​On May 11, 2022, at 8:16 a.m. central daylight time, an eastbound Metra commuter train struck a 2004 International box truck that was blocking a highway-railroad grade crossing at Prospect Avenue in Clarendon Hills, DuPage County, Illinois. The box truck had stalled as it was traversing the crossing, and while stopped, the grade crossing warning lights and gates activated for the oncoming commuter train (figure 1). The three truck occupants exited the vehicle before the train struck the left front of the truck. The collision and secondary impact resulted in exterior and interior damage to the lead cab car. The train did not derail. The box truck sustained heavy collision damage and was then engulfed in a postcrash fire. As a result of the collision, one train passenger was fatally injured; four train occupants sustained minor injuries, and the occupants of the box truck were not injured.

​We determined that the probable cause of the Clarendon Hills, Illinois, collision was the improperly licensed truck driver’s failure to manage the box truck’s power, causing the box truck to stall on the railroad, and his subsequent inability to restart the engine, causing the vehicle to block the path of the commuter train. Contributing to the collision were the motor carrier’s inadequate safety policies.