Box Truck Accidents in Chicago | Box Truck Injury Lawyer

A box truck is a truck with a cube shaped cargo area and cab on a single chassis. A box truck is also known by other names such as straight truck, cube truck, cube van, bob truck, or box van. Box trucks range from about 13 to 23 feet in length and are used mainly by moving companies or rental companies like Chicago U-Haul and Chicago Ryder truck rentals. Box trucks are generally used to haul large items such as furniture, appliances, and large boxes.

Chicago Box Truck Accidents

It is not uncommon to see accidents involving box trucks in Chicago, IL. Chicago’s freeway system, which is made up of many miles of freeways and expressways in a busy metropolitan area. By the 1990s, the Chicago metropolitan area had 54,600 miles of streets and roads, including 2,500 miles of expressways, 17,300 miles of highways and arterial streets, and 34,800 miles of local streets.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. The IDOT works to improve the state transportation system by working with metropolitan planning organizations in ten of the state's urbanized areas to develop programs relating to urban transportation; coordinating a surveillance program to monitor the physical condition of the transportation system, the level of service provided and the need for improvement; evaluating proposals for major investments in the transportation system and overall benefits to be gained. The IDOT also develops and implements Federal legislative initiatives as well as the initiation and coordination of policy statement and papers which serve as guides for departmental actions on a broad spectrum of transportation issues.

Chicago Box Truck Accident Lawyers Need to Assess Cause

In many cases, Chicago truck accident attorneys must retain the services of scientific and medical experts to prove both the cause of the accident and the cause of your injuries. Additionally, a qualified 18-wheeler accident lawyer will obtain all kinds of evidence concerning the scene of the crash, truck logs, and other important information to be used against the trucker, trucking company, or the company’s insurer. Arranging expert witness testimony and preparing important physical and documentary evidence is just one of many ways a Chicago tractor trailer injury lawyer can help you after you’ve suffered a truck accident injury for a major commercial vehicle wreck.

If you or a loved one have been involved in a serious box truck wreck, semi crash or big rig accident, hiring a lawyer is the farthest thing from your mind when tragedy such as this strikes you, a family member, or a friend. However, this is when you need a Chicago truck accident lawyer most. Do yourself a favor by calling one of the qualified Chicago truck accident lawyers listed on this page. Hire a qualified Chicago tractor trailer accident lawyer to help protect your rights.

Box Truck Cargo Area Susceptible to Overloading and Load Shifting

Although the cargo area and cab of a box truck both sit on the same chassis, the cargo area is usually completely enclosed and separate from the cab. However, some box trucks have a cargo area that is joined to the cab and in some of these models; the cargo area can be accessed from within the cab.

The cargo area in a box truck is just as susceptible to overloading and load shifting which could lead to an accident on a Chicago highway, for example, the Kennedy Expressway and the Dan Ryan Expressway which are the busiest state maintained routes in the City of Chicago and its suburbs and accidents often occur on these expressways.

Chicago Truck Rental Companies Offer Box Trucks

There are many U-Haul and Ryder Truck Rental locations in and around Chicago, IL and many of them offer box trucks. Following is a partial list of Chicago U-Haul and Chicago Ryder Truck Rental locations:

Box Trucks Large and Small

A “box van” would be a smaller type of box truck because it would use a van cab similar to a family passenger van. A box van would also be built on a van chassis similar to a common 1/2-ton to 3/4 ton commercial vans.

Larger box trucks would have a bigger cab and use a heavier truck chassis built for heavier load capacities such as a 5-ton or 6-ton box truck.

Vehicle makers such as Ford, Chevrolet and International are manufacturers of box trucks.

Overhead Cargo Area

Some box trucks have an overhead compartment that extends the cargo area over the roof of the cab. The overhead cargo feature is commonly found on box trucks available from U-Haul such as their 14’ truck, 17’ truck, 20’ truck, 24’ truck and 26’ truck. All of these models are configured with an overhead cargo area that they call “Mom’s Attic®”.

The overhead cargo area feature has some advantages over regular box truck designs. It provides extra storage space above the cab and it allows movers to isolate more fragile items from regular cargo.

Box Truck Accident Attorneys Serve Chicago and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Northeastern Illinois, including Antioch, Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Bolingbrook, Buffalo Grove, Burbank, Calumet City, Carol Steam, Carpentersville, Channahon, Chicago, Cicero, Crystal Lake, De Kalb, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, East Chicago, Elgin, Evanston, Glenview, Gurnee, Hammond, Hoffman Estates, Joliet, Lake Forest, Lake in the Hills, Lancing, Lockport, Lombard, McHenry, Mt. Prospect, Mundelein, Naperville, New Lenox, North Chicago, Northbrook, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Orland Park, Oswego, Rockford, Romeoville, Round Lake Beach, Schaumburg, St. Charles, Tinley Park, Vernon Hills, Wilmette, Woodstock, Zion, areas in the vicinity of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and other communities in Cook County and Dupage County.

Chicago box truck accident attorneys are experienced in handling serious injury truck collision cases and can help you fight the trucking company or its insurer in order to get you the compensation you deserve. Contact a Chicago box truck accident lawyer today for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.