South Carolina Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples
South Carolina charges a flat single trip fee, a width surcharge only above 16 feet, and a four line superload bill. Four worked moves price each.
By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 5, 2026
South Carolina sells a single trip permit for $30.00, and for most permitted moves that is the entire state charge. The arithmetic that catches carriers out sits somewhere else: in a legal weight ceiling lower than the one the region publishes, in a width surcharge that only starts where the routine permit stops, and in a superload bill with four separate lines on it. Every figure below renders with its official source on the South Carolina oversize and overweight permits page, and this guide walks four moves through the stack. To see which states call your load oversize before you price anything, run it through the oversize permit cost estimator.
The ceiling that sets everything else
South Carolina writes its gross weight table by axle count rather than by road class, then layers interstate-only caps on top. A combination of five or more axles is capped at 73,280 pounds on any section of highway other than the interstate. On the interstate the same rig can run up to 80,000 pounds under the federal bridge formula in S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4140(A)(4), and overall interstate gross weight may not exceed 75,185 pounds including all enforcement tolerances except under that formula.
The tolerance is a rule of its own. A 10 percent enforcement tolerance applies to the weight limits in S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4140(A)(1) and to subsections (B) and (C), but it never lifts the interstate caps of 20,000 pounds on a single axle, 35,200 pounds on a tandem, or 75,185 pounds gross. It rises to 15 percent for a vehicle or trailer transporting unprocessed forest products, and separately for one transporting sod, in both cases only on noninterstate routes. A South Carolina timber hauler and a South Carolina sod hauler are therefore working against a different number than the truck beside them on the same road.
The size limits are more ordinary. Width is 102 inches exclusive of approved safety devices, height is 13 feet 6 inches, and length is 40 feet for a single motor vehicle and 53 feet for a semitrailer in a two unit combination, with no overall length limit on combination vehicles except where specifically prohibited. Height carries the one exception worth knowing: an automobile transporter, or a heavy truck carrying other heavy trucks in a saddle mount combination, may run 14 feet, but only with a free SCDOT routing permit valid twelve months, issued on evidence of general liability coverage, and that permit does not shift liability for damage caused above 13 feet 6 inches. Check the limits against the rest of the country on the oversize permit costs by state table.
How the fee stacks
- The base fee. $30.00 for a single trip permit, valid 7 days for one move over a named route and tied to the towing vehicle and trailer by VIN and tag number.
- The width surcharge. Nothing at all until 16 feet, then $35.00 over 16 feet, $40.00 over 18 feet, $45.00 over 20 feet and $50.00 over 22 feet, each on top of the base.
- The card fee. $5.00 on a card transaction, charged by the card authorizer rather than by SCDOT. SCDOT will accept an advance deposit in any amount to open an escrow account, and an escrow replenished by check or money order is not a card transaction.
- The refund rule. A permit fee on a denied application is refunded. The superload application fee is not.
SCDOT states that this fee schedule was last revised July 1, 2012, which is a large part of why the numbers look small next to the cost of the move. What the fee buys is permission, not the day rate.
The permit also has ceilings that the fee schedule does not hint at. Non-divisible loads and mobile homes both stop at 16 feet wide. Overall length stops at 125 feet for a non-divisible load and 110 feet for a mobile home, with the home itself no more than 80 feet measured from the center of the ball cup to the extreme end. Rear overhang is 15 feet on a trailer shorter than 48 feet, or 10 feet on a 48 foot or 53 foot trailer, and front overhang is 3 feet on all trailers. Any permitted load must clear overhead structures on the route by at least 3 inches, and the transporter is the party that checks those clearances and arranges any raising or removal of wires, cables or traffic signals, at least 3 working days before the move.
Worked example 1: overweight off the interstate, legal on it
A combination of five or more axles loaded to 78,000 pounds leaves a terminal near Charleston. On I-26 it is legal, because the interstate allows up to 80,000 pounds under the bridge formula. Turn off onto a US or SC route for the last leg and the same rig is over the 73,280 pound ceiling by nearly 5,000 pounds, and it needs an overweight permit to finish the trip.
The permit itself is the base $30.00, with no width surcharge, because nothing about the load is over-dimensional.
So the lesson here is a routing lesson rather than a pricing one. A quote built on an 80,000 pound assumption is wrong the moment the route leaves the interstate, and in South Carolina the last few miles into a plant, a port terminal or a yard usually do. Check the road class before the scale ticket rather than after it.
Worked example 2: 13 feet wide at legal weight
Take a dozer on a lowboy at 13 feet wide, inside legal height, length and weight. That is one over-legal dimension, and the permit is the base $30.00 again, because the width surcharge does not begin until 16 feet.
Everything else about the move changes at 12 feet. Over 12 feet and up to 14 feet, South Carolina wants one front escort when the load travels on a two lane highway, and reserves the right to require a rear escort wherever it deems one necessary for safety. The load carries an OVERSIZE LOAD or WIDE LOAD sign on the front of the transporting vehicle and on the rear of the vehicle or load, in black letters 10 inches high on a yellow background, plus fluorescent red or orange flags 18 inches square at each of the four outer corners, plus a flashing or strobe amber light on the rear visible 500 feet at 360 degrees.
