On May 14, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States made a ruling that will better protect those injured in tractor-trailer accidents. The unanimous ruling by the court (9-0) now allows freight brokers to be held accountable for negligently assigning loads to unsafe motor carriers and drivers.
The case that changed everything
In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, Shawn Montgomery was seriously injured in 2017 when another tractor-trailer slammed into him. Subsequently, he sued the trucking company, the driver, and the freight broker: C.H. Robinson.
Mr. Montgomery aimed to hold the freight broker accountable for negligently hiring an unsafe company and driver. Before the court’s ruling, freight brokers had answered that they couldn’t be held liable under state law due to preemption language in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act.
The Supreme Court rejected a broad shield against liability for freight brokers. Montgomery was able to prove that the freight broker hired a motor carrier with a subpar safety rating and a well-documented history of safety violations. The driver didn’t even possess the full qualifications and hadn’t met their “hours of service” compliance quota, making them an unsafe motor carrier. The Supreme Court’s decision allows C.H. Robinson Worldwide to be held liable for negligent hiring.
How has the trucking law changed?
Though the broker argued that the FAAAA preempted state tort lawsuits and shielded them from liability, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the “safety exception,” which already exists in federal law, does not prohibit victims from suing brokers under state negligence standards if the broker failed to exercise reasonable care when hiring motor carriers.
Why is this important?
This means that plaintiffs can sue freight brokers if they hire unsafe trucking companies. Federal law requires a tractor-trailer company and driver to have $750,000 in insurance. Given the severe and catastrophic injuries in tractor-trailer crashes, being able to sue a negligent broker permits a fuller recovery for accident victims.
Plaintiffs would still have to prove that brokers were negligent in their actions, such as:
- Ignoring a trucking company or truck driver’s safety scores
- Hiring carriers with repeated violations
- Using “chameleon carriers” (companies that switch their names to shield themselves from a bad reputation)
- Overlooking unsafe drivers or equipment
What does this mean for accident victims?
Tractor-trailer crashes are notoriously violent. Imagine an 80,000-pound vessel of metal barreling toward you on the highway; that is the maximum Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of an 18-wheeler in the U.S. Even if the trucker wasn’t hauling a load, the vehicle would still weigh between 30,000-35,000 pounds.
This ruling allows victims of negligent drivers, trucking companies, third parties, and brokers to be liable for the damage they have caused. With more parties taking responsibility, the better the financial recovery. The cost of lifelong medical care, wage loss, and other factors can add up rapidly, and this ruling allows the opportunity for victims to experience a better recovery.
How has the trucking industry reacted to this ruling?
Truckers and freight communities online are already debating the fallout. Some truck drivers are happy that new safety standards will improve their working conditions, while brokers and industry leaders have complained about how it will affect their profits.
Their issues include:
- Increased insurance costs
- More lawsuits
- Brokers being pressured to heavily vet carriers
- A reduction in the use of smaller trucking outfits
- Increased shipping costs
It is important to note that this ruling did not create a new law from scratch. Some federal circuit courts (especially the Ninth Circuit) already allowed freight brokers to be liable if negligence was proven. The SCOTUS ruling simply resolved a split among lower courts to make the rule nationwide.
I have been in a trucking accident. What should I do?
We understand how overwhelming and painful this time can be, and believe your focus should be on healing – not legal and medical paperwork. For a free case evaluation, call us today at 800-884-9507, or email us online.
We also offer a valuable resource, the truck accident action plan. This offers tips on understanding your rights, red flags to be wary of, and ways to maximize your recovery. Tractor-trailer collisions are catastrophic, and no one should have to fight for their recovery alone.
Additional resources
Statements from the Supreme Court of the United States
“C.H. Robinson and the United States contend that construing the safety exception as Montgomery requests would swallow the FAAAA’s express preemption provision whole. In other words, everything that Congress preempted would also qualify for the safety exception. Not so. Recall that the express preemption provision applies to laws and regulations ‘related to a price, route, or service of’ motor carriers or brokers ‘with respect to the transportation of property.’ The safety exception saves only a subset of preempted claims: those involving regulations concerning motor vehicle safety. One can imagine many state laws that are related to motor carrier prices, routes, and services — such as how much a carrier may charge or which highways it may traverse —that have no relationship to safety.”
— Justice Amy Coney Barrett, opinion of the court
“As I see it, the conflicting contextual considerations make this a close case as we determine how to construe and where to draw the line on the statutory phrase ‘with respect to motor vehicles.’ In the end, I do not believe that Congress, through such oblique language in an economic-deregulation statute, simultaneously (i) allowed state tort suits against negligent trucking companies and (ii) categorically preempted state tort suits against upstream brokers who negligently select an unsafe trucking company. The brokers and their amici raise serious concerns about the repercussions of state tort liability against brokers, and they may of course (among other possibilities) ask Congress and the President to change federal law. But as of now, federal law does not preempt state tort liability against brokers for negligent selection of trucking companies.”
— Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., concurring