Do you ever just go to the EPA’s fuel economy website for fun? No? That’s weird? You’d never do that in a million years if you didn’t have to? Oh. Well, I do, often, just because I’m curious about how random cars that pop into my brain do on mpg. If that’s weird of me, so be it.
Recently, I went to look up the fuel economy ratings for a Ram 3500, just because I was looking at used examples for sale for some reason I’ve since forgotten about. But the Ram 3500 wasn’t listed on the EPA’s site. In fact, there are no Class 3 pickups listed on the EPA’s site—the largest trucks you’ll find are from the 1/2-ton category, trucks like the F-150 and the regular Silverado.
For some reason, I forgot that these big pickups, like the Silverado 3500, the Ford F-350, the Ram 3500, aren’t subject to the same rules as their smaller siblings. While makers of trucks like the Ram 1500 and the GMC Sierra 1500 need to submit fuel economy info to the EPA and post that info on window stickers, trucks with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)—that is, the total weight of the truck and its maximum cargo capacity combined—of over 8,500 pounds don’t have to.
It’s not just fuel economy ratings where these trucks get a pass. It’s in crash safety, too. These big-boy HD trucks aren’t subject to many of the same safety standards as the smaller trucks, SUVs, and sedans you see on the road, which means they can often lack lifesaving safety equipment. But that’s about to change.
Big Trucks Are Getting The Safety Analysis They Deserve
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced today it would begin conducting tests and issuing safety ratings for Class 3 pickups and commercial vans—those with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds to 14,000 pounds, like the 3500-series trucks mentioned above. The reason? They’re involved in a pretty large portion of all fatal crashes each year in the United States. From the announcement (emphasis mine):
In 2023, 6,535 people were killed in crashes involving heavy- or medium-duty trucks or light vans, accounting for 16% of all roadway fatalities in the U.S. Improving the safety of these vehicles is crucial as we strive toward our 30×30 vision of reducing fatalities 30% by 2030.
Gaps in the U.S. vehicle safety system make commercial vehicles riskier to both their drivers and to those they share the road with. Many government safety standards that apply to passenger vehicles don’t apply to commercial vehicles, which means they often lack basic features like airbags. There are also no requirements for automatic emergency braking or other advanced driver assistance systems. These systems are particularly important when you consider that most people who die in truck crashes are other road users.
That last bit is what I think is most important. It’s usually not the truck drivers themselves who are dying in these wrecks; it’s the people in the other car (or cars). This isn’t entirely surprising to hear. Back in 2023, the IIHS released a study showing that vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends (i.e., pickup trucks, big SUVs, and vans) were “45 percent more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars and other vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less and a sloping profile.”
Modern pickup trucks are notorious for having hugely tall, vertical noses that, in certain situations, can partially or fully obscure shorter people and children from the driver’s view, which is obviously a safety concern. The least that these trucks can have are sensors or cameras to ensure the driver is well-informed of their surroundings. Many of them already do, but it’s important to hold carmakers accountable through proper testing.
No Actual Crash Testing Yet
In its announcement, the IIHS says testing of these Class 3 vehicles has already begun. The organization plans to start revealing ratings pretty soon, but for now, there’s no mention of actual crash tests. From the release:
This spring, we’ll release occupant protection ratings for these vehicles, based on whether they are equipped with things like airbags and advanced seat belts. At the same time, we’ll be completing tests of their crash avoidance capabilities on our track, the results of which will be published later.
This makes sense, considering the IIHS’s emphasis is on making sure these trucks have tech that can avoid crashes, rather than direct occupant protection. The org also hinted at the idea of growing its field of tests to include even bigger vehicles:
Cargo vans and big pickups are only the beginning. In the coming years, we expect to expand our evaluations to include box trucks and potentially even tractor-trailers.
As someone who stands 5-foot-9-inches on a good day with thick-soled shoes, I welcome the IIHS’s new endeavor to take a look at large pickup safety. I’m sure many of you who drive low-slung sedans or sports cars have disappeared beneath the view of a big pickup while on a highway, only for that pickup to forget you were there and merge into you. If the IIHS’s efforts mean these trucks have the safety sensors to keep me out of harm’s way, either as a pedestrian or another driver, I’m all for it.
