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TXDMV details HB 718 rollout: dealer training, web dealer expansion and plate distribution plan
Summary
Deputy executive director Roland Luna outlined training, technology and plate-distribution steps to implement House Bill 718, including large training events, vendor partnerships for plate logistics and testing of inventory and plate-assignment systems ahead of a July effective date.
Roland Luna, deputy executive director for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, briefed the Project and Operations Committee on the department's implementation of House Bill 718 and related technology and training efforts.
"If you think about the 22,000 dealers that we have here in the state of Texas that we regulate... we had about 20% of the transactions... in web dealer," Luna said, describing adoption growth since the department launched training in February 2024. He reported that, through March, roughly 11,000 GDN holders and about 20,000 individual users have been trained; the department expects those totals to increase by roughly 2,000 after recent events.
Luna described a large, in-person training event hosted with the Bear County tax assessor-collector where more than 900 attendees received web dealer training, could set up ACH accounts and enroll registered P numbers on site. "There was so many people there with questions. It was a great turnout," he said.
Technology and testing are central to the rollout. Luna said the department has identified more than 300 system enhancements across Web Dealer, RTS and a new inventory management system; 85% of the 308 requirements for those enhancements are complete and the remaining work was expected to be finished within weeks of the briefing. Plate-assignment testing will involve eight counties, nine dealers and five regional service centers. "When you think about plate assignment now we are going to be moving into the testing phase," he said, adding that testing will check ordering, receipt reconciliation and hard stops that prevent incorrect plate-class assignment.
To avoid distribution disruptions tied to manufacturing site security incidents, the department contracted with logistics vendor Taylor Communications to hold and distribute plate inventory. Luna noted that a security incident at TDCJ was actively preventing shipments that day and that test plates required for user groups had already been transferred to Taylor Communications to proceed with testing.
Luna described additional implementation work: targeted training modules for law enforcement, a dealer-permitted-uses short video for temporary plates, an inventory-management training module with vendor support, and a dealer handout and mailers to reach dealers directly. He said the enforcement division added 26 full-time-equivalent positions for compliance reviews related to HB 718; 11 had been hired and the remaining positions were in progress.
Committee members asked about coverage of larger-volume registrations and the expected number of dealers still needing training. Luna said that the largest counties — Dallas, Harris, Bexar and Tarrant among them — already have broad Web Dealer adoption, and estimated about 6,000–8,000 dealers remained to be trained. He described tax assessor-collector offices as an active partner in outreach and training.
Luna closed by reiterating distribution and testing timelines that lead toward the department's July implementation target.
