In the face of a truck driver shortage, the Arkansas State Police and the Arkansas Trucking Association are working together to reduce wait times for obtaining commercial driver's licenses.
At the state's six driving-test locations and 37 third-party testing sites, waits to take the exam were averaging three weeks, according to Shannon Newton, president of the trucking association.
Bill Sadler, state police spokesman, reported an average wait of five to eight days on the skills testing. Reports from various sources in the industry showed waits ranging up to six weeks.
"Over the course of the last 90 days, the Arkansas State Police has met with representatives of the Arkansas trucking industry and begun to consider improving what we're looking at as customer service," Sadler said.
He added that the trucking industry is "always making it clear to us that they need drivers who are licensed and ready to work, and there seem to be delays in getting people licensed."
Any wait can be a revenue-losing problem in the industry and for individuals who are unable to get paid.
Most third-party testing sites are operated by entities testing their own personnel. They include school districts that test their bus drivers and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith that tests its commercial driving students.
"I have heard that [the wait time] is a while, and it is discouraging for people who want to drive," said Jason Decker, vice president at Van Buren-based ART Transport. "From the time they should be receiving their license to the time they get it, a lot of things can take place. They've got to pay bills and find work in the meantime."
"There is also a concern about the students' skills deteriorating between CDL [commercial driver's license] classes and road testing dates," said Steve Brantley, director of driver recruiting at USA Truck in Van Buren.
"When you slow that process down for 30 days, that's a month's pay and that's some serious money for people that have not been working," said Bruce Busada, president of the Diesel Driving Academy, which has a location in Little Rock. However, he said, "I would say Arkansas has made big improvements and is headed in the right direction."
Doug Carter, owner of Mid-America Truck Driving School Inc. in Malvern, said of the licensing wait: "It just doesn't seem realistic to put the entire blame for this on the Arkansas State Police. ... I think the system functions as well as it can within the budgetary constraints that it has."
One of the major reasons for delays is a lack of coordination between testing facilities and the inability to "reroute or redirect applicants to the nearest facility with shorter wait times," Newton said. Hopeful drivers have had to call around to multiple locations, "shopping for the most convenient, soonest, opening," she said.
In the next few days, the state police will set up a help desk for commercial driver's license applicants, Sadler said. A new employee -- whose hiring is an exemption to Gov. Asa Hutchinson's hiring freeze -- will coordinate scheduling across locations, using one new central phone number.
"Working with the supervisors at these locations, the help desk will know in advance when an employee is taking vacation or when there is an illness at a location," Sadler said. As a result, the help desk will be able to reschedule the applicant appropriately.
The department also intends to hire two more driving instructors -- for Northwest and central Arkansas, Sadler said, though he could not specify a timeline for that. "We're at the mercy of office of personnel management with that," he said.
Busada said that while there have been "long delays" in the past, "the state is making a very focused and sincere effort on getting it straight, and it's a lot better in Arkansas than it is in other states."
Ultimately, Sadler said, the state police is "very cognizant of the delays that are very real and out there, and is taking it seriously." While longer-term plans are in the works, "the first objective is to get the help desk up and running and then to add additional testers."
"It's not the fault of the state police or anyone," Decker pointed out. "It's the way the system is set up right now. It's a good system, but it could be better."
SundayMonday Business on 11/20/2016