Blog
Florida Addresses TRALA Concerns in Report on Central Licensing Proposal
- By: Shannon Davison
- On: 01/08/2013 13:08:59
- In: Legislative Bulletins
As the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) moves forward with plans for a license plate redesign and transition to a central issuance process for license plates and decals, DHSMV has made several changes to its report and recommendation specifically to address TRALA concerns. In its final concept paper on the topic, DHSMV agrees that the vehicle renting and leasing industry requires expedited service and delivery of credentials; the industry cannot operate using temporary tags because vehicles could be anywhere in a matter of days; and a vendor would need to ensure that credentials are delivered to the renting/leasing company address, and not the customer's address.
TRALA and its allies in Florida engaged the DHSMV through multiple letters and conference calls over the past few months, going into great detail about our concerns and how the proposal could negatively affect the industry. Upon first learning of the potential move to a central issuance process, TRALA was concerned about the potential elimination of next-day delivery of credentials; members being forced to use temporary credentials, which is not viable for our industry; loss of business for TRALA members due to trucks not being properly credentialed in a timely manner; potential increase in cost for guaranteed expedited delivery of credentials; credentials inadvertently being shipped to the customer's address as opposed to the TRALA member's address.
TRALA had the opportunity to review a draft concept paper and provide even more feedback to DHSMV before a final version of the paper was made public and circulated around the Florida legislature. After TRALA reiterated some concerns in response to the draft paper, DHSMV acknowledged and agreed with them, and committed to ensuring that any future vendor satisfies TRALA members' needs through the inclusion of heading H. Fleets, on page 22 in this document. As you will see in the document, DHSMV recommends a transitional central issuance - two year replacement process for the redesign and issuance of the new license plates. As DHSMV explains in the document, "This option would allow for the initial distribution of the redesigned license plate within two years and the license plates mailed to the customer from a central location. After all regular license plates are replaced; tax collectors, private tag agencies and dealers would then issue regular license plates."
The release of this document is just one of the early steps involved in moving to the transitional central issuance process; the Florida legislature must pass legislation authorizing these changes. TRALA will continue to be involved with this issue as it moves forward. TRALA appreciates the opportunity to work closely with Mary Lou Rajchel, President & CEO of the Florida Trucking Association on this issue. Please contact TRALA's Joe Sculley at jsculley@trala.org or by calling (703) 299-9120 if you have any questions.