Measurement Tools for Assessing Motor Vehicle Division Port-of-Entry Performance

Abstract

The Arizona Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle Enforcement Services (MVES) conducts interstate commercial vehicle operations and enforcement activities at fixed ports of entry (POEs) along Arizona's interstate and international borders. These POE facilities play an important role in commercial vehicle safety and revenue collection by screening commercial vehicle traffic for compliance with state and federal regulations. POEs provide needed services but lack a clear means of evaluating services relative to the efficiency and effectiveness of enforcement activities. This inability makes it difficult to communicate POEs achievements and identify potential improvements in service quality. Measuring efficiency and effectiveness can help to direct resources for performing MVES functions. To ensure that public funds invested in the Arizona POE program provide a return to taxpayers in the form of increased safety and reduced damage to highways, several measures of performance at MVES commercial ports are proposed. Arizona POEs are used as a case study to evaluate various ways to measure performance.

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