(A) All vehicles except those vehicles designated in § 56-3-780 are designated as distinct classifications and must be assigned an annual registration period as follows:

(1) Classification (1). Vehicles for which the biennial registration fee is one hundred sixty dollars or more. The Department of Motor Vehicles may register and license a vehicle for which the biennial registration fee is one hundred sixty dollars or more or for a semiannual or one-half year upon application to the department by the owner and the payment of one-fourth of the specified biennial fee. Biennial registrations and licenses expire at midnight on the last day of the twenty-fourth month for the period for which they were issued. Semiannual or half-year registrations and licenses expire at midnight of the sixth month for the period for which they were issued and no person shall drive, move, or operate a vehicle upon a highway after the expiration of the registration and license until the vehicle is registered and licensed for the then current period. Trucks, truck tractors, or road tractors with an empty or unloaded weight of five thousand pounds or less, or gross vehicle weight of eight thousand pounds or less also must be placed in this classification but may not be registered for less than a full biennial period.

(2) Classification (2). Other vehicles. All other vehicles except those vehicles described in classification (1) and (3) of this section are assigned a staggered biennial registration which expires on the last day of the month for the period for which they were issued.

(3) Classification (3). Large commercial motor vehicles and buses registered by motor carriers, as defined in § 12-37-2810, are assigned a staggered annual registration which expires on the last day of the month for the period for which they were issued.

(B) Notwithstanding the registration periods provided in this section, upon appropriate notice, the department may revise the established renewal dates to allow renewals to be assigned an expiration date pursuant to a staggered monthly basis.