In a unanimous decision issued on May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC that freight brokers can be sued under state negligent-hiring law when they select motor carriers with documented safety deficiencies. The ruling removes a federal preemption defense that the brokerage industry has relied on for years and has immediate implications for the transportation and logistics sector.
What Happened
In 2017, Shawn Montgomery lost part of his leg when a commercial truck struck his tractor-trailer on an Illinois highway. The truck’s carrier had a “conditional” safety rating from federal regulators — flagged for driver qualification issues, maintenance deficiencies, and an elevated crash rate — when freight broker C.H. Robinson hired it to move the load. Montgomery sued C.H. Robinson for negligent hiring, but lower courts dismissed the claim as preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA).
The Supreme Court reversed. Writing for all nine justices, Justice Amy Coney Barrett held that a negligent-hiring claim against a broker falls within the FAAAA’s safety exception, which preserves state authority to regulate safety “with respect to motor vehicles.” Requiring a broker to exercise ordinary care in selecting a carrier directly concerns the trucks on the road — and is therefore not preempted.
What It Means
The decision affects anyone involved in carrier selection:
Freight brokers and 3PLs must now account for negligent-hiring exposure in every state where they operate. The logic of the ruling extends beyond entities holding formal broker authority to any party that selects a motor carrier.
- Shippers who relied on brokers’ preemption protection as a structural buffer should revisit their own contracting, indemnification, and carrier vetting practices.
- Insurers and risk managers face a changed underwriting and claims landscape — the assumption that broker liability claims would be dismissed at the preemption stage no longer holds.
- The Court made clear that this is an ordinary care standard, not strict liability. Brokers who document a rigorous carrier-vetting process — reviewing FMCSA safety ratings, inspection records, and driver qualification data before making selection decisions — are better positioned to defend against claims.