VEHICLES OPERATED UNDER SHORT-TERM LEASE AND SUBSTITUTE VEHICLES

(a) In this section: (1) "Leasing business" means a person that leases vehicles requiring registration. (2) "Short-term lease" means a lease of 30 days or less. (b) A vehicle requiring registration operated under a short-term lease is exempt from the registration requirements of Sections 643.052-643.059. The department shall adopt rules providing for the operation of these vehicles under flexible procedures. A vehicle requiring registration operated under a short-term lease is not required to carry a cab card or other proof of registration if a copy of the lease agreement is carried in the cab of the vehicle. (c) A motor carrier may operate a substitute vehicle without notifying the department in advance if the substitute is a temporary replacement because of maintenance, repair, or other unavailability of the vehicle originally leased. A substitute vehicle is not required to carry a cab card or other proof of registration if a copy of the lease agreement for the vehicle originally leased is carried in the cab of the substitute. (d) Instead of the registration procedures described by Sections 643.052-643.059, the department shall adopt rules that allow a leasing business to report annually to the department on the number of vehicles requiring registration that the leasing business actually operated in the previous 12 months. The rules may not require the vehicles operated to be described with particularity. The registration fee for each vehicle operated may be paid at the time the report is filed. (e) A leasing business that registers its vehicles under Subsection (d) may comply with the liability insurance requirements of Subchapter C by filing evidence of a contingency liability policy satisfactory to the department. (f) Rules adopted by the department under this section: (1) must be designed to avoid requiring a vehicle to be registered more than once in a calendar year; and (2) may allow a leasing business to register a vehicle on behalf of a lessee.