Minnesota making progress in quest to offer more road tests to drivers to meet growing demand

Minnesota’s department of Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) says it’s hiring more examiners and using overtime to administer road tests to would-be-drivers as it works to open up more testing slots and comply with a state law requiring the agency to offer timely appointments.

With complaints rising and demand for tests growing, the Legislature in 2023 awarded DVS $2.9 million to hire additional examiners. The money came with the stipulation that the division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which houses DVS and issues driver’s licenses, file reports twice a year addressing three specific performance metrics.

DVS has “consistently met” the requirement that real-time appointment availability and the location of available exams be available on its website, the division’s report covering the period of July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, to lawmakers said. The requirement that applicants may take exams in their home county or an adjacent one has “been similarly fulfilled,” the report said.

But state law mandating DVS to offer a road test appointment to a qualified applicant within 14 days is “sometimes not met,” the report said.

“We have seen improvements and we are proud of the progress we have made with the resources we have,” said DVS Director Pong Xiong. “This is what we need to deliver the service Minnesotans expects of us.”

The report was submitted to the Legislature in September, and was scheduled to be discussed at a Senate Transportation Committee meeting last week.

The Legislature’s appropriation allows DVS to hire 30 more examiners during the current fiscal year, which began in July. So far, 27 of those positions have been filled, but it can take six to nine months before they actually begin administering tests, Xiong said.

Some of that depends on where they are hired. In small testing centers in outstate Minnesota, examiners also proctor knowledge exams, process applications and “become a jack of all trades,” leaving fewer hours for road tests and leading to a longer training period, Xiong said.

He also said hiring can be slow because it’s a “tough job,” which leads to high turnover. Examiners have to have “difficult conversations” with test takers who do not pass. About 25% of test takers fail their road tests on their first attempt, DVS data shows.

DVS operates 93 testing sites across the state and had an average of 112 examiners employed throughout fiscal year 2024. In fiscal year 2025, with the new hires, DVS has now filled 154 examiner positions out of the 179 allotted.

Of the new hires, 18 will be stationed in the three metro area districts, allowing examiners to conduct 108,000 total tests per year.

“We are not meeting demand in the metro,” Xiong said.

A dozen examiners will be added in other parts of the state, meaning 180 additional tests per day, the report said.

Xiong said test takers can do their part to ensure all testing slots are used. Approximately one in five appointments go unfilled because the customer does not show up or does not cancel a minimum of 24 hours before their appointment. That meant 41,650 appointment slots went unused. In those case, DVS assesses a $20 fee.

“We don’t want people to pay the fee,” Xiong said. “We encourage people to cancel as soon as they know they can’t make it. We can get appointments back on the market.”

DVS’ MNDrive system updates in real time, so cancelled appointments can be offered to other drivers immediately, Xiong said.

“We are pretty proud of that,” he said.

The agency posts available road test appointments up to 30 days in advance. In most cases, the slots fill up quickly, DVS said. But January is a good month to schedule a test.

“January, however, is not as busy as the rest of the year — you might even be able to get an appointment on the same day,” the agency said.

DVS is not totally out of compliance with state law that requires appointments be made available to qualified applicants within 14 days. The law does not specify whether this applies to openings anywhere in the state or just near an applicant’s home. DVS does not track whether the date chosen by the applicant is the preferred date or an inconvenient date or location chosen due to lack of availability.

“We have a vigilant exam team that works to put out as many road tests as possible,” Xiong said, noting that DVS has 560 positions to cover all the services the division offers. “It’s just one of the many things we deliver.”