3 more years of Trump is going to be epic.

Actually, brokers don’t carry and heretofore have not been required to carry liability insurance. They will now have to find an insurance carrier that will underwrite coverage.

I wonder how much of the increased shipping volume over the past several years, certainly since Covid, can be traced to the current U.S. customer expectation for [near] next-day shipping almost anywhere, and a lot of stuff shipped ‘free’ of charge (e.g., Amazon Prime). Did the old model of goods procured more locally and transported more in bulk to local brick & mortar stores require less U.S. freeway truck volume than today’s direct ship model [with much of the shipments originating from China/AsiaPac]?

“The Trump administration and companies such as Amazon had argued that letting the suit go forward would expose logistics companies to liability under a “patchwork” of state laws.”

The Trump administration was on the wrong side of this case. SCOTUS ruled against the administration’s position.

I used to sell these tractors and trailers (dry van, flatbed, reefers, dump, and such) along with trucks (tow, flatbed, dry van, reefers, landscape, even a mobile pizza oven, and such) and I can tell you that there is a Department of Transportation website that I went to very frequently to do Open Source Reconnaissance on any DoT registered (CDL required) company that had tractors and CDL trucks. There is also another one for towing companies.

I have been retired since 2015 and I cannot remember where those website are, but they are open and free to use.

Once you get into the trucking (tractor & trailer rigs and CDL required trucks) website, enter the company name or the DoT Number. When the date for that company comes up it will show you;
Owner(s)
Address
Year, Make, and VIN of every vehicle that required a CDL to drive
And, And it showed their accident rating, along with the most recent accident(s)

So, Yes! The person who owns one tractor(1) only or a small, medium, or large fleet has their safety record available for anyone to view.

1) Personal Footnote:
Even if you only have one tractor, in order to get a license plate and legally haul a load, you have to apply for a DoT number, and display that number on both sides of the tractor.

No more drivers who can’t read road signs. Hard to believe this had to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Thank you God for common sense.

Everyone on the road should have a reasonable expectation of safe driving practices.

AMEN.

About a year ago, I stopped at a mega truck stop in the middle of nowhere, west Texas. There were dozens of big rigs parked and being fueled.

When I went into the store to get snacks and sweet tea I thought I was in a foreign country.

I wonder how many were illegals and/or incompetent to be driving 18-wheelers?

I support this SCOTUS ruling.

Historically truckers had fair driving records. The last decade many semi-truck drivers don”t speak English. I have observed semi-trucks driving unsafe on the interstate highways…bill

I hope he gets another 4 when the election fraud is confirmed beyond doubt.

Grrrreat news!

The middle men make the bucks whether its groceries or steaks or load brokerage firms.

In today’s internet and AI world no brokers are actually necessary and they are parasites which increase the total cost of any shipped item. Brokers themselves make demands on a load that they know a company or independent trucker cannot meet without breaking the DOT laws and/or regulations.

A total review of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and its regulations governing interstate and intrastate commerce should be done yesterday.

I’m glad to see this. My wife works in a firm that is handling a case against a freight broker. One of the drivers, Russian, hit a car on an expressway and killed the driver. The trucker couldn’t speak English. This happens too often. Make Truckers American Again.

“Unfortunately, in the past several years this has become a problem as sketchy truck drivers have been recruited by sketchy carriers.”

…and illegal aliens have been given CDL’s by sketchy blue state governors.

I had no idea such structures existed. They make sense that they exist but this is yet another drop in the bucket of things I didn’t know.

The brokers are booking “turban truckers” that aren’t qualified for the work.

But the fact that they were shielded from liability for these decisions? Floored. Just floored. Things I never imagined because morality makes these things unimaginable.

Nothing like hitting someone in the wallet to get their attention. That’s why I see this as a tremendous incentive plan for the industry to clean up it’s practices. What intrigues me most is that this gives the industry a chance to make improvements on their own, without the traditional method of “fixing” things where the government blindly steps in with a long list of onerous rules and regulations, and the introduction of a new or expanded bureaucratic agency to enforce these new regulations that wind up simply shoveling money at the problem without actually fixing it.

I live about 20 miles from the Port of Chastising, so I see a lot of 18 wheelers hauling cargo containers to and from the port. Might I suggest that in addition to the truck drivers following the law and being safe that it wuld behoove the drivers of other vehicles to stop cutting them off while everyone’s doing 70+ miles an hour. If you want to make that exit, trying slowing down a couple mph and get in line behind the truclk rather than speed up so you can get off from the center lane, cutting in front of a truck. I saw it again today with a person driving a Ford F350.

