On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, holding that state-law negligent hiring claims against transportation brokers are not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA). The court concluded that negligent hiring claims fall within the FAAAA’s safety exception, which preserves state authority to regulate safety “with respect to motor vehicles.”

The decision may significantly reshape both the contracting and litigation landscape for the freight brokerage ecosystem and expose transportation brokers to liability under state law for failure to exercise reasonable care in selecting motor carriers.

The dispute in Montgomery arose from a highway collision in Illinois in which Shawn Montgomery, a motorist operating a tractor-trailer, was struck while stopped on the shoulder by Yosniel Varela-Mojena, who was driving a truck for Caribe Transport II, LLC. Montgomery suffered serious injuries, including one that led to amputation.

Montgomery sued multiple parties, including C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., the freight broker that arranged the shipment Caribe was responsible for moving. Montgomery alleged that the broker negligently hired or selected Caribe, contending that C.H. Robinson knew or should have known that Caribe posed an unreasonable safety risk based on federal safety information and alleged regulatory deficiencies in Caribe’s operations.

Click here to read the full article written by Frank Bayyari, Sonja Rice, and Evan Cernea and published in The Legal Intelligencer. Login may be required.