§ 255.5. Duties of messenger service.
(a) Posting. Messenger services shall post in a conspicuous manner at their place of business, including branch offices:
(1) Their certificates of authorization.
(2) The schedule of motor vehicle fees provided by the Bureau.
(3) The schedule of fees of the messenger service.
(b) Schedule. Messenger services which offer personal counter services to customers shall maintain a place of business, open to the public during regularly scheduled hours. The schedule shall be posted so as to be visible from the exterior of the place of business.
(c) Security. Messenger services shall maintain at each place of business facilities, such as locking cabinets or other similar equipment, for assuring the security of documents. The documents shall be secured in these facilities during nonbusiness hours.
(d) Submission of documents. Messenger services shall submit documents for processing by the Department through the Messenger Service Center. The Department may provide facilities for handling priority work to the extent that the facilities can be made available without burdening its general public service facilities.
(e) Time limits. Messenger services shall submit documents to the Department within 5 days after the messenger’s receipt of all necessary and fully executed documents. Work processed by the Department shall be picked up by the messenger service within 48 hours after being placed in the box of the messenger service. At the time when a suspension notice is served on a messenger service, executed documents are to be provided to the authorized Commonwealth employes for processing by the Department. Work processed in this situation will be mailed by the Department to the customer of the messenger service.
(f) Number and date of submission. Messenger services shall place their messenger number and date of submission on documents, including checks, submitted to the Department.
(g) Receipts. Messenger services, when providing personal counter services to customers, shall complete an itemized receipt, in duplicate, which lists the fees payable to the Commonwealth, as well as the fees charged for the messenger’s services. The original shall be given to the customer, and the duplicate shall be retained by the messenger service for a period of 2 years.
(h) Records. Messenger services shall maintain a record of documents submitted to the Department for a period of 2 years, the records to include the date of submission to the Department, the name, vehicle identification or operator number of the applicant, and any other information pertinent to the particular document.
(i) Identification card. The Bureau shall issue identification cards to messengers and employes who deliver documents to and obtain documents from the Department, which identification cards shall be displayed at all times these persons are in the Department on business related to the messenger service. If a duplicate card is required to replace one that was lost, stolen, destroyed or became illegible, a duplicate card will be issued upon the filing of an application and payment of a fee of $2.
(j) Inspections. Documents in the possession of the messenger service and records of transactions conducted by the messenger service shall be open to inspection by an authorized Commonwealth employe during normal working hours.
(k) Sign. Authorized messenger services which offer personal counter services to customers shall display on the outside of each place of business an identifying sign of durable material which meets the following specifications:
(1) Shall contain the words ‘‘authorized messenger service’’ or ‘‘authorized motor vehicle messenger service.’’
(2) May not:
(i) Contain a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation emblem.
(ii) Contain the terms ‘‘Bureau of Motor Vehicles’’, ‘‘official’’ or another term which could be construed by the general public to imply the messenger service is an agency of the Commonwealth.
(l) New employes. Messenger services shall notify the Bureau of the names and social security numbers of new employes of the messenger service within no more than 30 days of the Bureau’s request for the information.
(m) Return of documents to the Department. The messenger service is responsible for returning to the Department a registration card or plate, driver license, dealer title or similar document which the messenger service has held for 60 days and has been unable to deliver to the applicant.
Authority The provisions of this § 255.5 amended under the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § § 6103 and 7501(a).
Source The provisions of this § 255.5 adopted September 9, 1977, effective September 10, 1977, 7 Pa.B. 2608; amended May 4, 1984, effective May 21, 1984, 14 Pa.B. 1561; readopted May 26, 1989, effective immediately and applies retroactively to May 5, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 2253. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (90322) to (90324).
Notes of Decisions Timely Delivery of Documents
Delivery of automobile title application to licensed messenger service is not the equivalent of delivery of the document to the Department and does not act as timely delivery of the application. However, when a car dealer gave automobile title applications to a messenger service within 7 days of purchase, it reasonably assumed that the service would comply with subsection (e) and deliver the documents within the requisite 20-day period. Thus, the car dealer was under no continuing obligation to monitor the delivery of the title documents once they were in the possession of the service. Gary Barbera Dodge, Inc. v. DOT, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, 700 A.2d 922 (Pa. 1997).
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