Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for South Carolina?

Usually both, and they are separate purchases. The trip permit stands in for apportioned (IRP) registration and the fuel permit stands in for the IFTA license. If your cab card lists South Carolina and your IFTA decals are current, you need neither; the tables on this page carry each permit's terms with the official source.

When does buying temporary permits stop making sense?

Temporary permits price a single trip. A carrier running South Carolina lanes on a regular schedule comes out ahead adding the state to its IRP cab card and holding an IFTA license, because permit fees repeat on every trip while the annual credentials do not.

Can I buy these permits after entering the state?

No. Each credential on this page must be in place before the vehicle operates on South Carolina highways, and enforcement happens at roadside inspections and weigh stations. Buying from the state's own channel before the trip is the cheapest clean path.

Are permit-service prices the state fee?

No. Wire services and permit companies resell state permits with a service markup. The fees on this page are what South Carolina itself charges on its primary pages; anything above that is the middleman's fee, not the state's.

South Carolina Trip and Fuel Permits: Cost, How to Buy

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 5, 2026

South Carolina prices both temporary credentials the same and gives them very different lengths. The registration side is a seventy-two hour trip permit for a carrier running an IRP qualified vehicle without apportioned plates. The fuel side is a ten-day trip permit for a carrier running an IFTA qualified vehicle without a licence or decals. Both cost fifteen dollars, both are set by regulation rather than by a price list, and since May 6, 2024 SCDMV sells them itself instead of routing carriers to a permit service.

The trip permit (registration side)

This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list South Carolina has no legal registration standing in the state.

Permit: Seventy-two hour trip permit
Stands in for: Apportioned registration under the International Registration Plan
Fee: $15 (S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-500 sets the price in the rule itself: the Department shall issue a seventy-two hour trip permit at a cost of fifteen dollars to out-of-state carriers who are not registered under IRP. That regulation is the only published price. SCDMV's own Commercial Vehicles page and its Motor Carrier Services Manual both describe how to buy the permit without naming an amount, and the regulation took effect March 27, 1998 with no amendment recorded since, so the figure is read from current published law rather than from a current agency price list.)
Valid for: Seventy-two hours
Annual limit: None published. S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-500 caps neither the number of permits a carrier may buy in a year nor consecutive purchases, and the SCDMV Motor Carrier Services Manual states no limit, so none is recorded.
Who needs it: An out-of-state carrier that is not registered under IRP but wants to operate an IRP qualified motor vehicle intrastate or interstate in South Carolina. The regulation is written for out-of-state carriers, so a South Carolina based carrier that qualifies for apportioned registration is not its intended buyer; SCDMV instead points such a carrier at an apportioned account or, where the vehicle does not qualify, at a South Carolina intrastate plate.
Where to buy: Directly from SCDMV through the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal. SCDMV's Commercial Vehicles page states that as of May 6, 2024 IFTA and IRP trip permits are available for purchase directly from the SCDMV by individual customers.; First-time purchasers apply through the Trucking Portal for a username and password for the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal. The approval process may take up to 48 hours and the login details arrive by email.; Repeat purchasers follow the link to the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal and buy the permit there, supplying the vehicle VIN, registration or unit number, owner name, plate number, vehicle type, make, year, gross vehicle weight, axle count and state of registration, insurance policy number, company and policy dates, USDOT number, and FEIN.
Caught without one: No penalty specific to running without a trip permit is published in S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-500 or in the SCDMV Motor Carrier Services Manual, so none is recorded. What South Carolina does publish next door is a fine of twenty dollars per vehicle under S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-501 for an IRP carrier that opts for partial payment and then misses its final installment.
Statute: S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-500

The fuel permit (tax side)

This credential answers for the state's highway or fuel tax when there is no IFTA license (or, in the weight-distance states, no tax account) behind the truck.

Permit: Fuel trip permit
Stands in for: An International Fuel Tax Agreement licence and decals for a qualified motor vehicle
Fee: $15 (S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-480 states the price and the term together: the trip permit shall be effective for a ten day period and cost fifteen dollars per permit. As with the registration permit, that regulation is the only published price, it took effect March 27, 1998 with no amendment recorded since, and no SCDMV page naming the purchase path also names an amount.)
Valid for: Ten days
Annual limit: None published. S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-480 sets no cap on how many trip permits a carrier may buy in a year and the SCDMV Motor Carrier Services Manual states none, so none is recorded.
Who needs it: A motor carrier that operates IFTA qualified motor vehicles but opts to operate without an IFTA licence or decal. SCDMV's Motor Carrier Services Manual lists five situations that put a vehicle inside the trip or fuel permit requirement: the vehicle is not registered under IRP; the vehicle is not registered under IFTA; the vehicle has three or more axles; the vehicle has a gross vehicle or registered weight over 26,000 pounds; or the tow vehicle and trailer have a combined gross vehicle or registered weight over 26,000 pounds. The axle-count trigger is the one that catches carriers out, because it sits alongside the weight test rather than inside it.
Where to buy: Directly from SCDMV through the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal. SCDMV's Commercial Vehicles page states that as of May 6, 2024 IFTA and IRP trip permits are available for purchase directly from the SCDMV by individual customers.; First-time purchasers apply through the Trucking Portal for a username and password for the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal. The approval process may take up to 48 hours and the login details arrive by email.; Repeat purchasers follow the link to the Motor Carrier Services sign in portal and buy the permit there, supplying the vehicle VIN, registration or unit number, owner name, plate number, vehicle type, make, year, gross vehicle weight, axle count and state of registration, insurance policy number, company and policy dates, USDOT number, and FEIN.
Caught without one: SCDMV states the enforcement consequence on the credential side rather than as a fine schedule: a carrier caught without an IFTA licence and decal may have to buy a trip permit and may be cited by law enforcement.
Statute: S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 38-480

Worth knowing

The two permits answer different questions and a carrier short on both credentials needs both. SCDMV's manual puts it plainly: a trip permit is temporary registration for a carrier travelling to a state or province where it is not apportioned, and a fuel permit is for a commercial motor vehicle without current IFTA credentials for the states it is travelling through. South Carolina publishes no separate intrastate trip permit for a resident carrier: a carrier that does not travel out of state, travels out of state at 26,000 pounds or less with fewer than three axles, or travels out of state only on trip permits may instead be eligible for a South Carolina intrastate plate, which is recorded in the state IRP page.

Where these fit in the South Carolina permit stack

Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the South Carolina IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in South Carolina oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in South Carolina trucking permits.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for South Carolina?: Usually both, and they are separate purchases. The trip permit stands in for apportioned (IRP) registration and the fuel permit stands in for the IFTA license. If your cab card lists South Carolina and your IFTA decals are current, you need neither; the tables on this page carry each permit's terms with the official source.
When does buying temporary permits stop making sense?: Temporary permits price a single trip. A carrier running South Carolina lanes on a regular schedule comes out ahead adding the state to its IRP cab card and holding an IFTA license, because permit fees repeat on every trip while the annual credentials do not.
Can I buy these permits after entering the state?: No. Each credential on this page must be in place before the vehicle operates on South Carolina highways, and enforcement happens at roadside inspections and weigh stations. Buying from the state's own channel before the trip is the cheapest clean path.
Are permit-service prices the state fee?: No. Wire services and permit companies resell state permits with a service markup. The fees on this page are what South Carolina itself charges on its primary pages; anything above that is the middleman's fee, not the state's.

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.