The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has spent decades defining what vehicle safety looks like for passenger cars. Now it is applying the same analytical rigor to the commercial vehicles that populate the nation's fleets.

At the 2026 Fleet Forward Conference at Gaylord National Harbor in Maryland, IIHS President David Harkey will deliver the Fleet Safety keynote on Wednesday, Oct. 21, offering fleet professionals an early look at findings that could reshape how they evaluate and select work vehicles.

Titled "IIHS Is Testing Commercial Vehicles: Early Insights for the Fleet Industry," the session will draw on new IIHS testing and analysis of delivery vans, pickups, and work trucks. The presentation will examine how crash-avoidance technologies perform in commercial vehicles and assess the presence of other key safety features across the vans, pickups, and work trucks fleets rely on most.

The session arrives at a moment when fleet safety professionals are navigating a rapidly changing vehicle landscape. As fleets electrify and incorporate more advanced driver-assistance systems, understanding how those technologies perform in real-world commercial use cases has become a pressing operational and liability question. IIHS's entry into commercial vehicle testing adds an authoritative, independent voice to that conversation.

"IIHS coming to the commercial vehicle space is a big deal for fleets," said Chris Brown, conference chair and associate publisher of Automotive Fleet. David Harkey will have data that our industry has been waiting for, and there's no better place to hear it first."

About the Speaker

David Harkey has served as president of the IIHS and the Highway Loss Data Institute since 2018. Before leading IIHS-HLDI, Harkey directed the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center for 11 years, where he oversaw research into roadway design, safety analysis tools, and data collection strategies for transportation agencies.

His career spans major research programs for the Federal Highway Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other public agencies. He holds a doctorate in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and undergraduate and graduate degrees in civil engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is active in the Transportation Research Board and the Institute for Transportation Engineers.

About Fleet Forward Conference

For the first time, the Fleet Forward Conference will take place on the East Coast.

FFC2026 convenes Oct. 20–22 at the Gaylord National Harbor in Maryland, nine miles south of Washington, D.C.

The conference brings together fleet, mobility, and technology leaders for three days of education, hands-on experiences, and networking focused on the future of fleet operations.

This year's theme is "Leading Fleets Through Transformation." The educational program is organized around six pillars:

•             Mobility & Autonomy: exploring the shift to electric and autonomous fleets. 

•             Data Integration, AI & Predictive Intelligence: unlocking real-time insights from connected platforms. 

•             Global Strategy: offering a worldwide view of fleet challenges and innovation. 

•             Fleet Safety & Risk: focused on protecting people and assets. 

•             Infrastructure & Energy: addressing scalable electrification solutions; and 

•             People, Talent & Culture: equipping fleets to build and support high-performing teams.

Registration will open soon. For sponsorship and exhibit inquiries, contact robert.brown@bobit.com or joni.owens@bobit.com.

Call for Papers is Open

FFC announces its 2026 Call for Papers. Industry experts, fleet leaders, and solution providers are invited to submit session proposals and speaker nominations.

To submit a proposal or nominate a speaker, visit here. Submissions are due before July 15, 2026.