The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that freight brokers can be held liable for hiring unsafe motor carriers, clearing the way for more lawsuits tied to crashes involving third-party trucking companies.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a man named Shawn Montgomery, who lost a part of his leg after a semi-truck crashed into his parked car in Illinois in 2017. Montgomery sued C.H. Robinson following the crash, claiming that the freight broker should have known the carrier it hired had a history of safety violations. C.H. Robinson argued that holding brokers responsible could expose them to a patchwork of state regulations that would undermine the federal framework governing interstate freight transportation, and create confusing, inconsistent liability standards across the country.

Speaking to CBS News, Montgomery's attorney said that holding brokers responsible is necessary for weeding out dangerous drivers. A previous investigation from CBS found that thousands of trucking companies had avoided federal oversight by reforming themselves under new names, while many of those companies hauled loads brokered by C.H. Robinson. The investigation also found that these "chameleon carriers" are four times more likely to be involved in serious crashes than operators that have not reincarnated themselves.

In one instance, a trucking load operated by BLF Truck Transportation and brokered by C.H. Robinson was involved in a 2022 crash that killed four people in Ohio. BLF had previously operated under three other names, each of which had been flagged by regulators for safety concerns. BLF owner Alexander Delgado later testified that someone with C.H. Robinson had advised him to open up another company to avoid getting shut down by the government. C.H. Robinson has since claimed BLF misled it by illegally handing the load off to another carrier.

Moving forward, the fallout from this ruling could be significant for shippers, operators and brokers alike, says Russ Thorp, vice president of sales and logistics with TA Dedicated. Brokers that lack formal carrier vetting processes could now face higher insurance premiums and greater legal scrutiny, potentially pushing them to work with a smaller pool of carriers that meet stricter safety standards. That could then add further pressure on smaller operators already struggling with rising costs and soft freight demand. For shippers, they'll now have to think harder about how they vet brokers, although Thorp notes that many already have broader due diligence processes in place that could address those concerns.