This page explains a court decision in plain language. It isn't legal advice. Ask your attorney or insurance broker what your brokerage should do.
What the Court decided
On May 14, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC. The case came from a highway crash in Illinois. The injured driver sued the freight broker that had arranged the load, claiming it was negligent to pick that carrier given its safety history.
Brokers have long argued that a federal law, the FAAAA, blocks claims like this because it preempts state laws related to a broker's services. The Court disagreed. The FAAAA has an exception for state safety regulation of motor vehicles, and the Court held that a negligent-selection claim falls within it. Before this ruling, federal appeals courts were split: the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits had thrown these claims out, while the Sixth and Ninth let them go forward. Now they can go forward everywhere.
What it didn't decide
- It didn't find the broker in this case negligent. That question goes back to the lower courts.
- It didn't create a federal standard for how brokers must vet carriers. What counts as reasonable care will be argued under each state's law, case by case.
Why a record matters
If a claim says you picked a carrier carelessly, the question becomes what you knew, or should have known, when you booked the load. A record made at the time is much stronger than "we always check SAFER." Useful things to keep with the load file:
- The date and time you checked the carrier, and who checked.
- What the public record showed: USDOT and authority status, insurance on file, out-of-service orders, safety rating.
- Any red flags you saw, and what you did about each one (called the phone number on SAFER, got a certificate of insurance from the agent, asked for references).
- Re-checks for carriers you use often. A clean check from last year says little about today.
How CarrierTell helps
Click Save record on any carrier card in the CarrierTell extension. It keeps a dated copy of what the card showed: the time, the FMCSA data date, every red flag with its explanation, and a notes box for what you did about them. Print it or save it as a PDF for the load file. Records stay on your computer, and Pro users can export all of them to a spreadsheet. The watchlist re-checks carriers you already use and alerts you when their record changes.
A saved record shows what you checked and when. It isn't a safety rating, and it won't settle by itself whether a selection was reasonable.
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