[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
OEMs See Positives in Third-Party Safety System Ratings
IIHS Debuts Testing for Commercial Vehicle Safety
Key Takeaways:
- Truck manufacturers and technology providers at the ACT Expo in Las Vegas backed expanding IIHS safety ratings to Class 8 trucks and tractors.
- Executives said independent ADAS ratings could improve driver acceptance, reduce ownership costs and lower insurance premiums through safer fleets and fewer crashes.
- IIHS plans to launch Class 2B and 3 awards in 2027, expand to Classes 4-6 and evaluate Class 8 trucks by 2030.
LAS VEGAS — Truck manufacturers and technology providers are keen to see third-party safety ratings expanded to Class 8 tractors and trucks.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety launched work on its first commercial vehicle ratings in March, with Class 2B cargo van and Class 3 pickup truck assessments.
Attendees of the 2026 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo heard original equipment manufacturers welcome the prospect of IIHS ratings for larger vehicles.
Third-party independent ratings for safety systems will go a long way toward driving the greatest benefits and driver acceptance of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Volvo Trucks North America Product Marketing Manager Madeline Sullivan said during an ACT Expo panel.
ADAS can help boost fleets’ uptime and reduce total cost of ownership, added Sullivan, who described her job as teaching carriers and dealers about the safety features on the truck maker’s VNL and VNR on-highway tractors.
One of those safety features is side-curtain air bags, which the OEM launched as standard for the two tractors in October.
Bosch Senior Acquisition Manager Saqib Masood also welcomed the launch of third-party standards, noting that commercial vehicle manufacturers and fleets would be able to use the ratings as a selling point — as passenger car OEMs already do.
“When you start to look at your fleet of vehicles, and it may be a mixed fleet, perhaps 10 years from now, you will be able to say, ‘Hey, my whole fleet of vehicles are a four-star rating,’ or whatever the rating category is going to be,” Masood said during the May 6 panel.
As a starting point, IIHS is set to release details on what Class 2B or Class 3 vehicles offer as standard options, Vice President of Vehicle Research David Kidd told Transport Topics May 13.
And by the end of 2026, perhaps as early as the fall, IIHS will begin detailing which cargo vans and pickup trucks meet minimum active safety standards. The nonprofit will launch awards for the classes in 2027, Kidd said.
Mark Hill of PCS Software joins us to discuss logistics as TT releases the Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
Also in 2027, IIHS plans to expand its assessments to Classes 4-6 cab chassis.
IIHS’ initial foray into the commercial vehicle space came in 2010, with tests of rear underride guards on semitrailers. By 2017, IIHS had launched its Toughguard award. According to Kidd, only one OEM qualified for the award at that time, and now almost every dry van trailer does.
Evaluating side underride guards is on the way by 2030, as is testing of Class 8 trucks and tractors as part of IIHS’ 30x30 initiative, Kidd said.
Standards for active safety systems, including automated emergency braking and forward collision mitigation, won support from Masood and Sullivan, respectively.
Masood noted that 73% of accidents involve another vehicle, and 57% of those accidents involve a truck crashing into another vehicle.
The latest versions of forward collision mitigation applications offer much greater protection than their predecessors, according to Sullivan.
“We had forward collision mitigation on our legacy trucks, but it’s nothing compared to the mitigation we have on our new trucks. We can see farther with newer radars and cameras. We can identify more objects, and now we’re looking for pedestrians and cyclists,” Sullivan said.
That expansion of capabilities is being extended beyond forward collision to a 360-degree environment, with urban and worksite settings a particular focus.
In one of the latest examples, Daimler Truck North America began factory production of an exterior camera system for Freightliner and Western Star vocational and medium-duty models.
In March, Mack Trucks introduced CommandView — a 360-degree camera system with multiple feeds stitched together into a single bird’s-eye view — for the revamped Granite model. The system will be available for order in late 2027, the Volvo Group division said.
Image
The revamped Mack Trucks Granite line will offer a 360-degree camera system called CommandView. (Mack Trucks)
Freightliner plans to upgrade the safety technology on its best-selling Cascadia tractors in 2027 with Cross Traffic Assist and Active Side Guard Assist 2, each of which can initiate partial or full braking assistance for drivers, parent company DTNA said in April.
“We are actually working on defining what the future will look like when we plan our product portfolio over 10 years into the future,” DTNA General Manager of Product Strategy and Market Development Joanna Buttler told ACT Expo attendees.
Safety in the commercial vehicle segment is a major differentiator, making roads safer and offering a significant improvement to carriers’ total cost of ownership by helping keep equipment unharmed and on the road, Buttler said.
Insurers agree, with Ken Anderson, Nationwide’s risk management technical director for business auto, telling TT in April that ADAS could lower fleets’ premiums.
Daimler Truck Financial Services USA and Geico in October debuted a program using real-time driving data to lower premiums for Freightliner and Western Star truck owners. The program targets owner-operators and small fleets seeking lower insurance costs.
