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SCOTUS just ruled 9-0 against brokers. Here's what happened and what that means for you.
Happy Friday. SCOTUS just ruled 9-0 against brokers. Today's full issue is one story because right now, it's the only one that matters.
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Yesterday (May 14, 2026), the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, changing the game for every freight broker in America.
In plain English: state negligent-hiring claims against brokers are NOT preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA). Brokers can now be sued in state court if they’re accused of failing to use “ordinary care” when selecting a carrier that ends up in a crash.
The case stemmed from a 2017 Illinois crash. Shawn Montgomery lost part of his leg after being hit by a truck operated by Caribe Transport II. C.H. Robinson had brokered the load. Montgomery sued, alleging the broker knew (or should have known) about Caribe’s conditional safety rating, driver qualification issues, crash history, and yet still put them on the road. The lower courts had tossed the claim under the FAAAA. SCOTUS said no.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the Court:
“Requiring [the broker] to exercise ordinary care in selecting a carrier concerns motor vehicles. Most obviously, the trucks that will transport the goods.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh (joined by Alito) concurred and cut straight to the incentive:
“If brokers can be held liable for disregarding poor safety records, they have a strong incentive to do business only with safe and reliable motor carriers.”
Simple Bottom Line: The FAAAA was an economic deregulation law, not a safety deregulation law. The “safety exception” wins. The old preemption shield for negligent selection claims is gone.
The Court made clear: You can still compete on price, but you can’t be reckless with safety.
80+ brokerages use Chain instead of growing nearshore tracking teams.
Not testing. Not piloting. Running.
It does what your tracking reps do today. It just doesn't sleep, doesn't churn, and scales without adding headcount.
Freight still moves. Brokers will still broker. Carriers will still haul. This ruling doesn’t ban any business model or create new federal mandates. It simply says states can enforce basic negligence standards when brokers ignore red-flag safety data that’s been publicly available on FMCSA for years.
If you’ve already been doing real vetting (SAFER reports, SMS scores, crash history, insurance checks, and keeping records), you’re ahead.
If you’ve been winging it on price alone, it’s time to tighten up. Insurance premiums will likely rise for some, especially smaller operators with weak processes. But most sophisticated brokers say they’ve already been operating with this risk in mind.
Safety advocates and crash victims see this as long-overdue accountability. Truck crashes still kill thousands every year. This ruling also resolves a long-standing split among federal appeals courts, creating one clear national standard.
The freight community on X didn’t waste time weighing in.
Former MoLo Solutions CEO and host of The Freight Pod, Andrew Silver, posted one of the most grounded reactions on LinkedIn.
Silver, who has 172 days left on his non-compete after selling MoLo to ArcBest, said the ruling actually left him more optimistic about brokerage than he was the day before the decision.
“Don’t believe everything you hear… This is a moment where great brokers will improve, and bad brokers will get worse. As a competitor in the game, I like that.”
Ryan Crawley (Surus Transport) pushed back hard against the narrative that small brokers and carriers are doomed:
“A lot of chatter about small brokerages (and small carriers) going to get wiped out…
I’ve got news for you: The majority of hiring negligence comes from the largest brokerages who gobble market share and large volumes… The biggest players have PE and public investors demanding ROI — leaving them no choice but to race to the bottom with carrier selections. Moral of the story: Procurement is more important than ever. Say NO to freight that forces you to book carriers who’d take it under their OpEx. This is a simple game if you aren’t in a race to the bottom.”
Importantly, this does not mean brokers will lose every lawsuit. Plaintiffs must still prove the broker was actually negligent, not just that a crash occurred.
Tightening capacity is changing how brokers price freight, manage carrier networks, and support customer relationships.
GoodShip helps brokers unify operational data, pricing intelligence, carrier performance metrics, and customer-specific insights in one system to improve visibility, protect margins, and make faster decisions in changing market conditions.
Download The Tight Market Playbook for seven practical strategies to strengthen shipper relationships, improve execution, and operate more strategically in today’s freight market.
The ruling raises the bar for the entire industry.
In the long run, fewer bad actors + safer roads benefits everyone who does this the right way.
The Supreme Court didn’t kill the brokerage model. It just said you can’t hide behind federal preemption while putting unsafe trucks on the road.
This is the new normal. Adapt, document, and keep the freight rolling. Stay sharp out there. We’ll keep you posted as the first wave of suits and insurance adjustments hits.
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Plus, a carrier pleading guilty to mob money laundering while still FMCSA-active, Iran's first post-ceasefire attack and what it means for diesel surcharges, FedEx Freight's first earnings as a standalone company, and more in today's newsletter.
Bad carriers are gaming the weigh station system. Plus, C.H. Robinson's own engineer goes scorched earth on Reddit, the Ghost Truck Act gets roasted, and more in today's newsletter.
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While everyone in trucking is watching rates, capacity, and fraud, a much bigger shift may be happening quietly in the background: the future of rail.
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