IIHS Brings Industrial Automobile Security Evaluation to 2026 Fleet Ahead Convention Stage
The Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS) has spent many years defining what car security appears to be like like for passenger automobiles. Now it’s making use of the identical analytical rigor to the industrial automobiles that populate the nation’s fleets.
On the 2026 Fleet Ahead Convention at Gaylord Nationwide Harbor in Maryland, IIHS President David Harkey will ship the Fleet Security keynote on Wednesday, Oct. 21, providing fleet professionals an early take a look at findings that would reshape how they consider and choose work automobiles.
Titled “IIHS Is Testing Industrial Automobiles: Early Insights for the Fleet Business,” the session will draw on new IIHS testing and evaluation of supply vans, pickups, and work vehicles. The presentation will look at how crash-avoidance applied sciences carry out in industrial automobiles and assess the presence of different key security options throughout the vans, pickups, and work vehicles fleets depend on most.
The session arrives at a second when fleet security professionals are navigating a quickly altering car panorama. As fleets electrify and incorporate extra superior driver-assistance programs, understanding how these applied sciences carry out in real-world industrial use circumstances has develop into a urgent operational and legal responsibility query. IIHS’s entry into industrial car testing provides an authoritative, impartial voice to that dialog.
“IIHS coming to the industrial car area is an enormous deal for fleets,” stated Chris Brown, convention chair and affiliate writer of Automotive Fleet. David Harkey can have knowledge that our trade has been ready for, and there isn’t any higher place to listen to it first.”
Concerning the Speaker
David Harkey has served as president of the IIHS and the Freeway Loss Information Institute since 2018. Earlier than main IIHS-HLDI, Harkey directed the College of North Carolina Freeway Security Analysis Heart for 11 years, the place he oversaw analysis into roadway design, security evaluation instruments, and knowledge assortment methods for transportation companies.
His profession spans main analysis packages for the Federal Freeway Administration, the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration, and different public companies. He holds a doctorate in civil engineering from North Carolina State College and undergraduate and graduate levels in civil engineering from the College of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is lively within the Transportation Analysis Board and the Institute for Transportation Engineers.
About Fleet Ahead Convention
For the primary time, the Fleet Ahead Convention will happen on the East Coast.
FFC2026 convenes Oct. 20–22 on the Gaylord Nationwide Harbor in Maryland, 9 miles south of Washington, D.C.
The convention brings collectively fleet, mobility, and expertise leaders for 3 days of training, hands-on experiences, and networking centered on the way forward for fleet operations.
This yr’s theme is “Main Fleets By way of Transformation.” The tutorial program is organized round six pillars:
• Mobility & Autonomy: exploring the shift to electrical and autonomous fleets.
• Information Integration, AI & Predictive Intelligence: unlocking real-time insights from linked platforms.
• World Technique: providing a worldwide view of fleet challenges and innovation.
• Fleet Security & Danger: centered on defending folks and belongings.
• Infrastructure & Power: addressing scalable electrification options; and
• Individuals, Expertise & Tradition: equipping fleets to construct and assist high-performing groups.
Registration will open quickly. For sponsorship and exhibit inquiries, contact robert.brown@bobit.com or joni.owens@bobit.com.
Name for Papers is Open
FFC proclaims its 2026 Name for Papers. Business consultants, fleet leaders, and resolution suppliers are invited to submit session proposals and speaker nominations.
To submit a proposal or nominate a speaker, go to right here. Submissions are due earlier than July 15, 2026.
