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| Motor Carrier Audit brings in millions in unreported taxes |
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| MCTD's Audit Section audits trucking companies' tax records |
ODOT’s Motor Carrier Transportation Division Audit Section collected $4.7 million in unreported weight mile tax and registration fees in 2007, up appreciably from 2006. These funds are used to maintain and enhance Oregon’s transportation system.
MCTD’s Audit Section is responsible for checking that all trucking companies operating in Oregon are in compliance with weight-mile tax reporting and Oregon registration requirements. Auditors also check that Oregon-based carriers are in compliance with International Registration Plan and International Fuel Tax Agreement requirements related to their operations in other states and provinces.
“In addition to collecting revenue, audits are a very important part of ensuring compliance and providing a level playing field within the trucking industry,” said MCTD Audit Section Manager Gayle Green. “Our staff is continually looking for ways to improve service and increase efficiency to lower administrative costs for the state and for the industry we regulate.”
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| Bridge program continues supporting economy |
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| The Willamette River Bridge is the largest OTIA III project. |
One of the benefits of the legislatively approved Oregon Transportation Investment Act is the creation of jobs. For the OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program, job numbers from August 2007 through January 2008 have been consistently higher than those of the same period last year, a trend that should continue through the year, despite a drop during the low point of winter work in February 2008.
Bridge program jobs sustained in February:
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Direct: 618
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Indirect: 726 (supply and support positions not directly tied to actual construction, and jobs created when workers spend their paychecks).
In addition, the bridge program accomplished the following in February:
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Generated just under $5 million in total income
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Generated just over $414,000 in tax revenue
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Kept 100 percent of bridges free from height restrictions
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Kept 97 percent of bridges free from width restrictions
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Kept 97 percent of bridges free from weight restrictions
Based on the 2007 annual economic stimulus report, the bridge program in 2006 spent more than $115 million on construction, design and program management. Of those expenditures, 75.5 percent went to Oregon firms.
Overall, jobs sustained by the bridge program will hold around the 3,400 level or higher for three of the next four years before dropping to around 1,300 jobs in 2012. Creating jobs and supporting businesses in Oregon are making this 10-year program a key investment in Oregon’s economy.
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| ODOT provides vaulable traveler information |
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| Winter weather contributed to increased use of TripCheck. |
TripCheck usage has been rising at nearly 20 percent a year, but even that growth rate seems slow when compared with this winter’s numbers. The stormy winter weather drove TripCheck usage to new records in December 2007.
That month, 4.5 million visits were logged to TripCheck.com, some 40 percent higher than the previous record of 3.2 million visits, set in January of 2004. The record didn’t last long. By the third week in January, TripCheck usage had topped 5 million visits for the month and climbed to a new record of 6 million visits by month’s end. Here are some other stats showing Oregonians value this service:
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Mobile Web site usage increased from 15,000 users per month to 61,000 users per month
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5-1-1 traveler information phone handled more than 450,000 calls in December and a record 600,000 calls in January
Users continually praise the helpfulness of TripCheck; visit www.TripCheck.com to see for yourself!
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| Mitigating avalanche damage |
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| A team works on avalanche control in the Hogg Rock area. |
ODOT staffer Joe Harwood spends time as a National Ski Patrol member when he’s away from work. Those skills became even more important to him when his region experienced avalanches in the Hogg Rock area of U.S. 20, just west of Santiam Summit.
After a series of snow slides closed the highway and blizzard conditions kept it closed, ODOT staff gathered to brainstorm solutions for ridding the area of the continual slide threat. Harwood contacted his friends — the professional ski patrollers at Mt. Bachelor — who gladly offered assistance in avalanche control. Harwood then arranged for a certified demolitions transporter from frequent ODOT-contractor Knife River to deliver avalanche charges.
The patrollers, including Harwood, skied up and set charges in the Hogg Rock area then went above the unstable snow. They set off ten separate explosions in an effort to trigger slides so that ODOT could clear and reopen the highway. Sure enough, about three hours after the patrol work, the busy highway was reopened.
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| Agency cross-trains staff and shares equipment |
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ODOT cross trains many of its staff, and that can be especially critical in highway maintenance. When a maintenance crew is short-handed, someone from another crew — for example, the bridge unit or the sign shop — can step in and help Maintenance get its work done instead of having to reschedule it.
In addition, Maintenance crews share equipment to maximize value. Types of equipment often moving around include pickup sweepers, excavators or bucket trucks. By keeping inventory lower, ODOT is able to save taxpayer dollars. Other examples of cost-saving efforts include:
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Turning old asphalt pulled up from a paving project into “shoulder rock,” which helps preserve a road longer than regular crushed rock
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Putting bio-fuel in the diesel fleet
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Applying more magnesium chloride on the roads during winter than sanding rock; “mag chloride” lasts longer, doesn’t require a crew to go back out and sweep it up, and doesn’t clog streams like sand can.
