O鈥橣ALLON, Mo. 鈥 Jessica McBenge packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and three bottles of water. Her knee in a brace, she set up a camping chair outside the O鈥橣allon License Office. And she began waiting. And waiting.
On Wednesday, she was trying to replace her lost drivers license, but current circumstances didn鈥檛 make such a thing easy.
Motorists across the state are grappling with longer-than-normal lines at Missouri鈥檚 privately operated license offices. Extensions granted for licenses and plates that expired during the state鈥檚 stay-at-home order are ending, and license offices have begun to reopen.
Offices must now contend with normal traffic as well as a flood of people who weren鈥檛 required or able to visit the DMV during the stay-at-home order.
Ken Zellers, director of the Department of Revenue, said the higher volume of customers, and necessary safety measures offices are taking, such as daily deep cleaning and social distancing measures, were the reasons for the long lines.
People are also reading…
The new age of social distancing means more people are waiting outside, and, at least in theory, staying 6 feet apart.
鈥淭hey just keep bunching up,鈥 said Cheyenne Morrison, the door attendant at the O鈥橣allon office, operated by Elle Management.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, about 30 people were waiting in line outside the O鈥橣allon License Office. Morrison said the office had tried to operate using appointments, but people were leaving and then not showing up in time.
McBenge said she had tried to get a new license using the appointment system, but only received a two-minute warning. When she received the notification, she was more than two minutes away from the office.
鈥淭he issue with it was it didn鈥檛 give you like a 30-minute warning or anything,鈥 McBenge said. 鈥淎t least if people did have somewhere they had to be they could at least try to be here on time. ... It was just a big ol鈥 mess.鈥
By about 12:30 p.m., McBenge was finally at the front of the line.
Morrison, the door attendant, said seniors and people with disabilities were able to wait in a separate line.
But procedures vary by location.
At the Creve Coeur License Office, about a 20-minute drive away, the office, managed by ACM LLC, was operating by appointment only.
At noon, about five people waited in line outside the office. They had made appointments, but staff was running about 15 minutes behind, the door attendant said.
Desiree Williams, 32, said she had tried to renew her license at four other locations Wednesday morning 鈥 Florissant, Maplewood, Clayton and Olivette 鈥 but she said she faced extreme delays at each location.
She said she waited two hours at the Florissant office, but left when she was told she would have to wait another two hours.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 understand why the process takes long to the point where we have to wait for four hours just to get a license,鈥 Williams said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just 鈥 it鈥檚 just absurd 鈥 it鈥檚 just terrible,鈥 said Grant Fitzpatrick, 18, who was in the back of the line, near the loading dock of the shopping center where the O鈥橣allon office was located. 鈥淚 did not know it was going to be like this.鈥
Not everyone was frustrated. One person interviewed said the workers at the O鈥橣allon office were friendly. A woman said workers accommodated her disability by providing her a chair.
Anne Marie Moy, spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue, said the state has issued guidance amid the pandemic.
The recommendations include encouraging 鈥渆ligible鈥 individuals to renew online, providing information to operators about measures to ensure a 鈥渟afe鈥 environment, and recommending that offices adopt appointment systems.
鈥淲e have encouraged offices to consider adopting an appointment system or virtual lobby that would allow customers to receive a text or call when they are next, but unless an appointment-based system was part of their bid in the contract, we cannot compel a contracted license office to adopt it,鈥 she said in an email. 鈥淔or some smaller offices, however, these options may be cost prohibitive.鈥
Zellers said during a news conference Tuesday he鈥檇 鈥渓ike to believe鈥 Missouri鈥檚 use of privately operated license offices makes things more efficient, even with a patchwork of operating procedures. He said other states share information with Missouri.
鈥淏ased on the data that they鈥檝e shared with us, we are in a much better situation than in surrounding states,鈥 he said.
Zellers said the department had made changes that allowed offices to process 鈥渕any more vehicle renewal transactions by phone,鈥 said the department waived certain commercial drivers license requirements, and said the department was continuing 鈥渢o offer mail-in drivers license renewal services to CDL holders.鈥
Normal drivers licenses still can鈥檛 be renewed online, Moy said.
Zellers said starting July 31 the state would 鈥渁utomatically renew and mail permanent disabled placards for over 200,000 eligible Missourians,鈥 which he said would cut down on in-person traffic.
He said the department had plans to open 鈥渁 few鈥 temporary license offices around the state.