He and his mom, who was driving, were headed to see relatives in Mahwah when their Toyota Sienna slammed into the rig, which was stopped in the right lane at the Pilot Travel Center on the southbound highway, shortly before 10 a.m., responders said.
The son was killed when the front passenger side of the minivan struck the left rear corner of the trailer, they said.
"It's a gruesome sight," said Mahwah Mayor James Wysocki, who rushed to the scene.
The highway was closed indefinitely south of Route 202 to Corporate Drive for responders, investigators and others to do their jobs.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit joined police, firefighters and EMS workers at the scene, as did the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence.
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