A customer at the vehicle registration office at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden in Germany punches holes in a new license plate. Defense Department personnel in Germany can now renew their personal vehicle registrations 90 days in advance, up from the previous 75. (Stephen Perez/U.S. Army)
Americans in Germany who are affiliated with the Defense Department will be able to renew their personal vehicle registrations as much as 15 days earlier, under a new policy aimed at avoiding a repeat of last year’s fiascos in two major U.S. military communities.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa renewal notifications will be sent 90 days prior to expiration, Installation Management Command-Europe said in a statement Friday.
The first month of the new 90-day window is May, so it will be in effect by the time registration offices open next week.
“It’s important that we make improvements to the vehicle registration process by this summer,” Tommy Mize, the director of the Wiesbaden-based command said in the statement.
The renewal notices used to go out 75 days ahead of the expiration date. By telling people sooner that their vehicle registration is expiring, officials are hoping that will spur them to renew more quickly.
Only 10% of renewals occur during the 45- to 75-day window, and 55% of customers wait until within 15 days of their registration due dates, according to Friday’s announcement.
“If we can get that 10% up to 90% or higher, it will make a huge difference this summer in reducing the number of people needing those services,” said Vic Baez-An, USAREUR-AF motor vehicles operations manager at Sembach Kaserne.
“We really need current customers to help us help you by renewing as early as possible to avoid that last-minute influx of re-registrations overlapping with newcomer registrations.”
The change is designed to reduce customer service backlogs that some installations in Germany experience during peak season for military moves.
Last year, backlogs for personal vehicle registration for DOD-affiliated personnel in Rheinland-Pfalz and Bavaria ballooned to such levels that people resorted to extreme measures.
In Kaiserslautern, home to the largest overseas U.S. military community, wait times of up to three months for appointments at the vehicle registration office at Kapaun Air Station led some people to pay as much as 100 euros to secure a slot.
Meanwhile in Bavaria, soldiers were camping overnight outside the Ansbach vehicle registration office hoping to grab a walk-in service appointment.
The new policy of earlier notification represents a push to get ahead of last year’s crush, which U.S. military leaders in Kaiserslautern and Bavaria were forced to deal with after the fact.
For example, a new substation was opened at Ramstein Air Base to relieve the pressure on Kapaun, which had become the only vehicle registration site for the tens of thousands of KMC residents after the Army base in Sembach closed its facility for such services.
The Sembach vehicle registration office was reopened in the wake of news coverage about the backlog at Kapaun.
A planning team made up of members from USAREUR-AF, IMCOM-E and the Air Force is also looking to increase the number of inspectors and clerks.
The team also seeks to establish a safety-kit kiosk at inspection facilities so people can buy items such as first aid kits, warning triangles and safety vests on site.
That would reduce the number of people who fail vehicle inspections and eliminate the need for follow-up visits, according to the planning team.
