Illinois · Joliet, Will County
Joliet truck accident lawyers
Joliet sits beside what the Federal Highway Administration calls the nation’s largest inland port (opens in a new tab). If a truck from those yards hurt you or someone you love, more than one company may have to answer for it.
The short answer
Who can be responsible for a truck crash near Joliet’s intermodal yards?
Often more than one company. The markings on the truck name the motor carrier that was operating it, and when the truck was hauling a shipping container, the company that supplied the chassis under it has its own federal duty to inspect, repair and maintain that equipment (opens in a new tab). Which of them is answerable depends on what failed and on what each company’s records show.
Why are there so many trucks around Joliet?
South of the city, rail lines and interstates meet at CenterPoint Intermodal Center. The Federal Highway Administration describes the combined Joliet and Elwood site as a 6,400-acre intermodal facility (opens in a new tab) and the largest inland port in the country.
An intermodal yard exists to move containers between trains and trucks, so what arrives by rail leaves by road. The center’s operator describes the Houbolt Road Extension as the most direct route between I-80 and the yards (opens in a new tab).
The state’s transportation department says I-80 through Joliet and Will County carries approximately 80,000 vehicles a day, about 25 percent of them trucks (opens in a new tab).
That stretch of I-80 is being rebuilt, and the department’s schedule (opens in a new tab) shows the Des Plaines River bridge replacement running through 2028. If you drive I-80, I-55 or the roads around Elwood, you share them with that traffic every day.
What is different about a crash with a container truck?
A container truck is three pieces of equipment, and they can belong to different companies: the tractor, the steel box, and the wheeled chassis the box rides on.
Federal rules treat the business that supplies a chassis as an intermodal equipment provider. It must systematically inspect, repair and maintain the chassis, and provide it in safe and proper operating condition (opens in a new tab).
Those duties leave a paper trail. When a brake, a tire or a light at the back of the rig played a part in the crash, the inspection and repair history of that one chassis can matter as much as the driver’s logs.
Where is a Joliet truck accident case filed?
A case from Joliet usually begins in the Circuit Court of Will County, the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, which hears cases at the Will County Courthouse on Jefferson Street (opens in a new tab).
It may not stay there. When no defendant is from Illinois, none is from your own state, and more than $75,000 is in dispute (opens in a new tab), the defendants can ask to move the case to federal court (opens in a new tab).
Federal law places Will County in the Eastern Division of the Northern District of Illinois and names Chicago and Wheaton (opens in a new tab) as the places that court is held. The division’s courthouse is in Chicago (opens in a new tab).
What deadlines apply to a Will County truck claim?
Illinois gives most injury claims two years (opens in a new tab), and a wrongful death claim two years after the death (opens in a new tab).
Some of the carrier’s records have a shorter minimum. Driver logs must be kept for not less than 6 months (opens in a new tab), which is why we ask the company in writing, early, to preserve them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the company that owns the chassis be held responsible?
It can be. A company that supplies chassis to motor carriers has its own federal duty to inspect, repair and maintain that equipment (opens in a new tab). Whether it answers for your crash depends on what failed and what its records show.
Will my case be heard in Joliet?
It usually starts there, in the Circuit Court of Will County. A carrier from another state may be able to move it to the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois, whose Eastern Division federal law says is held at Chicago and Wheaton (opens in a new tab).
What should I write down after a crash with a container truck?
The names and numbers on every part of the rig. That means the carrier’s name and USDOT number, which federal rules require on both sides of the truck (opens in a new tab), and any shipping line name or chassis number on the frame behind it. A photograph is enough.
Keep reading
- 01
Truck crash law
The deadlines, the shared-fault rule, the federal safety rules and the records a trucking company has to keep.
Truck crash law page - 02
Rockford
The I-90 and I-39 freight corridor
Rockford page - 03
Aurora
I-88 and the western suburbs
Aurora page - 04
Peoria
I-74 and the I-474 bypass
Peoria page - 05
Springfield
I-55, I-72 and the state capital
Springfield page