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Two sections to be combined, creating new
Commercial Vehicles Services

The Division of Motor Vehicles will be better positioned to meet the wide range of commercial carriers with the July 1 consolidation of two previously independent sections.

Motor Carrier Services, which is responsible for registering commercial vehicles operating in Idaho, and the state’s Ports of Entry will be combined under a new section, Commercial Vehicles Services. Alan Frew, who now manages the Ports of Entry, will be responsible for the combined section, said DMV Administrator Pamela Lowe.

She presented the concept to the Idaho Transportation Board at its May 19 meeting in Lewiston. The board supported her proposal and approved the transition to take place at the end of this fiscal year. Ports of Entry employs 93 people statewide; Motor Carrier Services has 22 employees.

“This change will allow us to put more resources on permits and more field support to the ports,” Lowe wrote in her proposal to the board.

On the surface, commercial vehicle operators will not notice much change by the merger, but Lowe hopes they will realize even better customer service, greater operational efficiency and more statewide consistency. The consolidation has the potential to take ITD’s One Stop Shop for commercial carriers even further, Lowe says.

Internally, it also should lead to better utilization of personnel.

Moving both services under one manager makes ITD commercial services unique among other state DOTs, Lowe explains. Only a couple of states have the structural capacity to bring the services together. In most cases, the services do not reside within the same state agency.

“It is rare to have the capability of putting these two sections together; many other states could not do this without major restructuring.”

Under the new realignment, all Ports of Entry operations will come under one supervisor, a position that will result from the July 1 retirement of Jennifer Finke. She currently manages the Motor Carrier Services section. The POE supervisor, in turn, will report to Frew.

“Jennifer has done an outstanding job as manager of Motor Carrier Services. The Motor Carrier Services' One Stop Shop frequently is singled out by truckers for its outstanding customer service," Lowe says. "Jennifer deserves much of the credit for its success. Her expertise and experience would have been difficult to replace if we had not chosen to combine sections.

“We wish her well in her new pursuits.”