Did South Carolina volunteer firefighters need commercial driver’s licenses to drive a heavy fire truck?

Plain-English summary

The Modoc Volunteer Fire Department asked whether its members needed commercial driver's licenses to operate a newly purchased heavy pumper truck. In a September 2002 informal opinion, an Assistant Attorney General said the truck appeared to qualify as an authorized emergency vehicle. The then-existing commercial-license law exempted persons operating such vehicles, including volunteer department members in this situation.

The opinion began with the general requirement for commercial motor vehicle drivers and then applied the emergency-vehicle exception. Its conclusion concerned the fire department truck described in the request; it did not address unrelated heavy vehicles or other driver qualifications.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did the truck's heavy weight automatically require a commercial license? A: The AG said the emergency-vehicle exemption applied to the described pumper even though its weight placed it in the commercial-vehicle category.

Q: Did the exception include volunteer firefighters?
A: The opinion applied it to members of the requesting volunteer fire department operating that truck.

Q: Did the letter say every vehicle owned by a fire department was exempt? A: No. It analyzed the statutory definition of an authorized emergency vehicle and applied it to the truck described.

Background and statutory framework

The letter compared the exception in §56-1-2070 (C) with the authorized-emergency-vehicle definition in §56-5-170. It identified the department's pumper as fitting that definition for purposes of the commercial driver's license question.

Citations and references

• §56-1-2070 (C): exception to the commercial-license requirement.
• §56-5-170: authorized emergency vehicle definition.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/september-26-2002-1/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/02sept-26-rodman.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLES M . C O NDON
ATIORNEY GEN ERAL

September 26, 2002

l
Earl A. Rodman
Modoc Volunteer Fire Department
13 Confederate Road
Modoc, South Carolina 29838-9716

Re:

Your Letter of August 16, 2002

Dear Mr. Rodman:

In your above referenced letter, you state that the Modoc Volunteer Fire Department recently purchased a new 35,000 GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) pumper fire truck. Given that the fire truck has a gross vehicle weight rating greater than twenty-six thousand one pounds, the truck would be classified as a commercial motor vehicle, which subjects it to the provisions of the South Carolina Commercial Driver License Act. Thus, you ask whether members of a volunteer fire department need a commercial driver's license to operate an emergency vehicle.

LAW/ANALYSIS
S.C. Code Ann. §56-1-2070 (A) states the general rule that driving a commercial vehicle without a valid license is prohibited. However, S.C. Code Ann. §56-1-2070 (C) states the exception to the general rule that certain persons may operate commercial motor vehicles without a commercial driver' s license. Furthermore, subsection (3) explicitly exempts "persons operating authorized emergency vehicles as defined in Section 56-5-170" from having to obtain a commercial driver's license. In turning to S.C. Code Ann. §56-5-170, authorized emergency vehicles is defined as : Fire department vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances and rescue squad vehicles which are publicly owned, other emergency vehicles designated by the

R EMBERT

c. DENNIS B UILDING

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POST O FFICE Box 11 549

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COLUMB IA, S.C. 292 11 - 1549

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T EL EPHONE: 803-734-3970

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FACSIMILE: 803-253-6283

Mr. Rodman
September 26, 2002
Page 2

Department or the chief of police of a municipality, and public and private vehicles while transporting individuals actually engaged in emergency activities because of the membership of one or more occupants of a fire department, police department or rescue squad are "authorized emergency vehicles". Thus, it appears that the fire truck in question is considered an authorized emergency vehicle within the meaning of the statute. As such, S.C. Code Ann. §56-1-2070 (C)(3) would exempt certain persons, in this case, members of a volunteer fire department, from having to obtain a commercial driver's license so as to operate it. This letter is an informal opinion only. It has been written by a designated Assistant Attorney General and represents the position of the undersigned attorney as to the specific question asked. It has not, however, been personally scrutinized by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion.

David K. Avant
Assistant Attorney General
DKA/jbc