It is not only widely accepted but widely expected that the Division of Motor Vehicles does not serve its customers well. The Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee will meet Thursday, Feb. 29 to address this and other topics with DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

When U.S. Army veteran Tyler Tickle moved to North Carolina from Ohio, he went to four DMV offices to get a license in his new state. Even though he arrived “as early as possible,” he was told he wouldn’t be seen that day, with employees recommending an appointment. Tickle experienced the inevitability of the online appointment system—none are available for three months. So, three months later, Tickle was back in the hopes of checking the requirement off his list.

“Zero out of 10,” he said. “I’m extremely unhappy with this whole DMV issue.”

Tickle’s experience is representative of what many customers encounter.

Customers run into multiple roadblocks when on the DMV’s website. They can’t always tell what services are available online. They receive instructions from the website and the email help desk that conflict with what they hear when they go to a driver’s license or license plate office. They often find appointments booked for the next three months because the DMV only provides appointments in the morning, which leads people to go early in the morning to their local office or drive hours away to an office they know has shorter turnarounds.

When people give up and go to the driver’s license office without an appointment, the in-person experience is also rife with frustrations. The DMV touts its “queue anywhere” system that lets people check-in with a QR code or text message and leave the line, but some offices do not display the code at all, others make it available only after noon. Some offices have the QR code inside and make it available only after verifying a customer has the right paperwork, while others have it in the parking lot. This means there is no clear measure of wait times from one office to another. Worse, nobody can check in from their home, something that restaurants and chain hair salons offer.

At least two people who spoke with legislative staff said the instructions they received at the office differed from what they found online or received by email.  One exasperated customer said, “I think if you get anything straightened out at the DMV, it’s a miracle.”

Not surprisingly, parents of new teen drivers are among the most frustrated. From the first learner’s permit to their full provisional license, teens must appear at the DMV three times in 18 months. Because the DMV’s online appointment book only goes out three months, they cannot set their next appointment when they are in the office, something any dentist’s office can do. Some of these visits could even be handled online.

“This office is a madhouse with people coming from all over the state,” one DMV employee said. “My people work hard, we get ’em in and get ’em out.”

Staff at driver’s license offices and license plate agencies are professional and courteous, making the best of a difficult situation and often instituting productivity hacks to improve customer service. The systemic fixes that are needed will require the DMV’s leadership to put the same emphasis on customers whether online or in person.

Thursday’s hearing will address a range of other issues DMV internally, with franchised license plate agencies, car dealers, and vendors that all impact customer service.

Despite the challenges, Rep. Howard Penny (R-Harnett, Johnston) is looking for progress at the committee meeting: “It is our job to make sure the DMV operates as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wayne Goodwin defended the DMV’s handling of two driver’s license controversies in his testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee Wednesday. Goodwin and Chief Deputy Commissioner Portia Manley told committee members the unusual process to select a driver’s license printing vendor was appropriate. Goodwin also addressed questions about a budget provision to extend the eight-year driver’s license renewal period to sixteen years.

Sixteen-Year Driver’s License Renewal Period

 The REAL ID Act of 2005 requires that state driver’s licenses cannot be valid longer than eight years. Goodwin said he did not realize this until after DMV made its legislative request in February 2023, but he was less than clear why legislators were not made aware of this. He said the original request was an attempt to reduce wait times at DMV offices. Goodwin did not directly address the portion of the provision that would allow unlimited online renewal of driver’s licenses, merely stating that a new photo is required every sixteen years.

Rep. Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell) pressed the timeline of awareness and communication.

McNeely, chair of the Transportation Committee, said he did not receive any communication asking that the provision be removed. Members of the committee asked for email communications to track the chain of requests.

“Lack of communication to the chairs is the problem,” McNeely said. “More eyes could have realized what was happening and made sure we corrected this. In the future we need to broaden our net as we cast it.”

Driver’s License Issuance Contract

Goodwin testified that appropriate procedures were followed in selecting CBN Secure Technologies as a new vendor to produce North Carolina’s driver’s licenses.

Only a small number of companies produce credentials that meet federal, state, and American Associate of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) requirements. He explained that DMV chose to interview three of five companies that met its initial criteria. After site visits and presentations in Raleigh, DMV officials chose CBN based on their secure technologies.

Goodwin defended the process DMV used to select the company. Citing Session Law 2021-134 (HB650) that allows DMV to exempt five information technology projects from DIT oversight and requirements to increase the speed of technology modernization projects.

North Carolina General Statute 20-7(n)(4) requires that a driver’s license must contain a color photograph. Goodwin testified that CBN can print in color, but the company prefers black-and-white based on industry standards and security best practices. He said passports and “half” of U.S. state driver’s licenses are black-and-white.  Goodwin said DMV’s request to add the words “or monochromatic” was rebuffed by “DOT leadership.”

Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Nash) raised concerns about data security given the CBN Secure Technologies is a global company. He further urged caution and a full, unrushed vetting process because of the importance of security.

Goodwin reiterated that the process used for selecting CBN Secure Technologies was in accordance with state law and included representatives from multiple departments. “No one person made the decision,” he said. “The decision relied upon the 2021 law…[was] discussed at the meetings earlier this year, is also based on recommendations of subject matter experts, it tracked DOT procurement and RFP process, and followed the direction, approval, and blessing of then-Secretary Boyette and our legal team.”

More to Come

Committee members were not satisfied with Goodwin and Manley’s responses on either issue. They requested more documentation of the procurement process and of communications related to the legislative provision. Chairman Harry Warren said the Committee also hopes to have the Commissioner back to discuss customer service at driver’s license offices.

Raleigh, NC – The House Oversight and Reform Committee has issued a letter to the Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and Deputy Commissioner Portia Manley requesting their appearance before the committee Wednesday, October 11, at 9:00 a.m. in the Legislative Building Auditorium.

The committee is investigating the process that DMV used to award a contract for printing driver’s license to Canadian company CBN Secure Technologies. DMV exempted the project from IT procurement oversight and did not use a competitive bidding process. Members will probe the process, timing, and rationale behind DMV’s decision. They will also pursue allegations that the vendor’s technology may not be able to produce driver’s licenses that comply with state law.

Additionally, the committee will seek to understand the reversal in Commissioner Goodwin’s support for extending the 8-year driver’s license renewal period to 16 years. Goodwin made the legislative budget request for DMV in February. Since the budget passed, however, the commissioner has spoken out against the provision, saying the extension violates federal REAL ID requirements. Members attempt to determine when DMV learned that the longer renewal period would not meet federal requirements, why it was not until after making the request, and why the agency did not make legislators aware sooner.

“One purpose of oversight is to examine if department officials are complying with the law,” said committee co-chair Rep. Jake Johnson. “We have to wonder whether this contract is even valid if the company cannot produce a legal state driver’s license. The speed and lack of oversight in awarding this contract also raise concerns related to the security of North Carolinians’ personally identifiable information.”

“The commissioner has provided little to back up his statements that 16-year license renewals do not comply with federal REAL ID requirements,” co-chair Rep. Harry Warren said. “To the extent that he is correct, it is not clear why it took until after he made the legislative request to learn this. We want to clear up the confusion.”