Top graphic image: Ram
I have wondered if the height disparity between a large pickup truck, especially if raised for 4wd trekking, and smaller vehicles is an issue in another way. I drove a Fiesta for 9 years, and had a few encounters where I was waiting for oncoming traffic so I could turn left, while there was a large pickup waiting in the side road I was going to turn into, also waiting to turn left in to the lane I was currently occupying. Daylight, decent weather, I could easily see the driver in the truck as was sitting at least a lane away, so he could see me as well, across the lane in front of him, waiting there to turn. When the traffic in the on coming lane cleared I would turn left to suddenly have a very large truck grill fill up the entire view in my driver side window. It seems that it was the movement of my car that made the other driver become aware of me and jam on their brakes while I did my best to squirt on out of there. Never hit, but had to be inches away.
It would be interesting to compare when 3/4 and 1 ton were the same bodies and size as the 1/2 ton.
I’ve heard some interesting stories from people working for iihs. I bet this will generate some. But business is business. Full coverage on the $100k trucks probably going up. Not really sure why you would bother crash testing a class 8 trucks. You might as well test tractors for rollovers and crashes while your at it. Maybe ATVs and sxs as well. But I’ve always been curious about crash testing cab over class 6 trucks.
Maybe someone at the the IIHS is trying to justify their job or they want more money/bigger budget for their department. Imagine a new VP comes in and says “I can increase our departments output by 25%!” the only way to do that is more tests and these vehicles are a way to do that.
My cynical take is the IIHS wants to use this to raise the insurance rates on whichever HD vehicles score the lowest. They won’t lower the best ones, just raise the rates only.
Rates are definitely going up. There is a business case for this and that’s why they are doing it. They can justify the costs to their members / clients/ overlords. They crash stuff for content or advertising but this definitely isn’t that.
I know a few people that migrated from government to iihs and had to leave because they were too slimy for them. Now securely at ngos that are probably just as bad but not as overtly tied to business.
That 16% of all vehicles involved in fatal accidents are medium/heavy duty +vans sounds bad until you add context. They make up about 14.1% of all vehicles AND they drive more miles than the average car does.
Extra context would help in news articles.
They also do riskier things like towing large trailers.
14%? That’s 1 out of 7 vehicles—I’ve never seen nearly that many anywhere out in the wild. Class 3 trucks/vans account for only 1.5% of all vehicles and less than 3% of new sales.
Maybe it’s your local area but it’s not just class 3, there’s 4,5,6…etc, I got those from the department of transportation website. You can exclude class 1-2 and total the others.
https://www.bts.gov/browse-statistical-products-and-data/surveys/vius/vehicle-stats-state-vehicle-type-and-model-year
This will drastically vary depending where you are. Any given weekend you’ll see dozens of 3/4 or 1 ton trucks pulling race trailers at the local drag strip or circle track.
The comments seem to have fallen to a people shouldn’t be allowed to buy vehicles that are safer for them because I want to drive a old vehicle that isn’t safe. However I should be allowed to import an old unsafe vehicle that is 30 years old because it’s my choice. But people should not be allowed to buy safer vehicles. How will Volvo survive laws that don’t allow safe vehicles?
They would be much safer if there was a sharpened steel spike sticking out of the hub of the steering wheel.
The ironic part is that it’s the insurance companies that are doing this not the government.
Im sure they know exactly what the odds are of the people getting hurt in accidents with these size vehicles.
Watch the rates go up.
The vast majority of semi drivers are actually very safe drivers who obey the laws as they know they will lose their jobs with too many violations.
BTW UPS trucks are all getting AI cameras installed now and my regular UPS driver isn’t happy about it as it is monitoring them as well as the road ahead.
I used to do local deliveries (not for UPS, I was in a bigger truck) right when the driver facing cameras were becoming a thing. Everyone I spoke to hated the idea. I personally really thought it was a good idea, because it only would’ve exonerated me, as I didn’t mess with my phone. However, some nuance: adding ai to all the things is just dumb. And the cameras I had were not able to be watched by management in real time. I’ve heard some horror stories about helicopter bosses just watching their drivers all day.
If they are going to do this, and they should, shouldn’t they change the tests of other vehicles to measure how they risk pedestrians and other drivers. I guess I’m selfish but when I check for safety on a vehicle it is for the safety of the people inside the glass. If someone wants to drive a KEI car on the American highway system it isn’t my responsibility to protect them from their bad decisions.
Thank goodness!!!
Tons of miles in these trucks by hotshots and tradespeople.
Also tons of miles in these trucks by folks who just … like to drive them because they like ’em. In my immediate surrounding neighborhood there are at least 3 people with full on 3500s who solely use them as just a regular car.
They should require these to be for business use but test them and make them follow all vehicle rules for people who just drive them for basic transportation