Box Truck Accidents in Roanoke | 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 Roanoke U-Haul and Roanoke Budget truck rentals. Box trucks are generally used to haul large items such as furniture, appliances, and large boxes.

Roanoke Box Truck Accidents

It is not uncommon to see accidents involving box trucks in Roanoke, VA. Roanoke’s freeway system  includes; Interstate 581, the primary north-south roadway through the city. It is also the only interstate highway as Interstate 81 passes north of the city limits. Interstate 581 is a concurrency with U.S. Route 220, which continues as the Roy L. Webber Expressway from downtown Roanoke, where the I-581 designation ends, south to State Route 419. Route 220 connects Roanoke to Martinsville, Virginia and Greensboro, North Carolina. The proposed Interstate 73 would generally parallel Route 220 between Roanoke and Greensboro and would likely be a concurrency with I-581 through the city. The primary east-west roadway is U.S. Route 460, named Melrose Avenue and Orange Avenue. Route 460 connects Roanoke to Lynchburg. U.S. Route 11 passes through the city, primarily as Brandon Avenue and Williamson Road, which was a center of automotive based commercial development after World War II. Other major roads include U.S. Route 221, State Route 117 (known as Peters Creek Road), and State Route 101 (known as Hershberger Road). The Blue Ridge Parkway also briefly runs adjacent to the city border.

The Virginia General Assembly established the first State Highway Commission in 1906. The original mission of the Commission was, "to maintain, operate, and construct the primary system of highways around the Commonwealth. The first 4,000 miles of Virginia's first highway system was established in 1918. In order to facilitate the allocation of new federal highway funds the General Assembly designated 8 construction districts; those districts remain in place today with one addition, the Northern Virginia District added in 1983. The official state agency, the Department of Highways, was established in 1927. By this time the citizens of the Commonwealth had rejected a bond referendum for road construction and instead on the advice of Governor E. Lee Trinkle instituted a "pay as you go" policy that relied on a 3 cent per gallon tax on gasoline for road construction.

Today, VDOT is a large organization, requiring lots of equipment and employees to maintain the third-largest number of road miles among the states. The 57,867-mile state-maintained system is divided into these categories: Interstate, Primanry, Secondary, and Frontage. A separate system includes 10,561 miles of urban streets, maintained by cities and towns with the help of state funds. Virginia's cities are independent of its counties. Henrico County (1,279 miles) and Arlington County (359 miles) maintain their own roads with VDOT funds. There is an additional 39 miles of toll roads maintained by others.

Roanoke Box Truck Accident Lawyers Need to Assess Cause

In many cases, Roanoke 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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke truck accident lawyer most. Do yourself a favor by calling one of the qualified Roanoke truck accident lawyers listed on this page. Hire a qualified Roanoke 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 Roanoke highway, for example, Interstate 581 is the primary north-south roadway through the city. It is also the only interstate highway as Interstate 81 passes north of the city limits. Interstate 581 is a concurrency with U.S. Route 220, which continues as the Roy L. Webber Expressway from downtown Roanoke, where the I-581 designation ends, south to State Route 419.

Roanoke Truck Rental Companies Offer Box Trucks

There are many U-Haul and Other Truck Rental locations in and around Roanoke, VA and many of them offer box trucks. Following is a partial list of Roanoke U-Haul and Other Roanoke 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 Roanoke and Surrounding Cities

Serving clients throughout Western Central Virginia, including Altavista, Amsterdam, Bedford, Blackberry, Blacksburg, Chatham, Christiansburg, Collinsville, Danville, Draper, Elon, Fancy Gap, Hillsville, Lynchburg, Mount Union, Peaksville, Riner, Roanoke, Rocky Mount, areas in the vicinity of Roanoke Regional/Woodrum Field, and other communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Roanoke 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 Roanoke box truck accident lawyer today for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.