Like a football game where many touchdowns were expected, nobody saw 9-0 coming. 

The prevailing wisdom heading into the Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC ruling was that the Supreme Court would side with C.H. Robinson and uphold federal preemption of state negligent hiring claims against freight brokers. C.H. Robinson’s own CEO said as much on an earnings call just weeks ago. Most legal and industry observers agreed. 

On May 14, the Court ruled unanimously in favor of Shawn Montgomery, the truck driver who lost a leg after a wreck on an Illinois highway in 2017. Writing the majority opinion for the Court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett held that a 1994 transportation law by Congress does not shield brokers from state negligent hiring claims. States retain safety regulatory authority over motor vehicles, the Court concluded, and requiring a broker to exercise reasonable care in selecting a carrier falls squarely within that authority. 

This is one of the biggest legal developments to hit the freight industry in recent decades. 

What the decision does and doesn’t do 

The ruling clears the way for Montgomery’s lawsuit against C.H. Robinson to proceed. It does not mean C.H. Robinson (or any broker) is automatically liable. What it means is that brokers can now be sued under state tort law for negligent carrier selection, and those cases can go to a jury. 

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion with Justice Samuel Alito, offered useful framing for the industry going forward: brokers who ask hard questions and work with reputable carriers should still be able to defend themselves. The operative standard is ordinary care, not perfection. But the federal preemption shield brokers have relied on for years is gone. Every state’s negligent hiring law now applies. 

Implications and freight market impact 

The ripple effects will be felt across the industry, and they won’t be uniform. 

For brokers, the era of laissez-faire carrier selection is over. Simply confirming that a carrier holds active federal authority is no longer a sufficient defense. 

Vetting practices and the documentation behind them are now litigation assets. Insurance premiums will reprice, and they’ll skyrocket for brokers who can’t demonstrate a systematic, auditable carrier selection process. Expect consolidation pressure on smaller and mid-tier brokerages as compliance costs rise. 

For carriers, onboarding standards are about to tighten. Brokers now have a financial incentive to thoroughly scrutinize safety scores, inspection history, and out-of-service rates before assigning a load.  

Carriers with clean, well-documented safety records are positioned to benefit. Those with unresolved violations, conditional FMCSA ratings, or thin compliance history will find far fewer doors open. 

For shippers, the decision was discussed less but was still worth watching and will have consequences. Brokers facing greater liability exposure will make more conservative carrier selection decisions, which could narrow the carrier pool and put upward pressure on rates.  

Shippers who select carriers directly were never preempted. But those who assumed their broker’s legal shield extended to the whole transaction should reconsider that assumption. 

How Transflo can help 

The most important takeaway from the ruling is practical: if a broker doesn’t have a documented, defensible carrier vetting process, the absence of documentation is itself evidence. 

Transflo’s Workflow AI gives brokers the back-office infrastructure to build exactly that — carrier onboarding workflows that capture safety data, flag risk indicators, and create a timestamped audit trail that holds up when discovery requests arrive. Document management and scanning tools ensure that records aren’t scattered across emails and spreadsheets but are organized, accessible, and litigation-ready. 

For carriers, a strong safety record will help fleets stay on broker-approved lists. Telematics, including ELDs and AI dash cams, help fleets stay compliant with HOS requirements, coach drivers in real time, and build the kind of documented safety culture that increasingly will determine who gets the load. 

Conclusion 

The justices resolved a years-long circuit split, reversed a ruling that had shielded the nation’s largest freight broker from litigation, and exposed every broker operating in the United States to state negligent hiring laws. They did it unanimously. 

The ruling is final. Responding and adapting to the decision are now imperative across the industry.