S 806

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 806
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION 56-5-4140, RELATING TO GROSS WEIGHT OF VEHICLES, COMBINATIONS OF
VEHICLES, AND LOADS, SO AS TO LIMIT THE GROSS WEIGHT OF FARM TRUCKS.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 56-5-4140 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
56-5-4140. (A)(1) The gross weight
of a vehicle or combination of vehicles, operated or moved upon any section of
highway, including the interstate highway system, except where the formula in
item (4) allows for a higher weight, shall not exceed:
    (The following weight
limits do not include applicable tolerances)
23
24
(a)
Single-unit vehicle with two axles
35,000 lbs.
25
(b)
Single-unit vehicle with three axles
46,000 lbs.
26
27
(c)
Single-unit vehicle with four axles
63,500 lbs.
    except, on the
interstate, vehicles must meet axle spacing requirements and corresponding
maximum overall gross weights, not to exceed 63,500 lbs., in accordance with
the table in item (4).
32
33
34
(d)
Single-unit vehicle with five or more axles
65,000 lbs.
    except, on the
interstate, vehicles must meet axle spacing requirements and corresponding
maximum overall gross weights, not to exceed 65,000 lbs., in accordance with
the table in item (4).
1
2
3
(e)
Combination of vehicles with three axle
50,000 lbs.
4
5
6
(f)
Combination of vehicles with four axles
65,000 lbs.
7
8
9
(g)
Combination of vehicles with five or more
  axles
73,280 lbs.
    The gross weight
imposed upon any highway or section of highway other than the interstate by two
or more consecutive axles in tandem articulated from a common attachment to the
vehicle and spaced not less than forty inches nor more than ninety-six inches apart
shall not exceed thirty-six thousand pounds, and no one axle of any such group
of two or more consecutive axles shall exceed the load permitted for a single
axle. The load imposed on the highway by two consecutive axles, individually
attached to the vehicle and spaced not less than forty inches nor more than
ninety-six inches apart, shall not exceed thirty-six thousand pounds and no one
axle of any such group of two consecutive axles shall exceed the load permitted
for a single axle.
    The ten percent
enforcement tolerance specified in Section 56-5-4160 applies to the vehicle
weight limits specified in item (1), and subsections (B),
and (C), and (D).
However, the gross weight on a single axle operated on the interstate may not
exceed 20,000 pounds, including all enforcement tolerances;  the gross weight
on a tandem axle operated on the interstate may not exceed 35,200 pounds,
including all enforcement tolerances;  the overall gross weight for vehicles
operated on the interstate may not exceed 75,185 pounds, including all
enforcement tolerances except as provided in item (4).
    (2)
Enforcement tolerance is fifteen percent for a vehicle or trailer transporting
unprocessed forest products only on noninterstate routes.
    (3)
Enforcement tolerance is fifteen percent for a vehicle or trailer transporting
sod only on noninterstate routes.
    (4)
Vehicles with an overall maximum gross weight in excess of 75,185 pounds may
operate upon any section of highway in the Interstate System up to an overall
maximum of 80,000 pounds in accordance with the following:
    The weight imposed
upon the highway by any group of two or more consecutive axles may not, unless
specially permitted by the Department of Public Safety, exceed an overall gross
weight produced by the application of the following formula:
    W = 500 (LN/N-1 + 12N
+ 36)
    In the formula W
equals overall gross weight on any group of two or more consecutive axles to
the nearest 500 pounds, L equals distance in feet between the extreme of any
group of two or more consecutive axles, and N equals number of axles in the
group under consideration.
