South Carolina Code § 56-5-4140

Gross weight of vehicles, combinations of vehicles, and loads; exceptions.
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(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)
(a)
Single-unit vehicle with two axles
35,000 lbs.
(b)
Single-unit vehicle with three axles
46,000 lbs.
(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).
(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).
(e)
Combination of vehicles with three axle
50,000 lbs.
(f)
Combination of vehicles with four axles
65,000 lbs.
(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). 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:
Distance in feet
Maximum load in pounds carried
between the
on any group of 2
extremes of any
of 2 or more consecutive axles
group of 2 or
more consecutive
axles
2 axles
3 axles
4 axles
5 axles
6 axles
7 axles
4
35,200
5
35,200
6
35,200
7
35,200
8 and less
35,200
35,200
more than 8
38,000
42,000
9
39,000
42,500
10
40,000
43,500
11
44,000
12
45,000
50,000
13
45,500
50,500
14
46,500
51,500
15
47,500
52,000
16
48,000
52,500
58,000
17
48,500
53,500
58,500
18
49,500
54,000
59,000
19
50,500
54,500
60,000
20
51,000
55,500
60,500
66,000
21
51,500
56,000
61,000
66,500
22
52,500
56,500
61,500
67,000
23
53,000
57,500
62,500
68,000
24
54,000
58,000
63,000
68,500
74,000
25
54,500
58,500
63,500
69,000
74,500
26
55,500
59,500
64,000
69,500
75,000
27
56,000
60,000
65,000
70,000
75,500
28
57,000
60,500
65,500
71,000
76,500
29
57,500
61,500
66,000
71,500
77,000
30
58,500
62,000
66,500
72,000
77,500
31
59,000
62,500
67,500
72,500
78,000
32
60,000
63,500
68,000
73,000
78,500
33
64,000
68,500
74,000
79,000
34
64,500
69,000
74,500
80,000
35
65,500
70,000
75,000
36
68,000
70,500
75,500
37
68,000
71,000
76,000
38
68,000
71,500
77,000
39
68,000
72,500
77,500
40
68,500
73,000
78,000
41
69,500
73,500
78,500
42
70,000
74,000
79,000
43
70,500
75,000
80,000
44
71,500
75,500
45
72,000
76,000
46
72,500
76,500
47
73,500
77,500
48
74,000
78,000
49
74,500
78,500
50
75,500
79,000
51
76,000
80,000
52
76,500
53
77,500
54
78,000
55
78,500
56
79,500
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.

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