Oregon DMV reservation system ‘wholly inadequate,’ scrapped after first day

The Oregon DMV’s first attempt at allowing customers to book in-person appointments failed nearly instantly Monday, officials acknowledged, as the phone system was quickly overwhelmed by thousands of calls.

The state announced its new phone reservation system last week, marking the first attempt to allow people to access DMV services that aren’t available online – such as replacing a driver’s license -- during the coronavirus pandemic

It didn’t go well.

Tom Fuller, the state’s transportation spokesman, said the phone system was “wholly inadequate to handle the volume of calls” the state received Monday morning.

Fuller estimated the state received at least 18,000 calls within the first hour, completely overwhelming the 80 workers answering phones. The system capped out at 25,000 calls in the queue before crashing altogether. The state didn’t immediately have data available on how many people were able to schedule appointments. The average wait time was 2.5 hours, according to Fuller. Appointments were to be available starting Wednesday.

The DMV typically gets 8,000 calls per day.

“The system just crashed,” Fuller said. “We still have, believe it or not, people on hold,” he said just before 4 p.m.

“We knew the demand was going to be high, we just didn’t know it was going to be so high,” Fuller added. “We didn’t have a lot of confidence in it.”

Fuller said he’s not certain, but he believes it’s the same system used by the Employment Department, which has seen extremely long hold times throughout the pandemic.

“We apologize for the wait Oregonians have already endured due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the wait ahead as we begin working the pent up demand,” DMV Administrator Tom McClellan said in a subsequent statement. “We don’t know how long it will take to catch up with a backlog this huge, but we think it will take months especially with health and safety protocols in place. Please continue to see if you can get what you need online or by mail, and please be patient.”

Transportation officials said they’ve spent all day Monday working on a solution. They’d hoped it would be available Tuesday morning, but later revised that estimate to potentially Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

Kris Hancock, 55, was one of the thousands of frustrated callers.

Hancock hadn’t had a driver’s license in years after he said he was cited for multiple DUIs. But he cleaned up in recent years, he said, and was in the process of getting a new license before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Hancock’s wife has a debilitating back injury and it’s difficult for her to drive. She recently had to drive herself to the emergency room because Hancock didn’t have his license.

Hancock said he was told different things from different DMV workers about his issue but believed all he needed to finally regain his license was a new photo after passing his driver’s exams before the pandemic began.

He got through to a person on the phone tree at 8:07 a.m. but was put on hold and lost the call. “For the next couple hours, I would hear a ring sound, then get disconnected. Now, a message says we are not scheduling appointments until further notice,” he said.

The new system will allow people to submit forms online and subsequently get calls from the state to schedule appointments. It will be available on OregonDMV.com.

“Rather than have people call us we will be calling them,” Fuller said.

The state cautioned that call-backs could take some time due to the “historic demand.”

A grace period remains in effect for driver’s who have been unable to go to DMVs to replace lost licenses or conduct other services during the pandemic.

These are the services the state expects to have available if, and when, it’s in-person appointments occur.

•  Driver licensing and ID cards – originals, renewals and replacements, including passenger car and commercial licenses, and instruction permits
•  Driver knowledge tests
• Driving privilege reinstatements with a license issuance
•  Disabled parking placards
• VIN inspections for new-to-Oregon vehicles previously titled elsewhere
• Farm endorsements

Fuller said the agency takes responsibility for what was a difficult day for Hancock and other Oregonians.

“For us it’s kind of a mea culpa,” he said. “We’re going to do better tomorrow.”

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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