutional,
inoperative, or void, such holding or invalidity shall not affect the
remaining portions of this act; and it shall be construed to have been
the legislative intent to pass this act without such unconstitutional,
inoperative, or invalid part therein; and, the remainder of this act, after
the exclusion of such unconstitutional or inoperative part or parts, shall
be held and deemed to be valid as if such excluded parts had not been
included herein.