DOT Physicals in Charleston, SCCertified Same Day.
Driver Back to Work.
FMCSA certified medical examiners, on site at both Charleston clinics. Walk in, no appointment, and your driver leaves qualified the same day.$100 flat — and $0 for Holy City Med members and Workforce+ employees.
Does Your Driver Need a DOT Physical?
The rule is about the vehicle, not the licence. This is where most Charleston employers get caught out.
The most common mistake: “No CDL, so no physical needed.”
A CDL is required at 26,001 lbs. A DOT physical is required at 10,001 lbs. That gap catches box trucks, contractor pickups pulling trailers, dump trucks, tow trucks and staffing-agency vans every single day — and the driver still needs a valid medical certificate.
10,001 lbs or more
Gross vehicle or combination weight rating — or the actual loaded weight, whichever is greater.
9+ passengers for pay
Shuttles, crew transport and paid passenger vans carrying more than 8 people plus the driver.
16+ passengers, unpaid
Church buses, non-profit and community transport carrying 15 or more plus the driver.
Placarded hazmat
Any size vehicle carrying hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placarding.
Some operations are excepted — government vehicles, school buses, fire and rescue, certain farm and custom-harvest work. Not sure where your fleet lands? Call us and we will walk through it with you.
Straightforward Packages,No Guesswork.
Most people only need the first one. The rest exist so a fleet can onboard a driver in a single visit instead of three.
- Full FMCSA medical examination
- Vision, hearing, blood pressure & urinalysis
- Certificate issued the same day
- $0 for HCM members
- Everything in DOT Card
- DOT pre-employment drug test
- Federal chain of custody & MRO review
- Both done in one visit
- Everything in CDL New Hire
- PPD (TB) skin test
- Add vaccinations or X-ray if required
- All paperwork returned together
- Same FMCSA exam, no CDL required
- For drivers over 10,001 lbs
- Driver carries the paper certificate
- We will confirm whether yours qualifies
- No invoicing, no monthly billing cycle
- Managed recertification calendar
- Send drivers in without booking ahead
- One point of contact for all paperwork
Walk in and leave qualified.
DOT physicals included in membership.
West Ashley & North Charleston.
Straight pricing, no claims, no surprises.
The exam, and what to bring with you.
Most drivers are in and out inside 30 minutes. Turning up prepared is the single biggest thing that stops a certification going “pending”.
Vision
20/40 in each eye with or without correction, 70° field, and colour recognition for traffic signals. Bring your glasses or contacts.
Hearing
Forced whisper at five feet in the better ear, or an audiometric test. Bring hearing aids if you use them.
Blood Pressure
Determines how long your certificate runs — two years, one year, or a shorter monitoring period. Bring your medication list.
Urinalysis
Screens for protein, blood and sugar — a health check for kidney disease and diabetes. This is not a drug test.
What to Bring to Your DOT Physical.
Turning up without paperwork is the single most common reason a certification goes “pending” — which means a second trip. Five minutes of prep saves it.
Print the one-page checklist
Hand it to a driver before their appointment, or attach it to your onboarding pack.
What’s Different in South Carolina.
South Carolina follows the federal medical standard with no leniency. A few local details catch Charleston fleets out.
No intrastate escape hatch
South Carolina does not offer an “excepted intrastate” category. A driver cannot self-certify out of a DOT physical by staying inside the state.
No state medical waiver
There is no SC vision, diabetes or seizure waiver programme. Drivers who cannot meet the standard apply to FMCSA for a federal exemption instead.
Charleston port drayage counts as interstate
A container leg off the terminal is part of an interstate journey even if the truck never leaves the county. Local mileage does not make it intrastate.
South Carolina allows an intrastate CDL from age 18 with a “K” restriction — meaning cargo must start and finish inside the state. That effectively locks 18 to 20 year olds out of port drayage work.
Everything Else Your Driver Might Need.
Holy City Med members and Workforce+ employees pay the member rate. Add any of these to a DOT physical in the same visit.
Certified Medical Examiners, On the National Registry.
Federal rules require a DOT physical to be performed by a medical examiner listed on the FMCSA National Registry. A certificate from anyone else is not valid. We have several on staff, so you are not waiting on one person’s calendar.
Dr. Barry Weissglass, MD
Supervising Physician. Dual board-certified in Family Medicine and Occupational Medicine, with 40+ years of clinical experience and prior leadership at Carolina Center for Occupational Health.
Cassandra Passamonte, PA-C
Urgent care, primary care and occupational medicine. With Holy City Med since 2023, based at West Ashley with floating cover at North Charleston.
Brian Elston, MPAS, PA-C
Family medicine, urgent care and orthopedics, and conversationally proficient in Spanish. North Charleston on Mondays, West Ashley on Thursdays.
Between them, our certified examiners cover both clinics across the full week — so a walk-in driver is not waiting for one provider to be on shift.
DOT Physical Questions, Answered
What Charleston drivers and fleet managers ask us most often.
North Charleston & West Ashley Locations
Walk in to either location — no appointment, no wait.
Serving members across West Ashley, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, James Island, Summerville, Goose Creek, Park Circle, Johns Island, and the greater Lowcountry.
North Charleston
5479 N. Rhett Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29406
Mon–Fri 8AM–8PM
Sat 8AM–5PM
West Ashley
2039 Savannah Highway
Charleston, SC 29407
Mon–Fri 8AM–8PM
Sat 8AM–5PM
Certified examiners, same day.
No appointment needed.
Two Charleston clinics. Certificate in hand before you leave.