La. R.S. 45:181

No person shall engage in the business of transporting persons for hire, charge, or compensation over the highways of this state, whether as a common carrier or contract carrier, or as a transportation agency, or to operate as a travel bureau, or to obtain a co-traveler or co-travelers to share the expense of the trip proportionately or otherwise, or to act as an intermediary in connection with the sharing of expense of a trip or trips with a co-traveler or co-travelers unless the person, operator, driver, or chauffeur in charge of the motor vehicle shall have obtained the appropriate driver's license, and unless the motor vehicle so used is equipped with "for hire" license plates to carry passengers for hire.