No Need to Wait at DMV for License Renewal in Missoula and Kalispell

The Montana Department of Motor Vehicles is allowing a private company to perform certain DMV duties in Missoula and Kalispell. Montana DMV Communications Officer Levi Worts says the new approval is part of the DMV’s overall goal to improve customer service.

"One of the ways we are doing that is through what we call "Authorized Agent" which is, basically, we authorize another party to do transactions on our behalf," Worts said. "So, in this case we authorized AAA to start doing renewals and replacements for standard drivers licenses, which are non-commercial class B licenses."

Missoula and Kalispell are part of what Worts calls a “soft launch” that could broaden to more services and locations across Montana. Worts says AAA has been given the opportunity to charge a fee of up to $20, but many won’t even have to pay that.

"AAA has said that they will waive that fee for AAA members, so if you are a AAA member, there's no additional cost to utilize this service and there's a level of extended customer service that a private business like AAA can provide because it is in their power to just hire more people to immediately meet the demand," Worts said.

The Montana DMV will have a busy year with a bunch of non-standard licenses soon with the introduction of REAL ID next month. The Missoula AAA has already been practicing the process of approving standard license renewals and replacements with a soft opening this past week.  AAA says they expect to handle about one-third of the DMV’s traffic in Missoula after the news is out.