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

Chesapeake Box Truck Accidents

Chesapeake is served by U.S. Highways 13, 17, 58, and 460. Interstate 64, part of the Hampton Roads Beltway, crosses through the city, Interstate 464 is a spur which connects it with downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth at the Berkley Bridge, and Interstate 664, which completes the Interstate loop from the Western Branch section of Chesapeake through the City of Newport News and into the City of Hampton. State Route 168 is also a major highway in the area. It includes the Chesapeake Expressway toll road. Chesapeake is the only locality in the Hampton Roads area with a separate bridge division. The city's Department of Public Works, Bridges and Structures division has 51 full-time workers. The city maintains 90 bridges and overpasses. Included are five movable span (draw) bridges which open an estimated 30,000 times a year for water vessels. Major highway bridges in Chesapeake include Steel Bridge, the Gilmerton Bridge, the Jordan Bridge, and the High Rise Bridge, all drawbridges crossing the Southern branch of the Elizabeth River. The Jordan Bridge was built in 1928 and operated with major weight restrictions. Motorists were charged a 75-cent toll that is used to pay for repairs. In 2008, the Jordan Bridge was closed for good. Replacing the bridge is now in progress with the center span having been removed. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer 2010 on a replacement bridge to be open by fall of 2011. The new bridge is being privately funded just as the Jordon had been originally. Proposed tolls are in the 2 dollar range.

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.

Chesapeake Box Truck Accident Lawyers Need to Assess Cause

In many cases, Chesapeake 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 Chesapeake 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 Chesapeake truck accident lawyer most. Do yourself a favor by calling one of the qualified Chesapeake truck accident lawyers listed on this page. Hire a qualified Chesapeake 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 Chesapeake highway, for example, Interstate 464 is a spur which connects it with downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth at the Berkley Bridge, and Interstate 664, which completes the Interstate loop from the Western Branch section of Chesapeake through the City of Newport News and into the City of Hampton. State Route 168 is also a major highway in the area. It includes the Chesapeake Expressway toll road.

Chesapeake Truck Rental Companies Offer Box Trucks

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