HADA associate members work with C&C of Honolulu’s DMV to address a problem
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all Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins, Jr. laments that government programs “cannot be changed no matter how maladaptive they are.” Indeed, Honolulu’s DMV, like many DMV systems around the country, with its legacy software, has proven to be maladaptive, unable to adjust to the need for speed in vehicle registrations. Its Cobol programming seems like it was born in the punch card days of computers. Change is difficult. HADA associate members from Manheim/Cox Automotive and TAGS met with City and County Honolulu’s DMV officials August 30, 2016. The first problem tackled? The weight algorithm in the City’s computer had a small variance with the weight on the vehicle’s hardcopy paperwork—the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin—the document some call the vehicle’s official birth certificate. So who cares if your bathroom scale is a little different from the one at the doctor’s office? Since some County and State vehicle taxes are based on the vehicle’s weight, it’s important to have consistency between all systems. The weights for the computer program were provided by a national third party data company and sometimes this data was delayed, causing a delay in the registration of the vehicle. Delays at DMV are something that both HADA and DMV officials want fixed.
L-R (counterclockwise) are Wayne Chow, with the C&C’s IT division, Donna Smallwood, HADA member and owner of TAGS, with DMV officials Randall Young, Bea Okami, administrator Galen Onouye, and Preston Ko. Ray Sperle, far right, and Greg LeLesch, center, of Manheim/Cox Automotive are a shown at August 30, 2016 meeting at the City and County of Honolulu’s DMV offices.
At the meeting, a solution to the weight problem was worked out. The good working relationship with HADA and DMV officials is starting to solve problems. Full, speedy online vehicle registration, and lien and title transfer is the big enchilada that remains an elusive goal—one that’s been out there for 16 years. Some states are moving to mandatory EVR and ELT –something that would affect both dealerships and financial institutions. So…. will this save Western Civilization Mr. Jenkins? We’d say, it’s a start.
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