I’m not saying all truck drivers are innocent but dang some of the other drivers are idiots.

How about the drivers and trucks from Mexico that are allowed to drive loads inside the US under the USMCA?

Could be that the justices are personally nervous about dangerous drivers too.

as someone whose hometown is Humboldt, of the Broncos bus crash Humboldt, as well as a 1A licence holder, the first thing that occurred to me in the wake of that — as politicians and the trucking industry were twisting themselves into pretzels to pretend they give a shit about trucking and driving and safety — was for government to pass a law or regulation that long haul drivers get paid by the hour, not the mile.

In the case of that accident, the driver sat in Carrot River for five hours, waiting for his trailers to be loaded. During that time, he isn’t getting paid, and the destination seems to be getting further away with each passing moment. On the other hand, if he is getting paid, at least that is one thing off his mind. He might have to think of the best route to get where he is going, or how to maybe cut a corner on a required 15 minute break to do a walk around and kick the tires….. but his foot isn’t going to be through the floor trying to make up lost time.

I guess kinda like shipping jobs to places with cheap labor for decades…..only now the cheap labor is here in US driving 80,000 pounds.

And yes, prices of stuff might go up (as that’s also one of the reasons manufacturing went overseas), but we must be willing to accept some higher prices of stuff for safety and domestic jobs.

Prices higher or lower are reflective of location of manufacture regardless of what we may want.

And all God’s people said Amen!

SCOTUS opened the door for suing fright brokers of contracting unsafe truckers, a door locked by 6th and 11th Cir

When truck accidents occur, an injured party will sometimes bring a state tort suit against a trucking company that, for example, maintained an unsafe truck and/or hired or employed an at-fault driver. It added that illegal alliens recieved CDL’s from Biden administration.

At issue was if the FAA Authorization Act of 1994 preempt state tort suits against brokers who negligently arrange truck transportation with an unsafe carrier:

“A claim that one company negligently hired another to transport goods is not preempted by the FAAAA because States retain authority to regulate safety ‘with respect to motor vehicles’ under the Act,”

Barrett wrote in a 9-0 opinion.

However, brokers’ concerns that increased litigation and insurance costs could ripple through the economy, are valid. 

Parties involved:

• Shipper: A company responsible to manage the sending of fright from A to B.
• Trucker: A motor carrier that organizes the transport of the shippers’ frights.
• Brokers are intermediaries between shippers and trucker. Shippers contract with brokers, and brokers then select truckers.
• Truck: Vehicle own or leaseed by truckers.
• Driver (or teamster) hired pr employed by truckers who earns a living by moving the trucks.

GOOD! High time this happened

Good news!

Usually, lawsuits go after the deepest pockets. The truck driver always has least funds. They then move up the chain. Trucking company, broker, maybe originator of freight and they may try and tag the truck (tool) manufacturer.

If tagging truck/tool manufacturer, they may begin pushing the liability of other “tool” manufacturers. If they go that far it’s either all or none, no favorites.

Hopefully, this ruling is not a nose under the tent.

Finally, the Supreme Court is doing something to help us.

Just a thought. What if the Supreme Court applied that same legal principle – with inherent liability coverage for hiring then required – for say….the CDC ( Fauci ), or better yet – politicians ( Schiff, Swalwell, etc. )?

…..

don’t kid yourself
the insurance companies will raise rates
significantly on everyone involved

thereby creating more expensive goods
and more inflation

why not just take these idiots off the road in the first place?

Insurance brokers are just a desk, contact list and a phone LOL
they are in no way logistically involved with any direct contact

are there shady brokers?
of course, just like there are in all phases of life and commerce

as usual, in life, we in the US play the blame game
and everyone else suffers

The recent unanimous Supreme Court decision regarding potential liability for freight brokers raises serious concerns about the future structure and efficiency of the transportation industry. Under the reasoning reflected in the decision, freight brokers could potentially be exposed to liability for connecting loads with carriers that later become involved in accidents, including situations involving poor safety ratings, improperly maintained equipment, or drivers who may not be adequately trained, qualified, or capable of understanding English-language safety requirements associated with operating heavy over-the-road commercial vehicles.

