Drivers license renewal time - nearly 5 hours

Published August 26, 2016

by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, published in The Rocky Mount Telegram, August 24. 2-16

I  walked into the Division of Motor Vehicles office on Avent Ferry Road at 9:20 a.m.

The line for a ticket was 30 people deep and every chair in the waiting area was filled. Another dozen customers stood along the walls. I learned later that about 100 people waited outside when the office opened at 8 a.m.

In a major – and growing – metropolitan area, that location is one of the busier offices in the state.

I reached the counter to get a ticket at 10:02 a.m. – 42 minutes after I arrived. My number – “D532.”

Customers arriving at the ticket counter were told the office was “very short staffed” or some variation of that. I was told the wait would be about 90 minutes.

The employee behind the counter encouraged customers to make appointments, but the earliest times available were two weeks away.

I entered the waiting area, which would become my resting place for the next four hours. One recently married woman simply needed to change her name on her license. A man wanted a veteran designation put on his. They waited with me.

At 10:15 a.m., “D513” was called, meaning my turn was 19 Ds away. (The DMV uses several other letters as well.) At 10:22, they called “D514.” At that rate, it would be 2 hours and 6 minutes before my number was called.

It became obvious the office was understaffed. Of 11 stations in the back, no more than five were manned as far as I could tell. Usually, it was fewer than that. A couple of employees giving road tests came in and out.

At about 12:18 p.m., with 15 to 20 customers waiting in line for tickets, the guy at the front counter announced that they were finished issuing tickets for the day. “We’re at capacity,” he said. “We have to serve all these people here.”

At 12:23 p.m., only two employees served customers in the back. Others were on lunch breaks.

By early afternoon, customers who had waited for hours joked with each other.

“Could they at least have some toys we could play with?” a grown man asked.

Another man ordered a pizza from a restaurant next door and brought it into the office. He gave his leftovers to an appreciative young family sitting nearby.

By about 2 p.m., numbers were being called at such a slow pace that customers applauded others whose numbers came up. My number was called at 2:15, nearly five hours after I arrived.

The employee who served me was pleasant and efficient, and I walked out of the office at 2:23 p.m.

Two days later, I mentioned my experience at a reporters’ roundtable attended by business folks. The news traveled fast. Within a couple of hours, I received a phone call from a DMV spokeswoman. Two days later, Josh Ellis, Gov. Pat McCrory’s top spokesman, called as well, having heard that I was writing this column. I also spoke with Wayne Branch, interim deputy DMV commissioner, as well as a top Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

They were concerned, as customer service has been a main focus of McCrory’s administration, and he faces a tough re-election challenge against Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.

DMV officials apologized for my wait and told me it was far from the norm. They acknowledged that significant changes with DMV computer systems designed to enhance customer service have taken longer than expected to implement. Some examiners resisted the changes and left their jobs. Today, the DMV is about 55 examiners short across the state. This year’s state budget includes nearly $3 million to hire 95 additional workers, who are being hired and trained now.

The DMV is strongly encouraging motorists to do their business through the DMV website, as fewer customers in DMV offices, combined with additional workers, should reduce wait times. Also, new self-service kiosks provide customers with access to online services in busy DMV locations.

The agency also has launched a broad marketing campaign – including social media, radio ads and billboards – to educate residents about online services. (And yes, I could have renewed my license online, along with hundreds of thousands of other customers who visit offices instead.)

DMV officials also said that for the first time, they can track wait times to better respond to problems. I’d like to hear your DMV stories – good and bad.

And please use the services available online.

I undoubtedly will next time.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/Columnists/2016/08/24/Patrick-Gannon-Driver-s-license-renewal-time-nearly-5-hours.html

August 26, 2016 at 9:59 am
Richard L Bunce says:

Government at work... Amazon or Google would get you renewed license applied for online delivered to your home or workplace in an hour...

August 26, 2016 at 10:47 am
Diane Shore says:

I guess I'm very jaded, the first thing to come to my mind is to question if this is part and parcel of attempting to thwart citizens from being able to obtain required indentification before the very important election we are facing. Considering the gerrymandering that has taken place, it really isn't a stretch, is it.