Key Facts

• The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a man injured in a 2017 truck crash can sue the freight broker responsible for arranging the shipment.
• The injured man, Shawn Montgomery, lost part of his leg when a speeding truck hit his parked vehicle in Illinois.
• The lawsuit targets C.H. Robinson, the largest freight broker in the U.S., for not properly screening the trucking company’s safety record.
• Trucking industry groups and the Trump administration argued brokers shouldn’t be liable because federal government handles carrier safety licensing.
• An investigation found many truck companies evade safety rules by changing their names, called “chameleon carriers.”
• These “chameleon carriers” are four times more likely to be in serious crashes and have caused hundreds of deaths and injuries in recent years.
• A 2022 fatal crash involved a company that had operated under multiple other flagged names; the driver said the broker encouraged reopening under new names after safety shutdowns.
• Despite warnings and promised government action, regulators continue to miss safety problems with these carriers.