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SCDMV to Offer Modernized Test for Commercial Driver’s Licenses in North Charleston location
October 04, 2023
A modernized version of the commercial driver’s license (CDL) road test is being implemented for the first time in the Charleston area.
Beginning the week of Oct. 9, the branch office at 3790 Leeds Ave. in North Charleston will offer the new modernized commercial driver’s license skills test, with expansion to more DMV locations across South Carolina to come in future months.
This will be the fourth location to roll out the modernized test, which began being offered at the Kingstree and Conway offices in July and in Seneca in September. All these locations did not previously offer CDL testing.
As part of the changeover, the North Charleston branch office will stop offering examinations for class E and F driver’s licenses to make space for the commercial tests. Those license classifications often are sought by those operating RVs or RVs with tow-behind trailers. Those tests will continue to be offered at the Orangeburg branch office at 1720 Charleston Highway and at the Beaufort office at 28 Munch Drive.
Other testing locations across South Carolina will be implementing the modernized test throughout the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.
As with today’s version of the CDL test, the North Charleston branch will offer the new exam on an appointment-only basis for drivers wishing to operate large commercial vehicles.
The shift to the modernized exam will also result in CDL testing expanding from the current nine offices across the state to 18 offices when complete.
“SCDMV continues pushing forward with use of this modernized test and to add locations where testing for a commercial driver’s license is available,” said Kevin Shwedo, Executive Director of the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles.
The CDL test has been redesigned with new national standards that emphasize the modern technology that has come to trucking in recent years.
There have been no changes to the knowledge tests or requirements for obtaining a commercial learner’s permit.
A new manual has been published to help customers prepare for the revamped testing and can be found on the agency website under CDL Manual. It is also available for purchase at branch offices.
The cost of the application does not change with the switch to the modernized commercial test.
Customers who already have passed one or more parts of the three-part CDL exam cannot shift to a modernized test location and receive credit for sections of the traditional test that they completed successfully. The applicant could convey that credit to another traditional test location.
Appointments to take the modernized test can be made online: Schedule a Road Test.