The Railroad Commission of Texas had regulatory power of the commercial transportation of persons and property on state highways during the period covered by these records. Motor transportation activities were handled by the Motor Transportation Division. These records consist of the testimony at hearings held by the Motor Transportation Division to determine if certificates should be granted to allow applicants to operate commercial vehicles on public highways. Dating 1926-1956, the majority of the records are from 1930 to 1939. The testimony was a part of the application procedure necessary to obtain the required authorization to operate commercial vehicles on public highways. Hearings were held by Division examiners and testimony was taken in regard to the route and communities served, competition with existing service, traffic congestion, financial status of the applicant, and other considerations of convenience and necessity. The transcripts of these hearings reveal the status of transportation at a given time in specific areas of Texas. After the hearings, the examiner submitted the findings to the Commission for consideration and decision. The Commission made its decision known in the official minutes (See "Minutes" and also the "Motor Transportation Division, Motor carrier dockets" and "Motor Transportation Division, Motor freight dockets." The various docket records in the minutes for the Motor Transportation Division were labeled Motor Bus Docket, Motor Bus Letter Order, Contract Motor Carrier Docket, and Motor Carrier Docket Number. Subject matter of these dockets in the minutes included sale and transfer of a certificate authorizing the operation of a motor bus or motor carrier between cities; application for approval of a change in schedule or the abandonment of a lease; or for an order granting authority to use state highways in Texas for hire or for commerce. The majority of the transcripts are from the 1930s. The transcripts for any given year will be found in more than one box. This finding aid describes one series of the Railroad Commission of Texas records. See Railroad Commission of Texas: An Overview of Records (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20078/tsl-20078.html) or more records series. To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
