--- title: "What Shippers Need to Know About the Supreme Court Freight Broker Liability Ruling" url: "https://www.cowtownlogistics.com/blog/supreme-court-freight-broker-liability-ruling-what-shippers-need-to-know/" --- Table Of Contents - [What happened](#what-happened) - [How to vet your broker or carrier](#how-to-vet-your-broker-or-carrier) - [How Cowtown is protecting you](#how-cowtown-is-protecting-you) - [What shippers should do now](#what-shippers-should-do-now) - [Sources](#sources) - [Frequently Asked Questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [What did the Supreme Court decide in Montgomery v. Caribe?](#what-did-the-supreme-court-decide-in-montgomery-v-caribe) - [What should shippers ask a freight broker about carrier vetting?](#what-should-shippers-ask-a-freight-broker-about-carrier-vetting) - [What does the ruling mean for shippers?](#what-does-the-ruling-mean-for-shippers) ## What happened In 2017, a truck driver for a carrier called Caribe Transport II was hauling a load of plastic pots through Illinois. The load was arranged by C.H. Robinson, one of the largest freight brokers in the country. The driver veered off course in his Mack truck and struck a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of the road. The driver of that parked truck, Shawn Montgomery, lost his leg and sustained permanent, life-altering injuries. Montgomery sued C.H. Robinson. His argument was straightforward. Caribe Transport had a conditional safety rating from the FMCSA when C.H. Robinson hired them. The carrier had already been flagged for driver qualification failures, hours-of-service violations, poor maintenance records, and an elevated crash rate. Montgomery argued the broker knew or should have known that putting this carrier on the road was a foreseeable danger to everyone on that highway. For years, C.H. Robinson used a federal law called the FAAAA to get these kinds of state-level lawsuits thrown out. On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that shield is gone for good. The ruling means freight brokers can now be held liable under state law when they negligently select an unsafe carrier. The FAAAA’s safety exception preserves every state’s right to bring these claims. That resolves a split among federal appeals courts and changes the legal landscape for all 28,000 freight brokers operating in the United States. > *“If brokers were preempted from state tort law with no federal safety standards to fill the void, they would operate in a black hole with no meaningful safety-related regulation at all.”* > *Justice Brett Kavanaugh, concurring opinion* ## How to vet your broker or carrier This ruling is a wake-up call for anyone moving freight. Whether you are using a broker or booking a carrier directly, you now have a roadmap for the questions to ask and the boxes to check before a truck ever leaves your dock. Here is what to look for: - Active operating authority Verify the carrier or broker holds an active MC or DOT number through [FMCSA SAFER](https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/) . If authority is revoked or inactive, stop there. - Safety rating Only work with carriers rated Satisfactory or Unrated by the FMCSA. A Conditional or Unsatisfactory rating is a documented red flag. That is exactly what Caribe Transport carried when C.H. Robinson booked them. - CSA BASIC scores FMCSA scores carriers in categories like Unsafe Driving, Hours of Service, and Vehicle Maintenance. High percentile scores in these categories signal elevated risk. Check them through [FMCSA SMS](https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/) . - Contingent auto liability insurance This is the minimum insurance floor to confirm right now. Contingent auto liability provides coverage when the underlying carrier policy fails to respond. Ask your broker for a current certificate of insurance and confirm this coverage is listed. - Time in business New authority carriers, usually under 12 to 18 months, carry statistically higher risk and are a common vector for freight fraud. Ask how long the carrier has been operating under their current authority. - Documented vetting process Ask your broker directly whether they have a written [carrier vetting process](/blog/tips-to-find-the-best-trucking-broker-company-for-your-business) . If they cannot answer that question, that is the kind of broker this ruling was designed to hold accountable. On insurance, the baseline to confirm today is [contingent auto liability](/blog/what-is-freight-insurance-in-shipping-and-what-does-it-cover) . This coverage steps in when a carrier’s primary auto policy fails to pay out after an accident, which happens more often than most shippers realize. As the legal landscape develops post-Montgomery, more insurance layers may become relevant. ## How Cowtown is protecting you We have been doing this the right way since day one. At Cowtown, our carrier vetting process is rigorous, documented, and applied to every single carrier we consider placing on a load. The red flags present in the Caribe Transport situation, including a conditional safety rating, driver qualification failures, and an elevated crash rate, are exactly what our screening process is built to identify and reject before a truck ever gets dispatched. Our process includes: - Active FMCSA operating authority verified on every load - No conditional or unsatisfactory rated carriers, ever - CSA BASIC percentile scores and out-of-service rates reviewed via [FMCSA SAFER](https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/) - Crash history cross-referenced against industry databases - Current insurance certificates confirmed before dispatch - Minimum time-in-business thresholds enforced - [Carrier411](https://www.carrier411.com/) and [TIA Watchdog](https://tiawatchdog.com/) screening on every carrier - Every selection decision documented with a full audit trail In the last three years, Cowtown has moved 43,200 loads with 10 total accidents, a 0.023 percent accident rate. The industry average is roughly 0.2 percent. That means Cowtown runs at nearly 10 times better than the industry average. We were not named in a single lawsuit, and neither were our clients. This ruling does not change how we operate. It confirms why we operate the way we do. Discovery requests in post-Montgomery lawsuits will seek carrier vetting procedures, internal screening criteria, communications with carriers, and any safety data that was reviewed or ignored. We are prepared to stand behind every decision we make because we document all of it. ## What shippers should do now Regardless of who you broker with, ask the hard questions: - What data do you use to vet carriers? - Do you have a documented process? - Can I see it? - What insurance layers are in place if something goes wrong? A broker worth trusting will have solid answers. If you have questions, [reach out](/contact-us/) and we will walk you through our process. * * * ## Sources 1. [Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, U.S. Supreme Court, May 14, 2026](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/24-1238) 2. [FreightWaves, “The Supreme Court just told every freight broker that they can be sued,” May 14, 2026](https://www.freightwaves.com) 3. [CCJ Digital, “High court holds brokers accountable for hiring unsafe carriers,” May 14, 2026](https://www.ccjdigital.com) 4. [Cottingham & Butler, “The Montgomery Decision: What Brokers, Carriers and Shippers Should Know,” May 14, 2026](https://www.cottinghambutler.com) 5. [Trucking Info, “Supreme Court Ruling Puts Freight Broker Vetting Practices in Spotlight,” May 14, 2026](https://www.truckinginfo.com) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What did the Supreme Court decide in Montgomery v. Caribe? On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that state negligent-hiring claims against freight brokers can move forward when they concern motor-vehicle safety. ### What should shippers ask a freight broker about carrier vetting? Ask whether the broker verifies active FMCSA authority, reviews safety ratings and CSA BASIC scores, confirms current insurance, checks time in business, documents its procedures, and keeps an audit trail. ### What does the ruling mean for shippers? Shippers have a stronger reason to evaluate how a broker selects carriers rather than relying on price or network size alone. Documented safety checks and accountable carrier selection now carry greater legal and operational importance.