Certificate of Compliance

You may hear a Certificate of Compliance referred to as COC. A carrier is another name for a company.

The Certificate of Compliance (COC) is a certificate representing an intrastate for-hire motor carrier that has complied with the safety and insurance requirements of the SCDMV. A COC is issued to all intrastate for-hire motor carriers, except passenger carriers, household goods carriers, and hazardous waste for disposal carriers.

Certificate Classes

There are two types of Certificate Classes:

  1. Certificate Class E-L - A carrier that operates a motor vehicle to transport goods of extremely low value such as dump truck commodities. These commodities do not require cargo insurance.
  2. Certificate Class E-LC - A carrier that operates a motor vehicle to transport property, which is properly insured to carry any cargo.

You must complete the Application for Certificate of Compliance for Operation of for-hire Motor Vehicle Carriers (SCDMV Form COC).

Certificate of Compliance (COC) Requirements

When applying for a Certificate of Compliance (COC) the following requirements must be met:

  • The name on the COC application must match exactly with the name on both the insurance filings and the Articles of Incorporation/Organization from the South Carolina Secretary of State.
  • Any differences in the business name across these documents will result in rejection of the application.

Please review your documents to ensure consistency before submitting your application. 

Insurance Requirements

If you operate a freight vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 lbs. or more, the insurance requirements are:

  • $750,000 if transporting non-hazardous material
  • $5,000,000 if transporting hazardous material

If you operate a freight vehicle with a GVWR of less than 10,000 lbs., the insurance requirements are:

  • $300,000 if transporting non-hazardous material
  • $5,000,000 if transporting hazardous material

If you operate a carrier that requires E-LC coverage, $5,000 is the insurance limit for loss or damage to property carried on any one vehicle.