By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we can’t help but be reminded about some of the great holiday stories that get told and re-told over some eggnog and cookies by the fire.

Who can forget the classic movie “ A Christmas Story,” where little Ralphie has his heart set on getting a fabulous specialty license plate from the Motor Vehicle Division?

Yes, a small tear comes to the eye just remembering the tender emotions that well up at such a request. Or maybe we had dust in our eye. Yeah, that was it … dust. Really.

Well, at least that’s how we remember it; Ralphie spending 90 minutes we’ll never get back hoping and praying for a plate for the Old Man’s car.

Now before you check Wikipedia to dispute our recollection, hear us out on this because getting a specialty plate as a gift is actually a terrific idea since they look great and proceeds to go to worthy causes.

Ordering online is the best way. Just go to ServiceArizona.com, where you’ll see more than 40 specialized plate styles. Themes include honoring veterans, organ donation awareness, environmental causes, tribal programs, university scholarships and support of charitable organizations for professional sports franchises, among many others.

Anyone can buy a plate for another person. All you need are the last two digits of the vehicle identification number, the customer name and address and the number of the plate being replaced. The new plate will come in the mail.

It’s a deal too. Specialty plates typically cost $25 with an annual $25 renewal fee. Of that, $17 is directed each year to the charitable cause or service the plate represents. Personalizing a specialty plate does cost a little more.

By now, Ralphie’s grown up and he probably has all the specialty plates he wants. We hope you want one too because last year these plates raised almost $10 million for Arizona worthy causes, and helping others is what the holidays are all about.

NOTE: Today’s blog, includes a version in Spanish at the bottom of this webpage.

By Lourdes Lerma / ADOT Communications

Did you know that if you sell a vehicle you are liable for it until the new owner transfers ownership at a MVD or Third Party Provider?

Imagine this:

You sold, donated or traded in your vehicle. The new owner promises you he/she will transfer the title into his/her name first thing in the morning, and you agreed.

Well, title was never transferred into the new owner’s name; perhaps the vehicle was abandoned, involved in a crash or used to commit a crime. Weeks pass, and because you are still the owner of record you receive an Abandoned Vehicle Notification from MVD stating that you owe $500 or $600 for in abandoned vehicle fees and you won’t be able to conduct any transactions with the MVD until the issue is resolved.

The easy way to avoid this scenario is to immediately complete a Sold Notice at AZMVDNow.gov as soon as you transfer ownership of a vehicle. It's free, and it's the law.

Learn more about this topic at www.azdot.gov/mvd/vehicleservices/abandoned-vehicles.

¿Vendiste tu vehículo y ahora tienes que pagar una multa?

¿Sabías que si vendes un vehículo, tú eres responsable por él hasta que se transfiera el título de propiedad en MVD o Proveedor Independiente Autorizado?

Imagínate esto: Vendiste, donaste o intercambiaste tu vehículo; el nuevo dueño te promete transferir el título a primera hora en la mañana…tú estás de acuerdo. Bien, el título nunca se transfirió a nombre del nuevo dueño; a lo mejor el vehículo fue abandonado, estuvo involucrado en un choque o se utilizó para cometer un crimen. Ya pasaron varias semanas, y porque tú eres el propietario en el récord de MVD, recibes una carta notificándote que el vehículo fue abandonado y que debes pagar una multa de $500 o $600 dólares, y lo peor de todo, que no podrás realizar ningún trámite con MVD hasta que el asunto sea resuelto.

La manera más fácil de evitar este escenario es completar de manera inmediata una Notificación de Venta (Sold Notice por su nombre en inglés) en AZMVDNow.gov. Encuentra más información sobre este tema en: www.azdot.gov/mvd/vehicleservices/abandoned-vehicles.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

Here at the ol’ ADOT Communications ranch, we’ve been thinking about this internet thing and agree that it probably has a future.

What got us to thinking about technology is a birthday. Yep, one of our most important services, ServiceArizona.com, just turned 20 years old.

In our humble opinion, ServiceArizona.com rocks.

When it all began in November 1997, “Harry Potter” books hit the shelves, Mariah Carey ruled the radio and one of the biggest toys was … the “Bendoodles Collectibles.” Yeah, we don’t remember that one either.

ServiceArizona Kiosk

But while Bendoodles gather dust, Mariah does better in Vegas these days and Harry is all grown up, ServiceArizona.com has not only endured, it’s thrived.

The first day was not really auspicious. There were a whopping 125 transactions; 124 of which were done on a phone voice response system and the rest … OK, one, was actually online.

It got better.

In fact, in the past 20 years, ServiceArizona.com has handled more than 115 million transactions. That’s… well, it’s a lot.

More than half of the things you need to do with MVD can be done at ServiceArizona.com. The most popular transaction is vehicle registration renewal, which accounts for about 220,000 transactions every month. Other features include ordering a duplicate license or ID, getting a temporary operating permit, posting a sold notice, changing address information, getting a plate refund and many others.