    As an exception, two
consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 68,000 pounds if the
overall distance between the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of
tandem axles is 36 feet or more. The formula is expressed by the following table:
7
8
9
10
Distance in feet
Maximum load in pounds carried
11
between the
on any group of 2
12
13
14
extremes of any
of 2 or more consecutive axles
15
16
group of 2 or
17
18
more consecutive
19
axles
20
2 axles
3 axles
4 axles
5 axles
6 axles
7 axles
21
4
35,200
22
5
35,200
23
6
35,200
24
7
35,200
25
8 and less
35,200
35,200
26
more than 8
38,000
42,000
27
9
39,000
42,500
28
10
40,000
43,500
29
11
44,000
30
12
45,000
50,000
31
13
45,500
50,500
32
14
46,500
51,500
33
15
47,500
52,000
34
16
48,000
52,500
58,000
1
17
48,500
53,500
58,500
2
18
49,500
54,000
59,000
3
19
50,500
54,500
60,000
4
20
51,000
55,500
60,500
66,000
5
21
51,500
56,000
61,000
66,500
6
22
52,500
56,500
61,500
67,000
7
23
53,000
57,500
62,500
68,000
8
24
54,000
58,000
63,000
68,500
74,000
9
25
54,500
58,500
63,500
69,000
74,500
10
26
55,500
59,500
64,000
69,500
75,000
11
27
56,000
60,000
65,000
70,000
75,500
12
28
57,000
60,500
65,500
71,000
76,500
13
29
57,500
61,500
66,000
71,500
77,000
14
30
58,500
62,000
66,500
72,000
77,500
15
31
59,000
62,500
67,500
72,500
78,000
16
32
60,000
63,500
68,000
73,000
78,500
17
33
64,000
68,500
74,000
79,000
18
34
64,500
69,000
74,500
80,000
19
35
65,500
70,000
75,000
20
36
68,000
70,500
75,500
21
37
68,000
71,000
76,000
22
38
68,000
71,500
77,000
23
39
68,000
72,500
77,500
24
40
68,500
73,000
78,000
25
41
69,500
73,500
78,500
26
42
70,000
74,000
79,000
27
43
70,500
75,000
80,000
28
44
71,500
75,500
29
45
72,000
76,000
30
46
72,500
76,500
31
47
73,500
77,500
32
48
74,000
78,000
33
49
74,500
78,500
34
50
75,500
79,000
35
51
76,000
80,000
1
52
76,500
2
53
77,500
3
54
78,000
4
55
78,500
5
56
79,500
6
57
80,000
    (B)
On the interstate and noninterstate highways of this State, any over-the-road
bus as defined in Title 49 of the United States Code, motorhome, or any vehicle
which is regularly and exclusively used as an intrastate public agency transit
passenger bus as defined in Title 49 of the United States Code, is excluded
from the axle spacing requirements in subsection (A). However, these vehicles
are limited to a maximum single axle weight limit of twenty-four thousand
pounds, including all enforcement tolerances.
    (C)
Except on the interstate highway system:
       (1)
Dump trucks, dump trailers, trucks carrying agricultural products, concrete
mixing trucks, fuel oil trucks, line trucks, and trucks designated and
constructed for special type work or use are not required to conform to the
axle spacing requirements of this section. However, the vehicle is limited to a
weight of twenty thousand pounds for each axle plus scale tolerances and the
maximum gross weight of these vehicles may not exceed the maximum weight
allowed by subsection (A)(1) for the appropriate number of axles, plus
allowable scale tolerances.
       (2)
Concrete mixing trucks which operate within a fifteen-mile radius of their home
base are not required to conform to the requirements of this section. However,
these vehicles are limited to a maximum load of the rated capacity of the
concrete mixer, the true gross load not to exceed sixty-six thousand pounds.
All of these vehicles shall have at least three axles each with brake-equipped
wheels.
       (3)
Well-drilling, boring rigs, and tender trucks are not required to conform to
the axle spacing requirements of this section. However, the vehicle is limited
to seventy thousand pounds gross vehicle weight and twenty-five thousand pounds
for each axle plus scale tolerances.
    (D) On the noninterstate highways of
this State, a farm truck is limited to a maximum weight limit of ninety thousand
pounds, including all enforcement tolerances.
SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on January 14, 2026 at 01:52 PM