Commercial vehicles
Ratings and resources for drivers, fleets and manufacturers
Accelerating commercial vehicle safety is a central component of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's efforts to reduce crash deaths. Our goal is to encourage manufacturers to improve the safety of commercial vehicles while giving fleets the information they need to select vehicles and implement policies that can help protect their drivers and the communities they serve.
Current ratings
Our main commercial vehicle ratings focus on driver protection and effective crash avoidance technologies. We’ve started with cargo vans and Class 3 pickup trucks.
Truck underride guard evaluations
The IIHS Toughguard award recognizes rear underride guards on truck and trailers that prevent underride in three crash test scenarios.
Fleet safety topics
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Active ISA fact sheet
Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) is a key safety tool for commercial vehicle fleets. This fact sheet provides best practices based on a study of eight organizations that implemented active ISA.
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FIA Road Safety Index
The FIA Foundation Road Safety Index is a benchmarking framework that helps organizations assess and improve their safety footprint. In the United States, the Index looks to top IIHS ratings as a standard for vehicle safety.
IIHS applied the framework to its own operations and achieved the highest available rating of three stars. At the same time, the self-assessment identified several opportunities to further strengthen roadway safety policies and practices.
Commercial vehicle news
Work vehicles falter in crash avoidance tests
Oct 8, 2026 — Cargo vans and heavy-duty pickups lag behind passenger vehicles when it comes to front crash prevention.
Read more.
Trailer maker gets IIHS nod
Sep 15, 2026 — Kentucky-based Fruehauf’s dry van trailers are the latest to earn IIHS recognition for superior underride protection.
Read more.
IIHS launches commercial vehicle safety program
Jun 9, 2026 — The first evaluations of cargo vans and heavy-duty pickups focus on five safety features that are essential for driver protection.
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Insight
Delivering safety for commercial vehicles
Mar 12, 2026 - Cargo vans and work trucks are an overlooked part of the road safety picture. IIHS is changing that by providing fleet managers and other decision-makers with new ratings and research.
Read more.
by David Kidd, Vice President, Vehicle Research, IIHS
How fleets can make the most of anti-speeding tech
Mar 10, 2026 — Fleet managers shared their experiences with intelligent speed assistance to help researchers identify best practices for implementing the technology.
Read more.