The clock narrows too. Travel is sunrise to sunset, and between 12 and 15 feet wide the load is also barred in close proximity to large urban areas from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on all weekdays, and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on school days or 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on non school days. Around Columbia, Charleston or Greenville those are two windows a delivery has to be planned around, and neither of them appears on the permit invoice.
Worked example 3: 19 feet wide, where the surcharge finally engages
South Carolina's width surcharge starts exactly where its routine permit stops. The permitted maximum is 16 feet wide for both non-divisible loads and mobile homes, and anything wider is considered only on written request with drawings, pictures, the requested route and the reasons, submitted no less than 5 days before the proposed move date. A 19 foot load is therefore an exception first and a fee second.
When the exception is granted, the fee is the base $30.00 plus the $40.00 that applies over 18 feet.
What actually prices that move is the escort tier. Over 16 feet wide South Carolina requires one front and one rear civilian escort plus one front and one rear police escort on all roadways, unless the SCDOT Permit Director grants a written exception, and the escorting officers, whether local, county, city, Highway Patrol or State Transport Police, may require more police escorts on top of that. Four escort vehicles across a route that can run half the state are not a fee-schedule cost, and none of them shows up on the permit.
Two more requirements attach around that width. Proof of insurance goes in with the application on an ACORD form, or another form the OSOW Permit Director approves, naming the SCDOT Oversize/Overweight Permit Office in Columbia as the certificate holder, for any load 16 feet or more wide or 180,000 pounds or more gross. And travel above 15 feet wide is squeezed into 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days, or 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on other days, which is a six hour driving window.
The band just below is where the road itself starts dictating. Loads and mobile homes over 14 feet and up to 16 feet wide have to use four lane highways, and where two lane travel is unavoidable it is restricted to lanes 12 feet wide or wider, with the load required to be the only vehicle on any bridge 18 feet wide or less.
Worked example 4: 160,000 pounds and the four line superload bill
South Carolina calls a move a superload when a non-divisible load exceeds 130,000 pounds, or when any single axle exceeds 20,000 pounds. The routing analysis takes 3 to 5 business days. Above 180,000 pounds a Certificate of Insurance goes in with the application or is already on file with the permit office.
The bill has four lines. The application fee is $100.00, non-refundable whether the permit issues or not, on any non-divisible load over 130,000 pounds or any single axle over 20,000 pounds. The engineering analysis behind it is
$100.00above 130,000 pounds. It doubles to
$200.00above 200,000 pounds, and reaches
$350.00above 300,000 pounds.
The third line is the superload impact fee, three dollars for every 1,000 pounds above 130,000 pounds. A 160,000 pound move is 30,000 pounds over the line, so the impact fee comes to ninety dollars. Add the base permit on top and that is the state's whole charge for the move, spread over four lines that each answer to a different threshold rather than to one price.
The fourth line only appears at the top of the scale, and it is shaped differently from everything above it.
The megaload line, and why it is not a surcharge
Above 500,000 pounds gross, South Carolina adds a megaload impact fee of five cents per 1,000 pounds per mile, and the wording is the expensive part: it is assessed on the entire gross vehicle weight, not on the weight above the line. A 520,000 pound move is billed on all 520,000 pounds rather than on the 20,000 pounds of excess, and then multiplied by every permitted mile. That is a different shape of number from the superload impact fee two lines above it, which is charged only on the excess and does not move with distance at all.
Two things follow for anyone quoting at that weight. Route length becomes a pricing decision rather than a scheduling one, because the fee multiplies by miles. And the paperwork arrives before the permit does: above 300,000 pounds the application needs the manufacturer's documentation of the load's weight and dimensions plus documentation of the empty weight of the truck and trailer, and SCDOT may require an independent structural analysis by a licensed or registered engineer.
When the multiple trip permit wins
South Carolina's annual credential is the multiple trip permit at $100.00. It runs one year from the date of issuance, is specific to the towing vehicle by VIN and tag, and is auto-issued around the clock for non-divisible loads, mobile homes and containerized cargo.
The default envelope is 14 feet wide and 13 feet 6 inches high, at up to 100,000 pounds gross on five or more axles for non-divisible loads and containerized cargo, though containerized cargo itself stays at 8 feet 6 inches wide. Mobile homes get the same 14 feet at legal weight. Route freedom is what changes with the weight: up to 90,000 pounds gross, with no more than 40,000 pounds on a tandem group on five or more axles, the permit runs all US, SC and interstate routes unless a road is posted for load. Above that and up to 100,000 pounds, with no more than 48,000 pounds on a tandem group or 55,000 pounds on a triaxle group and a minimum 40 foot trailer, the permit is confined to the routes shown on the SC Oversize Truck Route Map. Secondary routes are prohibited on any multiple trip permit carrying weight above the legal allowance.
