Supreme Court Rules Trucking Brokers Can Be Sued for Negligent Hiring of Unsafe Carriers

By Joshua Rubenstein

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Truck Accidents

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Last Modified on May 20, 2026

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous ruling that changes the legal landscape for every truck accident victim in this country. 

In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, 608 U.S. ___ (2026), every member of the Court agreed that federal law does not shield freight brokers from state lawsuits when they put dangerous carriers on the road.

Freight brokers like C.H. Robinson have spent years arguing that a federal statute – the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) – wiped out any state-law duty to screen the carriers they hire. Courts were split. Some agreed. Some did not. The Supreme Court settled it on May 14. The brokers lost.

If you have read our recent posts on chameleon carriers and freight broker liability in Louisiana, here is what today’s ruling actually changes.

What Did the Supreme Court Actually Decide?

Shawn Montgomery was stopped on the shoulder of an Illinois highway when a Mack truck drifted off the road and slammed into his tractor-trailer. The driver, Yosniel Varela-Mojena, was operating for Caribe Transport II, LLC. Montgomery lost his leg. He will carry his other injuries for the rest of his life.

C.H. Robinson had brokered the load.

Caribe Transport was not some unknown carrier. At the time of the crash it carried a “conditional” safety rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – meaning the FMCSA had already flagged it for problems with:

• Driver qualification
• Hours-of-service compliance
• Vehicle maintenance
• Recordable crashes

Montgomery’s theory was simple: C.H. Robinson knew, or should have known, that putting Caribe’s trucks on the road was likely to end in a wreck.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for a unanimous Court, held that the FAAAA’s preemption provision includes a safety carve-out: it “shall not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles.” 49 U.S.C. §14501(c)(2)(A). 

Requiring a broker to check a carrier’s safety record before hiring it is motor vehicle safety regulation. The safety exception saves the claim. The Seventh Circuit was reversed.

Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Alito, wrote separately. His point was blunt. Congress deregulated trucking economics – it did not deregulate safety. Leaving trucking companies fully exposed to tort liability while handing brokers a free pass for hiring those same companies makes no sense. That is a hard argument to answer. C.H. Robinson did not answer it.

The bottom line: a freight broker that ignores a carrier’s poor federal safety rating, the kind any member of the public can pull up online in thirty seconds, can now be held accountable for the harm that follows.

C.H. Robinson: The Broker at the Center of the Case

C.H. Robinson pulled in more than $16 billion last year. It does not own a single truck. It matches shippers with carriers and pockets the spread. It is also the respondent in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport, and the company at the center of the CBS News investigations that ran in April 2026.

When asked about its vetting process, a company representative told CBS it requires:

• Proof of insurance
• A $300 registration fee

That is it. No safety audit. No crash history. Nothing about whether the carrier changed its name last month.

CBS reported that over the past decade C.H. Robinson hired thousands of carriers with documented safety problems. The carrier in the Christmas Eve 2022 Cincinnati crash – which killed four members of one family, including a woman five months pregnant – had changed its name at least three times to bury its record. 

It was still hauling C.H. Robinson loads under its newest name when the crash happened.

Then came the detail that landed hardest at oral argument: Super Ego, the carrier network at the center of the CBS 60 Minutes chameleon investigation, had just been named C.H. Robinson’s 2025 Carrier of the Year. See Commercial Carrier Journal. The Court was not impressed.

How This Ruling Connects to the Chameleon Carrier Problem

Montgomery v. Caribe Transport did not come out of nowhere. It sits on top of two failures our firm has tracked for years: brokers who refuse to look, and carriers who know how to hide.

Here is how the chameleon scheme works:

1. A carrier racks up safety violations and faces federal scrutiny.
2. It dissolves the company overnight.
3. It re-registers under a new name and DOT number for roughly $1,000.
4. In about 21 days, it has a clean federal record and is back on the road.

The family of the four people killed on Christmas Eve 2022 eventually learned the carrier had changed names at least three times. The broker that kept hiring it under each new identity was C.H. Robinson.

