It’s been just over a year since the first shutdowns due to the COVID-19 global pandemic happened. These shutdowns impacted many parts of the overall automotive industry, including automakers, vehicle dealers and, of course, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs).
As a result of closures, limited staff and limited hours during the last year, DMVs continue to face significant backlogs – which often means delays, confusion and frustration for the companies looking to get the proper title and registration for their vehicles. While there are some unique challenges businesses when it comes to such title-and-registration work, there are also some evolving technologies that can potentially help these businesses as they navigate this workflow.
ACERTUS’ specialized title-and-registration team has taken inventory of where things stand with title and registration today, what particular obstacles are facing companies that require these services and how best such companies can move forward.
Backlogs Continue, Especially for Businesses
No matter what state, province or locality, companies are still looking at serious delays in terms of title-and-registration work. This is largely a result of the hefty backlogs that have developed since March 2020, when DMV shutdowns started to occur as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. When DMV locations finally started to open across both the US and Canada, they had very limited hours and, oftentimes, limited staff working during those hours. Additionally, when those offices started to reopen, they were primarily focused on working through the already extensive backlogs and couldn’t work through newer requests efficiently.
Since that time, even as most DMVs have fully opened with regular hours and regular staff, backlogs have continued, particularly for businesses looking to title and register their fleet vehicles. DMVs regularly prioritize individuals over companies, which only leads to more delays for businesses who need to complete this work and move forward with their other business operations. It can also lead to quite a bit of confusion, as individuals vehicle owners working for these companies are able to successfully get their personal title-and-registration services taken care of but cannot understand why there are delays when it comes to their companies’ vehicles.
Fortunately, despite all these challenges businesses face with their fleet title-and-registration needs, there are a number of ways these companies can mitigate delays and progress forward with these vehicle services.
More Areas Now Offering Direct Connections & Digital Services
Despite all these ongoing backlogs and challenges, there are a few key ways for companies to forge ahead and work around many complications, additional fees or unnecessary service fees. Crucially, vehicle title-and-registration experts ask that companies get their fleet paperwork done as early and as accurately as possible. Any errors, blank spaces, inconsistencies or mistakes in documentation like title applications or vehicle-registration renewals only adds further time and delays to the already slow-moving title-and-registration process.
But apart from just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, companies can potentially streamline and simplify their overall title-and-registration process by opting for digital services wherever and whenever they are offered. A handful of states have expanded their service offerings to include digital options, which doesn’t remove all need for hard-copy paperwork – such as with certificates of title – but does minimize that need and make the larger process much simpler.
Beyond that, many title-and-registration providers actually employ tech-based solutions to help the companies it works with address their fleets’ titling and vehicle-registration needs and push past DMV delays. In fact, ACERTUS’ team has established electronic integration between its own system and various states’ systems, which allows for such digital-based service. This means, when companies partner with ACERTUS and operate in these states, they can achieve faster and more efficient processing of critical title-and-registration documentation.
Currently, these are the 13 states with which ACERTUS has digital connections:
California
Connecticut
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Utah
Virginia
Selecting a Title-and-Registration Partner
More than a year out from the start of the pandemic and initial DMV shutdowns, companies are still dealing with delays on their vehicles’ title-and-registration needs. However, there are a few key ways to move through these obstacles and successfully get this workload completed. In particular, expert providers like ACERTUS can help companies stay on top of this work, while also checking for any errors or inconsistencies, ensuring all paperwork – whether submitted in-person or online – is accomplished on time and accurately.
Beyond having decades of experience and its own proprietary technology, ACERTUS has working partnerships with DMVs across both the US and Canada and a team that’s dedicated to simplifying and streamlining the overall title-and-registration process for businesses and their unique fleets.
Learn more about ACERTUS’ title-and-registration services, as well as its full range of fleet-management solutions and vehicle logistics options – including compliance, car haul, drive-away services, care and maintenance and more – at https://acertusdelivers.com. To connect with one of our team members or receive a pricing quote, contact us here or call us at this phone number: 855-ACERTUS (855-223-7887).
