Montgomery vs. Caribe

Few court decisions have the power to reshape how freight moves in America. Montgomery v. Caribe is one of them. At the heart of this Supreme Court case is a question the trucking industry has wrestled with for years — where does a broker’s responsibility end and a carrier’s begin when something goes wrong on the road?

The answer matters to everyone in the supply chain. For brokers, it could redraw the line on liability exposure and change how carrier vetting, contracts, and insurance requirements are handled going forward. For carriers, it raises the bar on what shippers and intermediaries will demand before a load ever gets tendered. And for shippers, it forces a hard look at who they trust to move their freight and what happens when that trust breaks down.

This isn’t just a legal story. It’s an operational one. The ruling touches negligent selection claims, federal preemption, contractor relationships, and the everyday decisions made at freight desks across the country.

FreightWaves is following every development — the arguments, the ruling, the fallout, and what it all means in practical terms for the people actually moving freight. If you broker loads, run trucks, or ship product in the United States, this coverage belongs on your radar.

Contributed Content Wednesday, July 29, 2026

C.H. Robinson Faces $604 Million Verdict: What Vicarious Liability and Negligent Hiring Mean for Brokers After Montgomery and Home Depot

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) A Dallas County jury last week hit freight broker C.H. Robinson with a share of a $604 million verdict in Peyton Lipe et al. v. Lupus Superior, LLC et al. The case stems […]

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Contributed Content Thursday, July 23, 2026

The Wrong Truck at the Dock Can Create Shipper Liability

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) The Supreme Court’s Montgomery decision changed the litigation landscape for the trucking industry. Although the case addressed a negligent selection claim against a freight broker, plaintiffs will not limit their investigations to the […]

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Contributed Content Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Don’t Get in Trouble Again, C.H. Robinson: AI Everywhere Except Carrier Vetting Is a Problem

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) C.H. Robinson is having an AI moment. Its CEO, Dave Bozeman, has been publicly promoting the company’s Lean AI transformation, including AI agents, automation, productivity gains, appointment scheduling, quote responses, load tracking, and […]

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Contributed Content Thursday, July 9, 2026

What the Plaintiff Attorney Who Won at the Supreme Court Looks for in Broker Negligent Selection Cases

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) When I interviewed Michael Leizerman, the plaintiff attorney who won at the United States Supreme Court in the broker negligent selection case now reshaping freight litigation, I expected pushback from the audience. More […]

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Contributed Content Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The Supreme Court and the White House Just Changed Everything for Freight Brokers, NVOCCs, Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders, and Warehouse Operators

(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.) On May 22, 2026, the United States Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that removed a legal shield freight brokers have relied on for decades. Eleven […]

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Adam Wingfield Saturday, May 30, 2026

C.H. Robinson Is Removing Carriers Based on Safety Scores. A Supreme Court Decision Two Weeks Ago May Explain Why.

A notice has been going out to carriers in the C.H. Robinson network, and it is worth reading carefully because of what may sit behind it. The message, branded under C.H. Robinson and titled “Changes to carrier eligibility,” tells the recipient that their company “exceeds intervention thresholds for C.H. Robinson’s scoring model based on data […]

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