Since 2016, features have been added allowing customers to update their vehicles' insurance information, reinstate canceled or lapsed insurance and order veteran specialty plate online. In 2018, more options will be added, including the ability to complete vehicle titles online.

Sadly, one thing ServiceArizona.com can’t do is accept birthday presents. There’s no place to hang a tie, put on cologne or wear a really neat sweater. Of course, if you sent some ice cream and cake, we might find a way to take care of that.

By John Halikowski / ADOT Director

We live in a digital world. This is ever so true at the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division. A recent analysis of MVD customer traffic for the 2017 fiscal year showed an upsurge in online usage at ServiceArizona.com and at kiosks. This uptick in customer traffic equaled the same level of traffic as we’d expect at two large urban “brick and mortar” MVD offices. In other words, more MVD business is being conducted in cyberspace, reducing the need to build more physical offices.

In fiscal year 2017, ServiceArizona.com and kiosk traffic accounted for a combined 7.9 million customer transactions such as vehicle registration renewals, ordering specialty license plates and updating insurance information. That’s an increase of about 286,000 online transactions compared to the previous fiscal year, which is approximately how many transactions two typical physical locations in Phoenix or Tucson will handle.

I commend our MVD employees who have embraced the Arizona Management System, a system designed to problem solve and improve customer service. I have written about the reduced wait times at MVD offices, which customers now can expect to spend 25 minutes less time in our urban offices. We have instituted online appointments for road tests, installed the means to update crucial auto insurance information and allowed veterans’ specialty license plates to be ordered online. Coming next year is the introduction of electronic title registration. Customers won’t have to come to a MVD office to conduct vehicle title registrations; such transactions can be done at home or office settings through a secure, electronic portal. We want people out of line and safely on the road.

All of these improvements ensure our customers, Arizona taxpayers, are receiving quality services and we are using resources efficiently.

It is indeed a digital world. The more online services MVD can provide ensures we are meeting our customers’ needs and on their schedule. It’s making transportation personal.

This post originally appeared on ADOT Director John Halikowski's
LinkedIn page. He has led the agency since 2009.

By Jennifer Bowser Richards / ADOT Motor Vehicle Division

ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division has made incredible improvements across the board, earning shout-outs from Governor Doug Ducey, a visit from the Singapore Institute of Technology and plenty of awards.

Like all of ADOT, MVD is constantly evaluating its services to better serve customers. Here are some highlights:

• Door-to-door customer time averages a mere 24 minutes in urban offices.
• Urban offices now open at 7:30 a.m.
• ServiceArizona kiosk usage has increased to around 50,000 monthly transactions.
• Road tests may now be scheduled online.
• Paperwork has been reduced:
  • Getting a Motor Vehicle Record no longer requires an application.
  • Customers in need of a new or replacement ID or driver license now use a simpler application.

Between September 2016 and July 2017, MVD’s call centers have decreased total wait times from an average of 28 minutes to 11 minutes and decreased customer service response times from 24-48 hours to seven hours.

A number of changes have been made to ServiceArizona.com:

• Road test appointment scheduler: Customers now schedule an appointment to take a road test.
• Kiosks: 26 new cash kiosks were brought online and kiosks can now print Off-Highway Vehicle decals.
• Non-use affidavit: The paper process to certify a vehicle isn't in use has been made electronic.
• Insurance Update and Reinstatement: This allows customers to verify an insurance policy on file, reinstate following a lapse and supply vehicle insurance information.

A great deal has been accomplished over the past year, and there are many exciting developments on the horizon.

MVD is committed to getting customers “out of the line and safely on the road.”

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

As the old song goes: “We got trouble, right here in River City. Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with D as in DMV!”

OK, so before we get too carried away with Broadway musicals, let’s um… set the stage.

There is no DMV in Arizona. Instead, we have the Motor Vehicle Division, or MVD for short.

So when you need our services and look for us online, you might be tempted to do a web search for “Arizona DMV”. That may get you in some trouble.

With a capital T.

That’s because a soulless computer will not kindly correct your “DMV” web search to account for that tiny but important distinction between DMV and MVD. So you may find yourself sent to a web service that is NOT affiliated with Arizona’s MVD.

You might well say, “So what?” to such rigid semantics.

But it really does make a difference because some of those “DMV” websites are out to make a buck and will charge you for services that might otherwise be free. Or, if you’re really under a bad cloud, there are some other sites that are outright scams and put you at risk for ID theft or some other nonsense that nobody wants to think about.

So what’s the solution?

Glad you asked.

ServiceArizona.com.

ServiceArizona.com is the only authorized web provider for the Arizona MVD. It’s secure, works great day and night, and more than half of the things you need to do at MVD can be done on ServiceArizona.com with more on the way.

Now, we’d like to find a song that celebrates the letter S for ServiceArizona.com, but we came up with Nada, which by the way starts with N, so that’s out.

But there are no letters in ServiceArizona that rhyme with T, which stands for Trouble and that confirms the fact that using ServiceArizona.com should give you no trouble at all.

In River City, or anywhere else.