A. WHAT IS A COMMON CARRIER? - Persons, corporations, firmsor associationsengagedinthebusinessofcarrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or air,for compensation, offeringtheir services tothepublic.(Art. 1732, CivilCode).- One that holds itself out as ready to engage in the transportation of goodsfor hire as a public employment and not as a casual occupation. (De Guzmanvs. Court of Appeals, No. L-47822, December 22, !88"B. CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMMON CARRIER Art. 173 of the !ivil !ode avoids any distinction between one whoseprincipal business is the carrying of persons or goods or both, and onewho does such carrying only as an ancillary activity "sideline#. $t alsoavoidsadistinctionbetweenapersonor enterpriseofferingtransportation service on a regular or scheduled basis and one offeringsuch service on an occasional, episodic or unscheduled basis. Article 173 does not distinguish between a carrier offering its servicesto the general public, that is the general community or population, andone who offers services or solicits business only froma narrowsegment of the general population. A personorentityisacommoncarrierevenif hedidnot securea!ertificate of Public !onvenience %he !ivil !ode ma&es no distinction as to the means of transporting,as long as it is by land, water or air. %he !ivil !ode does not provide that the transportation should be bymotor vehicle. A person or entity may be a common carrier even if he has no fi'edpublicly &nown route, maintains no terminals, and issues no tic&ets. (nderta&estocarryforall peopleindifferentlyandthusisliableforrefusal withoutsufficient reason(Last#mosovs. Dol#ente, $ %C&A ,'!()"* !annot lawfully decline to accept a particular class of goods forcarriage to the pre)udice of the traffic in these goods* +o monopoly is favored (+atan,as -rans. vs. .rlanes, /2 01#l. 4//"* Provides public convenience.C. TESTS WHETHER A PARTY IS A COMMON CARRIER OF GOODS: $t must be engaged in the business of carrying goods for others as apublicemployment andmust holditself out asreadytoengageinthetransportationof goodsgenerallyasabusinessandnot asacasualoccupation* $t must underta&e to carry goods of the &ind to which its business isconfined* $t must underta&etocarrybythemethodbywhichhisbusinessisconducted and over its established roads* andTRANSPORTATION LAW: Lawrence e!!re" De#!$n% F#er$&a E''a Man(#$c')*% Mar+ ),e-. M/-a,%Me#an$e Pa,c/a% G$#0er* R$ca!)r*e% Rena*) Se(/0$en,e r.% 1a*#een Grace Serran)% Mar" ane T$'0an(1 %he transportation must be for hire. (2#rst 01#l#pp#ne 3n4ustr#al Corp. v.CA, $55 %C&A ((, '!!8"Test whether a party is a common carrierFIRST PHILIPPINE IND2STRIAL CORP. 3S. CO2RT OF APPEALS4565 SCRA 775% 5889:Fac*,: Petitioner is a grantee of a pipeline concession under ,.A. +o. 3-7, asamended, acontract,installand operate oilpipelines. %heoriginalpipelineconcessionwasgrantedin1./7andrenewedbythe0nergy,egulatory1oard in 1...2ometime in 3anuary 1..4, petitioner applied for a mayor5s permit withthe Office of the 6ayor of 1atangas !ity. 7owever, before the mayor5s permitcould be issued, the respondent !ity %reasurer re8uired petitioner to pay alocal ta' based on its gross receipts for the fiscal year 1..3 pursuant to the9ocal :overnment !ode. %he respondent !ity %reasure assessed a businessta' on the petitioner amounting to P.4/,;7/.;< payable in four installmentsbased on the gross receipts for products pumped at :P2-1 for the fiscal year1..3 which amounted to P1-1,/-1,141.;;. in order not to hamper itsoperations, petitioner paidtheta'under protest intheamount of P3.,;1..;1 for the first 8uarter of 1..3.On3une14, 1..common carrier? may be defined, broadly, as one who holds himselfout tothepublicasengagedinthebusinessof transportingpersonsorproperty from place to place, for compensation, offering his services to thepublic generally.TRANSPORTATION LAW: Lawrence e!!re" De#!$n% F#er$&a E''a Man(#$c')*% Mar+ ),e-. M/-a,%Me#an$e Pa,c/a% G$#0er* R$ca!)r*e% Rena*) Se(/0$en,e r.% 1a*#een Grace Serran)% Mar" ane T$'0an(

Article173of the!ivil !odedefinesa>commoncarrier? as>anyperson, corporation, firm or association engaged in the business of carryingor transportingpassengers or goods or both, byland, water, or air, forcompensation, offering their services to the public.%he test for determining whether a party is a common carrier of goodsis=1. 7emust beengagedinthecarryingof goodsfor othersasapublicemployment, and must hold himself out as ready to engage in thetransportationof goodsor personsgenerallyasabusinessandnot asacasual occupation.. 7emust underta&etocarrygoodsof the&indtowhichhisbusinessisconfined*3. 7emust underta&etocarrybythemethodbywhichhisbusinessisconducted and over his established roads* and