Committee amends fleet safety policy to shift daily checks to assigned operators for light vehicles

The Wausau City Committee voted unanimously to amend the municipal fleet safety policy, removing the blanket requirement for inspection cards on light vehicles and clarifying who is responsible for monitoring driver licenses for commercial drivers.

Under the amendment approved by the committee, light vehicles — described in the discussion as automobiles and light pickup trucks that do not fall under commercial driver's license requirements — will no longer be required to carry inspection cards that had previously been placed in every city-owned vehicle. Instead, vehicles assigned to a specific staff member will be the responsibility of that employee to ensure routine safety checks, such as functioning lights and other basic inspections.

The amendment also revised language about driver-license checks. Committee discussion clarified that periodic monitoring of CDL licenses is conducted through a clearinghouse managed via Human Resources; the fleet manager does not perform driver-license checks. The presenter said the policy wording was changed to remove any implication that the fleet manager would check licenses and to reflect that HR handles license monitoring for CDL holders.

Dustin, a city staff member who introduced the change, said the shift responds to an older fleet and more shared vehicles in the past and to an effort to streamline daily practices.

Martins moved to accept the amended fleet safety policy; Gisselman seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The committee did not record any amendments beyond the wording clarifications discussed. The change applies only to non‑CDL light vehicles; requirements for CDL‑regulated vehicles remain subject to HR-managed monitoring.