I-Team: Trucks identified in deadly I-55 NB crash

ELWOOD, Ill. (WLS) -- The ABC7 I-Team has been trying to identify the tractor trailers involved in a deadly I-55 northbound accident Monday afternoon.

The I-Team spoke by phone with a trucker who was driving behind the accident and watched it happen. He said the incident was blurry, but based on what he described and what state investigators say, here is what it looks like at the moment.

PHOTOS: 4 dead in I-55 multi-vehicle crash

The two trucks involved in the accident would appear to be a white tractor trailer that looks to be empty, and a red one with significant front-end damage.

The white truck is a refuse hauler owned by Ewing Trucking on Chicago's South Side. According to Federal Transportation Safety Board records, Ewing has five trucks in its fleet and no reported fatal accidents on its record.

The second truck shows visible damage and its front driver's side wheel is up over the concrete highway barrier. The vehicle is owned by Espinal Trucking in Leesburg, Ind., a small interstate transport company with one vehicle and a single owner-operator.

A witness who was driving behind the accident described this red truck as colliding with other vehicles. U.S. Motor Carrier records on the truck, headquartered south of Elkhart, Ind., also show no fatal accidents and one past inspection with no citations.

A check of the I-Team legal database shows no lawsuits against either trucking company. There was no answer at either of their offices. State police say it is much too early to know whether one, both or either of the trucks were to blame for this chain reaction crash. Reconstructing an accident like this is complicated and as anyone who has driven through the area knows, so is the lane configuration.