ODOT continually seeks ways to improve safety on Oregon’s roads and bridges while reducing costs and preserving the environment.
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| By the numbers... |
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Motor Carrier
Motor Carrier Transportation Division staff kept busy in the fourth quarter of 2007, generating the following:
Registration fees collected
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$ 12,620,399
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Weight mile taxes collected
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$ 73,027,144
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Weight mile tax audits performed
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173
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Unpaid taxes assessed
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$ 1,095,520
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Total truck and driver inspections
By MCTD staff
By law enforcement officers
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9,038
4,701
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Total trucks placed out-of-service
By MCTD staff
By law enforcement officers
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2,029
511
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Total drivers placed out-of-service
By MCTD staff
By law enforcement officers
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1,648
511
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Trucks weighed on static scales
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530,701
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Trucks precleared by Green Light weigh-in-motion
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380,799
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Citations issued
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6,179
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Warnings issued
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5,343
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Trucks required to correct size and/or weight
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941
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Driver and Motor Vehicles
DMV staff performed the following activities during fourth quarter, 2007:
Noncommercial driver licenses
Issued
Renewed
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31,423
70,660
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Commercial driver licenses
Issued
Renewed
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1,801
3,681
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Vehicle titles issued
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245,984
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On-the-road skills test (Class C)
Noncommercial
Commercial
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21,480
431
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Class C knowledge tests
Noncommercial
Commercial
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62,434
2,514
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Driver record requests processed
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822,288
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Vehicle record requests processed
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166,946
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Customer telephone calls received
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413,173
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Dealer inspections conducted
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247
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Number of complaint investigations completed
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130
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Passenger Rail and Rail Freight
During the fourth quarter of 2007, ODOT’s Rail Safety Section conducted the following inspections:
Locomotives and rail cars
Defects found
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3,416
735
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Miles of track
Turnouts
Defects found
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527
4,543
587
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Grade crossing records
Grade crossing signals
Defects found
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131
31
45
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Hazardous materials
Defects found
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24
6
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Operating practices observations
Deviations found
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46
6
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Railroad facilities
Defects found
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37
156
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Rail-served industries
Defects found
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173
97
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Crossing safety
Defects found
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122
34
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New installations inspected
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200
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Highway Maintenance
Here’s how Maintenance Crews cared for Oregon’s state roads during fourth quarter 2007:
Tons asphalt laid
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6,952
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# Highway miles striped
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2,946
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# Feet guardrail installed/repaired
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58,209
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Spent on emergency maintenance
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$1,524,841
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Spent on snow plowing
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$1,717,074
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Spent on sanding
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$1,612,495
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Spent on bridge maintenance/repair
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$436,387
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| ODOT checks on public perceptions |
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About every two years, ODOT’s Research Unit conducts the Transportation Needs and Issues Survey to assess perceptions about transportation, determine the public’s use of transportation services, and identify top transportation-related concerns. The most recent survey is helping ODOT managers, the Oregon Transportation Commission, and other stakeholders understand more about what is important to Oregonians.
Here’s a look at several key results:
Nearly three-fourths of the respondents had a favorable opinion of overall ODOT performance:
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17 percent said that ODOT was doing an ‘excellent’ job
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57 percent agreeing that ODOT was doing a ‘good’ job
Respondents expressed the highest levels of satisfaction with:
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how ODOT maintains roadside rest areas;
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the way the DMV provides driver licenses and other services; and
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how well ODOT communicates to the public about current road construction on freeways.
Overall, the lowest level of satisfaction was with traffic flow in respondents’ communities; four of every 10 respondents were dissatisfied. As might be expected, there were regional differences in the levels of satisfaction on this issue:
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47 percent of people in the Portland metropolitan area were dissatisfied
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11 percent of people in eastern Oregon were dissatisfied.
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About half of all respondents statewide saw congestion as a ‘somewhat serious’ or ‘very serious’ problem.
Among those who used public transportation, 78 percent felt safe using it. A total of 70 percent of people who walked in the community felt they had the necessary facilities to do so safely; and 55 percent of bicyclists felt safe with available facilities.
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents felt that the state should explore ways to expand passenger rail services to segments beyond the Willamette Valley rail corridor.
Spending resources to maintain Oregon’s current highways, roads and bridges was generally seen as more important than expanding and improving them.
For more information about the Transportation Needs and Issues Survey, visit http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/.
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| Alternative file formats |
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| PDF |
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