GetCDLLicense

CDL Requirements in South Carolina

Verified against South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles ·

Compiled and verified against primary state DMV/DPS/BMV sources by GetCDLLicense — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →

SCDMV licenses commercial drivers through a single shared application (Form 447-CDL) covering the CLP, the CDL itself, renewals, and upgrades, and runs an active third-party skills-testing program under its Office of Inspector General. SCDMV publishes clear CLP and renewal/upgrade fee figures, but its 'Getting Your First CDL' page does not itemize a separate license-issuance fee distinct from the CLP fees, so that step is treated as unpublished rather than assumed.

South Carolina's CDL requirements — including a $2.5 commercial learner permit fee and an intrastate minimum age of 18 — are verified against South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (see South Carolina DMV — Commercial Driver License Manual (March 2025)), current as of 2026-07-25.

South Carolina CDL Requirements at a Glance

This is the fee, age, and testing detail for South Carolinaspecifically — for the full step-by-step process see how to get a CDL, and for what Class A, B, and C each permit see CDL classes.

CLP, age, fee, renewal, and testing requirements for a commercial driver’s license in South Carolina
Commercial learner’s permit (CLP)
CLP fee$2.50
Minimum holding period before skills test14 days
CLP validity12 months
Age minimums
Intrastate minimum age18
Interstate minimum age21 (federal floor)
Fees
Application fee$15
Initial CDL fee$25
Renewal fee$25
Renewal period8 years (5 years if the CDL carries a Hazmat endorsement)
Knowledge test fee$2
Skills test fee—
Testing rules
Third-party testers allowedYes
Retest waiting period—

Other published fees

  • CLP (Commercial Learner's Permit): $2.50
  • Hazmat 5-year license fee (renewal/upgrade, plus the $15 application fee and $2 knowledge test): $15
  • Skills-test retest fee (each subsequent attempt after a failure; first attempt is free): $25

The CLP itself costs $2.50 and expires after one year; a separate $15 application fee and $2 per knowledge test also apply when first applying (SCDMV Form 447-CDL). An out-of-state CLP cannot be transferred to SC — the general knowledge test (and any other applicable tests) must be passed for a new SC-issued CLP. The 14-calendar-day minimum hold before the skills test matches (not exceeds) the federal floor. CLP endorsements are limited to Tanker (N), Passenger (P), and School Bus (S).

SCDMV states plainly: 'You are at least 18 to drive within SC. You are at least 21 to drive outside SC' (SCDMV — Getting Your First CDL) — matching the federal interstate floor exactly.

SCDMV certifies third-party tester companies (Form DL-304N application, DL-404A agreement) to administer CDL skills tests, overseen by its Office of Inspector General. Retesting uses an escalating schedule rather than one fixed interval: a failed knowledge test may be retaken the following business day; a failed skills test requires 2 business days after the 1st failure, 7 calendar days after the 2nd, and 30 calendar days after the 3rd and any subsequent failure. A $25 fee applies to each subsequent skills-test attempt (waived if the failure was outside the applicant's control, e.g. inclement weather or vehicle/examiner issues).

South Carolina CDL Endorsements

Hazmat, tanker, doubles/triples, passenger, and school bus endorsement availability, fees, and testing in South Carolina
EndorsementAvailableFeeKnowledge testSkills test
Hazardous materials (H)Yes$15YesNo
Tank vehicle (N)Yes—YesNo
Doubles/triples (T)Yes—YesNo
Passenger (P)Yes—YesYes
School bus (S)Yes—YesYes

Hazardous materials: Requires a completed application, fingerprinting, and a TSA-administered background check in addition to the knowledge test; a CLP cannot carry a Hazmat endorsement. SCDMV's own incremental charge is a $15 5-year Hazmat license fee (on top of the standard $15 application fee and $2 knowledge test) — the TSA background-check/fingerprinting fee itself is billed and set separately by TSA.

Tank vehicle: Required for any tank vehicle with an individual rated capacity over 119 gallons and aggregate capacity of 1,000+ gallons. Knowledge test only; billed under SCDMV's standard $25 license fee / $15 application fee / $2 knowledge-test upgrade charges rather than its own itemized endorsement fee.

Doubles/triples: Required to pull double or triple trailers. Knowledge test only; billed under SCDMV's standard $25 license fee / $15 application fee / $2 knowledge-test upgrade charges rather than its own itemized endorsement fee.

Passenger: Required of all bus driver applicants; the skills test must be passed in a bus or passenger vehicle rated to carry 16 or more passengers including the driver, and the resulting license is restricted to that type/size of vehicle. Billed under SCDMV's standard $25 license fee / $15 application fee / $2 knowledge-test upgrade charges rather than its own itemized endorsement fee.

School bus: Required to transport pre-primary, primary, or secondary students to/from school or school-sponsored events; the skills test must be performed in an actual school bus used for that purpose. Billed under SCDMV's standard $25 license fee / $15 application fee / $2 knowledge-test upgrade charges rather than its own itemized endorsement fee.

For what each endorsement permits, the federal knowledge/skills testing baseline behind it, and hazmat’s separate TSA security threat assessment, see CDL endorsements.

Federal requirements that apply in South Carolina

These are set by federal regulators and are the same in every US jurisdiction. Full detail here.

  • Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT). Since February 2022, first-time CDL applicants — and drivers upgrading to Class A or seeking a first-time school bus, passenger, or hazmat endorsement — must complete Entry-Level Driver Training with a provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry before testing.
  • DOT medical certificate. Most CDL holders who operate in interstate commerce must hold a valid DOT medical examiner's certificate, issued by an examiner listed on the FMCSA National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.
  • Interstate minimum age. Federal rules set 21 as the minimum age to drive commercially across state lines; states set their own intrastate minimum, commonly 18.
  • Hazmat security threat assessment. A hazardous materials endorsement additionally requires a TSA security threat assessment, which is a federal process separate from the state endorsement.

Self-certification in South Carolina

South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles administers self-certification for the following FMCSA operating categories:

  • Non-Excepted Interstate
  • Excepted Interstate
  • Non-Excepted Intrastate

The SC CDL Manual (Section 1.2.3, Self-Certification Statements) lists only three self-certification options as actually available in South Carolina: Excepted Intrastate is marked 'This option is not applicable in South Carolina,' and Non-Excepted Intrastate is annotated 'this option can only be selected if the applicant is 18-20 years of age and/or license has a "K" restriction for intrastate use only.'

Source Notes

Where a source is stale, conflicting, or required a judgment call, we document it here rather than presenting a single confident-sounding number. See our methodology for how these calls are made.

  • South Carolina's CDL Manual offers only three of the four FMCSA self-certification categories: it explicitly states Excepted Intrastate 'is not applicable in South Carolina,' and restricts Non-Excepted Intrastate to applicants aged 18-20 or those with a 'K' (intrastate-only) restriction.

means no primary source publishes that figure — left blank on purpose rather than estimated or copied from an unverified aggregator.

Sources

Data last verified: 2026-07-25 (verified by: agent) | Source: South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles