In a one-on-one interview with WRAL 5 On Your Side, newly appointed Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner Paul Tine promised shorter wait times and fewer headaches for North Carolinians in need of DMV services.
“It’s going to get better,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in the job if I didn’t believe I could make a serious impact.”
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Tine, a longtime resident of Dare County, is a former state representative and owner of Midgett Insurance Agency in Kitty Hawk. It was that coupling of government and private experience which Tine says led former North Carolina Commissioner of Labor Josh Dobson to suggest Tine apply.
Gov. Josh Stein and Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins both stressed the importance of selecting someone with a strong background in business efficiency during their search. Tine beat out more than 40 other candidates and was officially selected in April.
A month into the job, Tine tells WRAL News he’s currently working on 85 DMV projects. Many of the projects are aimed at combating service delays, which Tine has experienced firsthand.
“My son had his learner’s (permit) expire because he wasn’t able to get into an appointment,” Tine said.
If admitting there’s a problem is the first step to a solution, Tine is well on his way.
“It’s as broken as everyone thinks it is,” he said.
The commissioner has already made meaningful, albeit smaller improvements like providing new uniforms to employees, and increasing their pay by changing the classifications status of long-serving examiners. In a direct response to employee frustrations, Tine purchased new scanning machines, after employees complained about the slow-moving machines, which often took minutes rather than seconds to execute tasks.
“Think about it this way, if we can reduce that time from a minute or a minute and a half to about 20 seconds, and then multiply that by all the documents and every person using the scanner every day. That’s significant change,” Tine said.
On the customer service side, Tine implemented several changes to improve the experience. He purchased water bottles for DMV offices to offer customers while they wait, adding a small but appreciated comfort. He called a video of a long line of customers waiting outside on a Saturday morning “heartbreaking.”
Additionally, the DMV revamped its website and removed the wait time tracker, which had frequently misled customers by showing estimated waits of 30 minutes or less, only for them to end up waiting for hours.
“It just wasn’t accurate. We weren’t counting the people who were waiting in line to get into the queue,” he explained.
Soon, Tine says wait times will drop thanks to a more streamlined queuing system set to launch this summer. The updated system will include capacity limits, which will eliminate the likelihood of residents waiting in line for hours only to be turned away near the end of the day.
“This next update will have limits, just like at a restaurant, they know how many tables and seats they have,” Tine said. We will know “how many people we can serve inside.”
Tine also plans to shift some appointments to later in the day to make room for more morning walk-ins. But until that happens, he’s asking North Carolinians to avoid the DMV, if they can.
“If you don’t have to come right now, please don’t,” Tine said, explaining that the DMV needs time for these changes to translate into shorter lines.
In addition to Tine’s initial steps, he and Stein are hoping the governor's state budget proposal, which includes funding for 61 new license examiners, three new offices, and 24 additional employees to help staff the new building, passes. The House version of the state budget included those line items, but the state Senate’s did not. When asked what he would do if the money wasn’t approved, Tine said he is working hard to ensure that doesn’t happen.
“I’ll go lobby the legislature, I’ll talk to the secretary, I’ll go talk to HR, I’ll talk to budget, anybody who might be in the way of what we need to be successful. I’ll work hard to overcome those objections,” he said.
Previous requests to increase staffing have been denied. But Tine takes it in stride and is confident that the meaningful changes residents have called for will materialize. Promising that in a years’ time, an average DMV experience will be more tolerable.
“It’s going to be more predictable,” Tine said. “The lines should be lower, if they’re not, they’ll at least be faster.”
In the meantime, Tine is asking frustrated residents to voice their concerns and ideas at ncdmv.gov by clicking on “help.”