Request By:
Senator Joe Wright
Senate Majority Floor Leader
Capitol Building
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Joe Johnson, Assistant Attorney General
Thank you for your letter dated September 2, 1982, in which you asked whether farm vehicles under 59,999 pounds were required to obtain cab cards.
While KRS 138.655(5)(d) does exempt farm vehicles from the weight distance tax, this provision does not exempt such vehicles from the cab card requirmenet. KRS 138.660(1) requires "every motor carrier" to pay the fuel tax imposed by KRS 138.220. KRS 138.655(5) defines a "motor carrier" as follows:
'Motor carrier' means every person who operates or causes to be operated on any highway in this state . . . any commercial truck or commercial tractortrailer combination having a total of three (3) or more axles. The number of axles referred to herein shall include not only those axles on the power unit but if a tractor trailer combination is involved, also those axles on the trailer or semitrailer. (Emphasis added).
The cab card is used for purposes other than the weight distance tax. It is also used for fuel tax purposes. Therefore, while the statute does exempt farm vehicles from the weight distance tax, there is no such exemption for cab cards. Owners of farm vehicles must obtain a cab card if they meet the definition of a motor carrier as defined by KRS 138.655(5).
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