A quick message from David
We have a special type of article for you this time around. You’ve seen me quote “Matthew Weitzman” a number of times now, as he’s our CTO and co-founder, but today he’s going to share a real-world story about the New York DMV, his experience, and why we strongly believe our project will change the automotive world for the better (or at least keep you out of that horrific DMV).
My first post is definitely an interesting one. I knew, as I approached the two-hour mark of an estimated 45-minute wait (for a title registration) at my local DMV, that I had to share this story with everyone.
To formally introduce myself, I’m Matthew Weitzman, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of DASHUB and AXP. I’ve had the fortunate privilege to work with an amazing team of individuals, while building an exciting, innovative and disruptive company. I work out of the New York offices, operating DASHUB’s core business, while architecting the Automotive eXchange Platform (AXP) with the rest of our team. When I visit New York City, I’ll at times use ride sharing or subways to get around, and sometimes depending on the day I drive myself. If any of you have ever been to New York City, you understand what the roads are like: pure chaos. For those of you who haven’t, imagine the busiest place you’ve even been on foot. Maybe a music concert, or large festival. Now imagine all of those people are cars. It’s wild.
Long story short: my vehicle sustained damage in a crash that resulted in me needing a new vehicle. “Perfect,” I thought. “I’ll use the DASHUB service to purchase a vehicle from auction, save money, experience the process first hand, and then I’ll be able to share my experience with our customers.”
I found the vehicle I wanted with the help of our sales representatives. I ordered the inspection service to make sure the vehicle was what I wanted. It was. I applied for financing, was approved, and then completed my purchase. I saved money, specifically almost $10,000 according to the Kelly Blue Book Fair Market Range, which I thought was awesome. (All in, roughly $27,500). Everything went smoothly. The only thing that was left now was to finish up the title transfer paperwork.
That’s when I realized that I would need to go to the DMV. A physical building, where I would need my physical body, and a physical paper title, ID, and all sorts of other stuff. I was not looking forward to it. For those of you who may not know, DMV stands for Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s a state agency that deals with automobile licensing, titling, registrations, and other related matters.
Monday morning, I arrived at the DMV, 30 minutes prior to opening, to find a diverse throng of miserable humans assembled into a long line. Some were sitting, some standing, some seemingly content, others wrestling with restless children, taking phone calls, or obviously ready to scoop out their own eyeballs with a spoon. I was somewhere between content and the eyeball-spoon person.
Once the doors opened we walked forward in a single-file line to then shuffle between two agents standing at the front door. The agents were asking each person what business they had at the DMV. I was listening to each person and I heard a variety of answers: permit test, boat registration, license renewal, etc … Then, after a quick 12 minutes, it was my turn. I said, “I’m here to register my new car! Used car. Well, it’s new to me. I’m transferring plates from my old vehicle.” The agent handed me a ticket. It prominently displayed my number: C839. “This will be easy. A walk in the park.”
I watched the digital board displaying ticket numbers. I saw A’s, B’, and even some D’s, but I had to wait a full ten minutes before I saw the first C. It was not my C-number. Instead it read: C819. My face sunk into my palms. Another C-number was called again. Window 20. That’s when I realized that only a single window was open for title and registration transfers.
I began timing the transactions at the C-window. 3 minutes and forty-nine seconds. Not bad, I thought. Seven minutes and ten seconds for the next one. This could take a while….
The estimated wait time was forty-five minutes.
I did not wait for forty-five minutes.
I did not wait for seventy-five minutes.
I had scheduled an appointment, too. That’s part of what sent me into a desperate rage when my actual wait time ticked over the two-hour marker. There was no rhyme or reason as to which window was open, at what time, taking what customer. After timing nearly twenty transactions, The average title transfer took a little over seven-and-a-half minutes. During all of this I kept thinking about our blockchain project, The Automotive eXchange Platform, and how one of our grand visions is to modernize this awful process. There is no need for all this human suffering when so many of these problems can be solved by a competent blockchain solution.
I kept thinking about all of the conversations we’ve been having with heads of State in the US, and our various connections with State governments and their DMVs. We’re still in the early stages, of course, but in talking with my team and our developers, it’s clear that we’ve got a real shot to step into this arena and make big and meaningful changes to the title transfer process, registration, ID verification, and perhaps even some of the transactional work with lenders.
Blockchain can absolutely play a role at this level of the car-buying process and I think AXP has a shot at making that happen. Pretty cool stuff.
When I did finally approach the counter, the lady helping me didn’t look up at me right away. She took a big breath, needlessly adjusted some items on her desk, and with a slight slump in her shoulders she looked up and through pursed lips said, “How may I help you?” Seemed clear to me her previous customer must have been difficult, so I turned on my charm, smiled through my introduction, and next thing you know we were both smiling and laughing. From there, everything went smoothly. Now I’m happy with my new vehicle. And at the end of the day my experience was beneficial because I got to see it all firsthand. But if I’m going into the city, maybe next time I’ll take the railroad or an Uber.
Disclaimer: All information in this was experienced first hand. Actual images of the DMV are courtesy of Google and user submissions. All other images are authentic. We’ve gone to great lengths to secure our legal team and advisory board. And given the current climate surrounding blockchain projects, cryptocurrencies, US securities regulations, and ICOs in general, it’s important to note that our official website (https://axt.io) and official White Paper (linked via the website) remain the only official sources of information about this project. This article, and other articles released by this publication are for entertainment purposes only. Thanks for understanding.
If you’re interested in learning more about DASHUB, or browsing their inventory, visit www.dashub.com.
If you’re interested in the team’s blockchain-based platform and supporting token sale, visit their token site at https://axt.io.