This ruling does not close that loophole. That is a regulatory fight, and Dalilah’s Law only chips away at it. What Montgomery does is simpler and more immediate: it strips the federal-preemption defense brokers have hidden behind for years. 

A broker that knows how to check a carrier’s safety record and chooses not to can no longer cite the FAAAA when that carrier kills somebody.

What This Ruling Means for Louisiana Truck Accident Victims

Two things changed on May 14.

First, the full liability chain is open. Claims against the driver and the carrier were always available – the FAAAA never blocked those. Montgomery confirms that where the facts support it, you also have a negligent-hiring claim against the broker. In serious cases, the broker is often the deepest pocket in the room.

Second, our firm has been winning this theory in Louisiana for nearly a decade. In Knoten v. Westbrook, 193 So.3d 380 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2016), I and my colleagues secured one of the first verdicts in this state holding a freight broker and shipper vicariously liable for a trucking crash. A Christmas Day 2008 wreck on I-10 near LaPlace killed three people – two of them children – and seriously injured others. The Fourth Circuit affirmed our partial summary judgment on broker liability. The total verdict topped $90 million.

This ruling clears the federal-preemption roadblock brokers have used to stall discovery, delay trials, and drag out settlements. It does not guarantee a win. It opens the door.

If you came to me with a broker case, here’s what I’d need to prove:

1. The broker owed a duty of care in choosing a carrier.
2. The broker knew – or should have known – the carrier was unsafe.
3. The broker hired it anyway.
4. That choice caused your injuries.

That is the whole case.

What to Do If You Were Hurt in a Truck Wreck in Louisiana

The name on the truck may be days old. The carrier’s real safety history may be buried under two or three prior DOT numbers. The broker may have ignored red flags a 30-second database search would have caught. Here is what to do.

1. Call law enforcement and get a crash report made.
2. Use your phone immediately. Photograph the DOT number on the cab door, the front and rear license plates, the driver, and the damage to both vehicles.
3. Contact an experienced trucking attorney fast. Electronic logging data, dispatch records, and DOT registration histories disappear. A litigation hold letter sent early is often the difference between having a case and losing the evidence to build one.
4. Do not assume the name on the truck is the whole story. In broker cases, the chain of liability almost always runs deeper than it first appears.

Truck Accident Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue the freight broker that hired the truck that hit me?

Yes, if the facts support it. After Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, negligent-hiring claims against brokers survive federal preemption. If the broker hired a carrier with a poor safety rating – or one that turned out to be a rebranded dangerous operator – you may have a claim against the broker in addition to the carrier and driver.

Does this ruling make brokers automatically liable in every truck accident?

No. A broker that ran a real safety review and chose a carrier with a clean record will have strong defenses. What Montgomery targets is willful blindness – brokers that had access to public safety data, chose not to look, and then argued federal law shielded them from the consequences. That argument is gone.

How does this affect the Delilah Coleman case and the Cincinnati Christmas Eve crash?

Both involve negligent-hiring claims against C.H. Robinson, and in both the company leaned on federal preemption to stall. That defense is gone. The families can now get to the merits in state court.

Is C.H. Robinson the only broker that can be sued under this ruling?

No. Montgomery reaches every transportation broker in the country, not just C.H. Robinson.

How long do I have to file a truck accident claim in Louisiana?

Two years from the date of injury under Louisiana Civil Code article 3493.1. Do not wait. Evidence disappears fast – a litigation hold letter from your personal injury attorney sent early can preserve what you need to win.

Hurt in a Truck Crash in Louisiana? Here’s What to Do Next.

For more than fifty years, our firm has fought for injured people – recovering over $500 million for clients across Louisiana and beyond. If you or your family is dealing with a serious truck crash, call us or contact us online. We will look at your case, tell you straight what we see, and fight for you.

On the Land, on the Water or on the Roadways of America – We Will Fight for You.

Sources:

Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, 608 U.S. ___ (May 14, 2026); Knoten v. Westbrook, 193 So.3d 380 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2016); CBS Sunday Morning (Apr. 19, 2026); 49 U.S.C. §14501(c)(2)(A).