{"id":104589,"date":"2026-02-27T13:48:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/896176591"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:48:52","slug":"supreme-court-to-consider-whether-freight-brokers-can-be-held-liable-for-negligent-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/supreme-court-to-consider-whether-freight-brokers-can-be-held-liable-for-negligent-hiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court to consider whether freight brokers can be held liable for negligent hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II<\/em><\/a>, to be argued on Wednesday, March 4, the court will consider whether a federal law initially<\/a> designed to deal with state trucking regulations supersedes state common-law claims holding freight brokers liable for negligently selecting dangerous motor carriers or drivers. That may not sound particularly fascinating, but the issue before the court, which involves the scope of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994<\/a>, could have broad liability implications for transportation logistics<\/a> and the freight broker<\/a> industry.<\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n

The underlying dispute stems from an Illinois highway collision that occurred on Interstate 70 on Dec. 7, 2017<\/a>. Shawn Montgomery, a truck driver from Missouri, had pulled his 2015 Mack truck<\/a> onto the westbound shoulder due to a mechanical issue. As he stood outside inspecting the vehicle, Yosniel Varela-Mojena, driving a 1995 Freightliner tractor-trailer westbound at high speed, allegedly veered off the roadway and rear-ended Montgomery\u2019s truck. Montgomery suffered severe injuries, leading to the amputation<\/a> of his leg and permanent disfigurement.  <\/p>\n

Varela-Mojena was employed<\/a> by Caribe Transport II, an Indiana-based interstate motor carrier. The tractor was owned by Caribe II, while the trailer was leased by Caribe Transport, LLC, a related<\/a> Florida entity. The shipment, a load of plastic pots<\/a> from Ohio destined<\/a> for Arkansas and Texas, was arranged by freight broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., and its affiliates, under a carrier agreement with Caribe II.<\/p>\n

In the district court<\/a>, Montgomery brought state-based negligence claims against Varela-Mojena, Caribe II (the tractor owner), Caribe I (which leased the trailer), and Robinson (the freight broker). Robinson moved to dismiss the negligent-hiring counts against it, arguing<\/a> that Montgomery\u2019s state claims were preempted under the FAAAA\u2019s Section 14501(c)(1), which bars state laws \u201crelated to a price, route, or service\u201d of brokers \u201cwith respect to the transportation of property.\u201d The district court held that while the negligent-hiring claims related to broker services, they fell within the safety exception of Section 14501(c)(2)(A), which preserves \u201csafety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reversed<\/a> on the basis that \u201cthe FAAAA preempts state law claims that a freight broker negligently hired a motor carrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the court, Montgomery contends<\/a> that, contrary to the (seemingly) 7th Circuit\u2019s categorical holding, Section 14501(c)(1) does not supersede his claims, which fall under the safety exception. Effectively, he argues the law targets economic regulations like tariffs, not safety-focused tort claims. Indeed, according to Montgomery, the safety exception was included<\/a> for just that reason: through it, Congress sought to preserve \u201clongstanding state regulatory authority\u201d \u201cwith respect to motor vehicles.\u201d And \u201c[w]hen a state requires a broker to exercise due care in hiring a person who will \u2018provid[e] motor vehicle transportation for compensation\u2019 \u2026 that exercise of state regulatory authority necessarily occurs \u2018with respect to motor vehicles.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery also criticizes a broad understanding of preemption as sweeping away recourse for victims, as well as potentially providing an incentive for brokers to hire risky carriers for profit.<\/p>\n

In their brief<\/a>, the other side counters that \u201c[s]tate-law tort claims, like negligent-selection claims, against brokers are expressly preempted under the plain text of Section 14501(c)(1)\u201d and that the safety exception does not apply here. According to them, this is pure textualism: the safety exception \u201ccovers only those state laws with a direct connection to motor vehicles.\u201d Brokers do not possess or operate such vehicles, and \u201c[s]tates have never had authority to impose personal injury liability on brokers.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Montgomery\u2019s claims regarding the practical effect of a ruling against him, those may not be used to get around the text of the statute and \u201credefine the responsibilities of federally licensed brokers under the guise of motor vehicle safety,\u201d they contend.<\/p>\n

The federal government \u2013 which filed a \u201cfriend of the court\u201d brief<\/a> \u2013 agrees. It argues that the the text requires a \u201cdirect connection\u201d with vehicles, and \u201ca state common-law requirement that a broker must exercise due care in selecting a motor carrier does not \u2018concern\u2019 motor vehicles.\u201d U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer acknowledges that this is a 180-degree pivot from the United States\u2019 prior stance, but he explains that \u201c[f]ollowing the change in Administration, additional intragovernmental consultation and deliberation, and further percolation of the issue in the courts of appeals, the United States has reconsidered that view.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for how this will shake out, it is always hard to predict how the court will approach federal preemption, perhaps made even more difficult by the government\u2019s admitted change in position. But, at oral argument, I would expect lots of questions on what does and does not constitute a \u201cdirect connection to motor vehicles\u201d and some potentially creative hypotheticals along the way. <\/p>\n

\n

Posted in Court News<\/a>, Merits Cases<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Cases: Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC<\/a><\/p>\n

Recommended Citation:<\/strong> Nora Collins, Supreme Court to consider whether freight brokers can be held liable for negligent hiring<\/em>, SCOTUSblog<\/span> (Feb. 27, 2026, 11:00 AM), https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2026\/02\/court-to-consider-whether-freight-brokers-can-be-held-liable-for-negligent-hiring\/ <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… common-law claims holding freight<\/span> brokers liable for negligently … transportation logistics and the freight<\/span> broker industry. The underlying … trailer), and Robinson (the freight<\/span> broker). Robinson moved to … Court to consider whether freight<\/span> brokers can be held …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}