The problem with this approach is that freight brokers are not transportation companies in the direct operational sense. In many cases, brokers are small businesses that function primarily as coordinators or intermediaries, connecting shippers with available carriers across a broad range of industries and products, including recyclable materials, auto parts, manufacturing components, consumer goods, agricultural products, and countless other freight categories. Their role is largely administrative and communication-based, often conducted remotely by telephone or computer systems, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the actual equipment, drivers, and routes involved in the transportation process.

Freight brokers are not physically responsible for maintaining tractors and trailers, inspecting brakes and tires, training drivers, monitoring driver qualifications, or supervising day-to-day operational safety practices. Those responsibilities properly fall within the scope of the motor carriers themselves. The trucking companies control the hiring process, the maintenance programs, the dispatching practices, the training standards, and the direct operation of the vehicles. As such, liability for unsafe equipment, unqualified drivers, or poor operational practices should remain focused primarily on the entities that directly control those conditions.

Expanding liability onto freight brokers is likely to create substantial economic consequences throughout the logistics industry. Many brokers operate on relatively thin margins, and increased legal exposure will almost certainly lead to dramatically higher insurance costs and compliance burdens. In some cases, smaller brokerage operations may no longer be financially viable. This could result in layoffs, business closures, and reduced competition within the freight brokerage sector.

At the same time, the insurance industry stands to gain significantly from the expansion of this new liability environment, as brokers may be forced to purchase additional layers of expensive coverage in order to continue operating. The added costs associated with this liability structure will ultimately ripple outward through the transportation system and into the broader economy.

If freight brokers are pushed out of the marketplace or consolidated into fewer larger firms, the efficient movement of freight could become slower, less flexible, and more expensive. Brokers currently serve an important coordinating function that helps match available transportation capacity with shipping demand across large geographic areas. Disrupting that process could reduce logistical efficiency and contribute to increased transportation costs for businesses and consumers alike.

Issues involving unsafe drivers, poor maintenance practices, and noncompliance with transportation standards are already within the jurisdiction of existing regulatory and enforcement agencies, including the Department of Transportation and related inspection and safety authorities. Those agencies are specifically designed to oversee the operational safety aspects of commercial transportation. Expanding liability onto brokers who do not directly control the equipment or drivers risks shifting responsibility away from the parties that are actually in the best position to prevent accidents and maintain safety standards.

Great news

Now sit grand juries
and begin indicting, arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning State Govt employees for manslaughter
for the totally unqualified Class 8 drivers they put on the road via fraud and gross negligence

Govt employment does not grant immunity for criminal actions and murder

I guess it is good that people think this is a great thing. Personally, I think you are totally off base.

The government passed rules and regulations to force American drivers out of the market then brought in foreigners to do the jobs Americans won’t do. Then they don’t enforce the rules and regulations on the foreigners so they can have slave labor.

Now that the FO part is here, what does the government do? Start enforcing the drivers rules and regulations? Hell no! They make the people that hired the trucking company with the incompetent driver liable. The government will now require the broker to enforce the law the government refuses to enforce and makes him liable for the government’s deliberate failure.

Buy insurance stock.

As usual, too little too late. So many lives have been lost because of willfully ignorant, amoral people who decided to ignore existing laws and put unqualified drivers on the road. I personally know of 2 families that have lost loved ones because of illegal foreigners who were in no way qualified yet they were behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler on our highways, One family lost their 21 year old daughter when the driver of the rig realized he had taken the wrong exit and his solution was to throw his rig in reverse on the off ramp and proceeded to drive through the windshield of the car behind him. The other family lost a mother, father and a nephew when their car was hit head on by a rig driven by an illegal. The news and the authorities were radio silent about who caused the accident but I found out from one of he family members that it was an illegal driving.

“The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today….”

You don’t read that in the news every day.

This decision is a miracle from God, and we should celebrate it as such.

Psalm 100

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations”

Farm kids don’t need a CDL to drive a semi within 150 miles of the farm “base”. So you have a 16 year old without a CDL driving a 80K semi from the farm to say a ADM plant…

Good.

Well this is a nice decision to ensure that all decision makers in the transportation system are held responsible.
Good.

Yet another scumbag Democrat/RINO monetization of America scheme that explains why Newscum, Walz, Hochul, Mitch, Koch, etc. do what they do–disgusting.

