The transportation industry just received one of its clearest signals yet that courts are becoming increasingly willing to look past traditional labels and liability boundaries.
This month’s edition examines the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision in Montgomery v. Caribe, where the Court significantly narrowed federal preemption protections for freight brokers and opened the door to expanded negligence claims tied to carrier selection and safety practices. The decision raises broader questions about where responsibility begins, how operational relationships are evaluated, and what standards brokers and logistics providers may now be expected to meet.
Recent rulings across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey reflect that same shift, from broker negligence claims surviving preemption challenges, to courts analyzing operational control over formal titles, to growing scrutiny surrounding fraudulent carrier schemes and cargo theft exposure.
For transportation companies, the takeaway is becoming harder to ignore: contracts and corporate structure still matter, but courts are increasingly focused on conduct, oversight, and how companies function in practice.
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