Because both amounts are flat, the break-even is a trip count rather than a spreadsheet: divide the annual by the single trip fee and the fourth permitted move of the year is the one that pays for it. What the annual cannot do is flex. A change of route, escort or travel time needs a new permit rather than an amendment, moving the permit to a replacement vehicle that was wrecked, junked, sold or stolen is a separate ten dollar transfer on documentation, and a route specific version at up to 15 feet high and up to 130,000 pounds gross has to go to the permit office for review rather than issuing itself.
What to check before you quote South Carolina
Check the road class first. The gap between 73,280 pounds off the interstate and 80,000 pounds on it is the single biggest source of a wrong South Carolina number, and it is a routing question, not a weight question.
Check width against three lines rather than one: 12 feet for the first escort and the load marking, 14 feet for front and rear escorts and the four lane requirement, and 16 feet for the police escorts, the insurance certificate and the written exception request. Then check the calendar twice. Six holidays are closed to permitted travel, published by SCDOT for 2026 as January 1, May 25, July 4, September 7, November 26 and December 25, with the Permit Director able to restrict travel from noon the day before a holiday until noon the day after. And check the coast: from Memorial Day through Labor Day there is no Saturday or Sunday movement east of I-95 over the Myrtle Beach corridor, including but not limited to US-378, SC-327, US-76, SC-576, US-501, SC-22, SC-31 and SC-9, or on US-17 from the North Carolina line to points south of Myrtle Beach at Georgetown.
Two operational rules cost more than they look. Multiple permitted loads may not travel in convoy, and loads and their escorts stay at least 2 miles apart, so a paired lift is two moves rather than one. And a revoked permit is not reissued to the same transporting company for that load: a second revocation within 6 months of the first brings a 1 year suspension, a third within 1 year of the second brings 5 years, and a fourth is permanent.
Every order goes through Safehaul, SCDOT's online system, and a company account has to exist before one can be placed, so a carrier new to the state starts by opening the account and funding the escrow rather than by pricing a load. See every other credential South Carolina expects at South Carolina trucking permits.
FAQ
How much does a South Carolina oversize permit cost?
A single trip permit is one flat base fee, and a width surcharge is added only above 16 feet, stepping up again over 18 feet, 20 feet and 22 feet. A multiple trip annual permit is a second flat fee. SCDOT states its oversize and overweight fee schedule was last revised July 1, 2012, and every current amount renders with its official source on the state permits page.
Why is South Carolina's legal weight limit 73,280 pounds?
Because South Carolina writes its gross weight table by axle count for highways other than the interstate, capping a combination of five or more axles at 73,280 pounds. The interstate system is separate: up to 80,000 pounds under the federal bridge formula in S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4140(A)(4), with overall interstate gross weight capped at 75,185 pounds including all enforcement tolerances except under that formula. A load that is legal on I-26 can need a permit for the US route at the end of the same trip.
When does a South Carolina move become a superload?
Above 130,000 pounds gross for a non-divisible load, or when any single axle exceeds 20,000 pounds. The routing analysis takes 3 to 5 business days, the application fee is non-refundable whether or not the permit issues, and the engineering analysis fee steps up at 130,000, 200,000 and 300,000 pounds. Above 500,000 pounds a megaload impact fee is charged per 1,000 pounds per mile on the entire gross vehicle weight rather than on the excess.
How many escorts does South Carolina require?
Width sets the tier. Over 12 feet and up to 14 feet is one front escort when the load travels on a two lane highway. Over 14 feet and up to 16 feet is one front and one rear escort on all roadways. Over 16 feet is one front and one rear civilian escort plus one front and one rear police escort, unless the SCDOT Permit Director grants a written exception. A load 16 feet high or above needs a front escort with a height measuring device and an approved route survey, and a rear overhang over 15 feet needs a rear escort.
Related guides
South Carolina IFTA Filing Walkthrough (Quarterly)
How a South Carolina carrier opens an IFTA account at the SCDMV on Form IFTA-1, files Form IFTA-3 quarterly, and clears the MC-25 gate.
California Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples
Three worked California oversize moves: which Caltrans permit each needs, which fee lines apply, and where escort rules change the total.
Florida Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples
Three worked Florida oversize moves: dimension tiers for trip permits, per-mile overweight pricing, and when an annual permit wins.
Sources
Primary statutes and official agency pages this guide relies on. Laws and fees change, so confirm against the current source before you act.
- Oversize/Overweight Permits · South Carolina Department of Transportation
- Guidelines for Movement over South Carolina Highways of Oversize and Overweight (OSOW) Vehicles and Loads (Rev. 3/2026) · South Carolina Department of Transportation
- 2026 South Carolina Permit Office Closures and Travel Restrictions · South Carolina Department of Transportation
- S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4140 (Gross weight of vehicles, combinations of vehicles, and loads; exceptions) · South Carolina Legislature (Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5)
- S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4130 (Wheel and axle loads; high and low pressure tires) · South Carolina Legislature (Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5)
- S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4030 (Width of vehicles) · South Carolina Legislature (Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5)
- S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4060 (Height of vehicles; exception; routing permits; underpasses) · South Carolina Legislature (Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5)
- S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-4070 (Length of vehicles; limitations on vehicle combinations) · South Carolina Legislature (Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5)
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.