The trucks people want gone
Picture the box truck that a moving company parked behind its building after the engine let go. A step van from a bakery route that failed inspection. A day cab tractor sitting in a yard off Touhy with a cracked block and no plan.
We buy them in any condition, together with the trailer or without it: box trucks and straight trucks, step vans and cutaways, semi tractors (day cabs and sleepers), dry vans, reefers and flatbed trailers. The rest of what we buy is listed by type, and the home page has the form if you’d like a number first.
What to have ready
The title, whichever state issued it. Every vehicle in Illinois needs a title under 625 ILCS 5/3-101, but section 3-102 carves out “a motor vehicle regularly engaged in the interstate transportation of persons or property for which a currently effective certificate of title has been issued in another State.” So a tractor that ran interstate may well be titled in Indiana or Texas, and that’s normal. Illinois recyclers file what the law calls “a similarly acceptable out-of-state document of ownership” (625 ILCS 5/3-117.2); our guide to out-of-state, salvage and rebuilt titles explains more.
Lien release, if the truck was financed. Equipment loans are common on trucks. If the title still names a lender, find the release or the lender’s paid-in-full letter before pickup.
Fleet damage paperwork, if it applies to you. Illinois has a rule just for fleets. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1(b)(4), a vehicle in a fleet of more than 5 commercial vehicles counts as salvage when repairs would cost more than 50% of its fair market value, and the fleet owner applies for a salvage certificate before selling it in Illinois. If that’s your situation, mention it when we talk.
ID and authority to sign. A business sale still needs the signer’s ID; a scrap buyer records two forms of ID under 625 ILCS 5/5-401.3.
What a heavy pickup needs from you
A semi or a 26-foot box truck isn’t loaded like a sedan, and we arrange the right tow for it. To plan it, we ask:
- What it is and roughly how heavy. Make, model, length, and whether a trailer is attached.
- Do the brakes release? A truck on air brakes that won’t build air, or brakes seized from sitting, changes how it’s moved.
- Do the wheels turn and is the steering free? Flat tires are fine; we need to know.
- Where exactly it’s parked. A business lot with room to swing around is very different from a box truck wedged into an alley behind a storefront on a busy street like Western, Devon or Lincoln.
- Is it empty? Cargo, pallets, tools and anything with fuel or chemicals should come out first. Take your plates and any permits off.
Fix it or sell it?
For a working truck, downtime costs money every day, and a big engine or transmission job can take weeks. Get a written repair estimate, compare it with what the truck earns or would sell for repaired, and count the next repairs waiting behind this one. Our guide to a blown engine or failed transmission walks through that test. If selling wins, the offer doesn’t expire, the tow is free and you’re paid when the truck is collected.