UPS moves trailers between its hubs with a fleet of tractor-trailers the company calls feeders, and Illinois, sitting at the center of the national freight network, sees them constantly. A UPS semi-truck accident at highway speed is a catastrophic event, and the case that follows is a full-scale truck accident case against one of the largest carriers on earth.
Or call (630) 527-1595. We are available 24/7 and you pay nothing unless we win.
The driver is a UPS employee operating under federal motor carrier safety regulations: hours-of-service limits, qualification and testing requirements, and inspection and maintenance rules. The equipment is heavily instrumented, and UPS feeders frequently pull double trailers, which are longer and less stable than a standard rig in wind, in curves, and in emergency maneuvers. When doubles are involved, configuration, loading, and speed become central liability questions that call for reconstruction experts early.
Electronic logging device data, telematics, camera footage, dispatch records, and maintenance files decide these cases, and much of that material is kept only for limited periods in the ordinary course of business. A preservation demand must go out within days of the crash. This is the single most important reason to involve counsel immediately in a feeder case. And under 735 ILCS 5/2-101, a feeder crash on the Illinois interstates may support venue in more than one county, a choice that shapes the jury pool and the timeline.
Highway-speed collisions with an 80,000-pound vehicle produce the injuries that define our practice: brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations, burns, and deaths. A catastrophic injury case must fund a lifetime of care; a wrongful death case must account for everything a family lost. Against a defendant with UPS’s resources, both must be prepared for trial to be worth their full value. Illinois places no caps on compensatory damages in personal injury and wrongful death cases, so the recovery can reflect the full lifetime loss: Level I trauma care, rehabilitation at facilities like the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, home and vehicle modifications, and attendant care.
The law is the same; the fight is different. UPS will be professionally defended from day one, and the case will not be won by demand letter. It is won with evidence, experts, and the credible readiness to try it.
The whole combination is the company’s responsibility, and trailer-specific questions like loading and coupling can add liability theories rather than subtract them.
Start with the UPS accident overview, or see the package car page if your crash involved a brown delivery vehicle rather than a semi.
UPS feeder cases like these are one part of our Illinois commercial vehicle accident practice, which covers every kind of work vehicle on Illinois roads.
Get a free, no-obligation case review. We're available 24/7 and you pay nothing unless we win.
John D. Risvold is an equity partner at Collins Law Group, P.C. in Naperville, Illinois. He represents individuals and families in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, focusing on commercial trucking crashes, rideshare and autonomous vehicle litigation, medical malpractice and birth injury, and product defect claims. He has tried cases to verdict in Illinois courts, recovered more than $50 million for clients over thirteen years of practice, and has been named to Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation and Illinois Super Lawyers.
"*" indicates required fields