Slower traffic keep right

Sounds like the supreme did their own right to try. Hope its successful.

I was driving trucks before CDL’s were mandatory. i’ve owned my own trucks my entire life. I would never put anyone behind the wheel who wasn’t fit. In 2022 I was sitting in with all the illegals having my medical done. Now I was in my late 50s then a big guy no smoke ever very light in drinking maybe once a week fit not like I was when I was a bodybuilder, but I’m still looked at to have my CDL ripped away from me because I had a sleep apnea test performed. I disagree with the test have taken two others, and you can ask the doctor to go one way or the other depending on if you want sleep apnea machine it’s all in the coverage of the stupid machine. I can’t sleep with it so they will not give me my CDL back White American taxpayer since 1977. Until they get rid of the bullshit laws while this is gonna do is rise the cost of moving goods and services. I called to have my septic pumped last week three companies no drivers. 92% driving in Colorado are Mexican. Good luck America

I was a corporate transportation manager (traffic mgr) for 34 years. I was in charge of moving our freight by negotiating with and hiring carriers. My team would book trucks directly from trucking companies but also utilize truck brokers when needed. Of course, illegal aliens weren’t a huge issue back then.

I decided to leave the rat race of the corporate transportation industry. However, I pursued utilizing my experience by becoming a freight broker. I was just about all setup when I decided not to pursue this career path. In hindsight I’m sure glad I didn’t.

Freight brokers usually don’t personally meet the shippers or carriers. They simply use their phones and computers to find a truck for a shipper who needs to move their product, or a load for a truck sitting idle. Shippers and carriers hire freight brokers to do the legwork of finding the loads or trucks. Depending on the market situation there is a shortage of loads or trucks.

Many brokers work out of their house. They won’t have any idea which driver the trucking company hires. Even a 3PL logistics company like CH Robinson doesn’t have the resources to verify every driver.

We definitely need to get illegal aliens off the roads, but the onus needs to be on the trucking companies who hire the drivers and the governments who issue the licenses.

I am seeing another Morgan and Morgan commercial!

There’s a major freeway here in TN that I avoid like the plague. It’s a major thoroughfare for trucking. There is always some horrible accident involving a big rig. The Highway Patrol has been pulling truckers over, inspecting the truck for safety issues, and pulling them off the road. Maybe with this new ruling, even more pressure will be brought to bear. It’s been a huge problem for a long time.

I guess all this is another reason why I take non interstate roads 98% of the time. I like the scenery and there is frequently construction on interstates which leads to slow or stopped traffic perfect for out of control inattentive low trained truck drivers.

Yes, I know 4 wheelers, brake checking, and other crazies also are a problem to 40k pound trucks.

I believe a quick way to solve the problem of blue states issuing commercial driving licenses to illegal aliens, would be for Congress to pass a law that mandates that only the Department of Transportation is allowed to issue commercial driving licenses.

It would be great if this case could set the precedent that negligence on the part of the front line shipping companies would have them incur liability for hiring illegals with fraudulent CDCs, and have that liability also passed to the freight brokers in the latters’ selection of the front line trucking companies. The roaches would be cleared out of the drivers’ seats in no time if that were the case.

Forcing insurance companies via regs, legislation or court action to assume liability for damages caused by the use of immigrant and illegal immigrant and illegal alien workers was always ultimate way to end this corrupt scab labor regime. Same for cities, counties, and states. Imagine the amount of money that could be collected from insurance companies providing insurance to illegal aliens, immigrants, etc who caused damages, and the same for cities, counties and states that have sanctuary policies or other policies that provide protection and or business licensing and or employment to the. Easily hundreds of not a trillion dollars plus.

Govt siding with Amazon; Kowtowing to big corporations.
The Trump administration and companies such as Amazon had argued that letting the suit go forward would expose logistics companies to liability under a “patchwork” of state laws.
I know DJT is concerned about the economy, but siding against a harmed American and with illegals?

Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, 608 U.S. ___ (2026)

A man suffered severe injuries, including the loss of his leg, when his stopped tractor-trailer was struck by a truck driven by an employee of a motor carrier. The shipment had been coordinated by a broker, and the injured man alleged the broker was liable for negligently hiring the motor carrier and its driver, pointing to the carrier’s poor safety rating and regulatory violations. The claim asserted that the broker knew, or should have known, that hiring this carrier posed a reasonable risk of causing harm.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/608/24-1238/