Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II: What It Means for Carrier Vetting

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the FAAAA’s safety exception allowed Montgomery’s negligent-hiring claim against freight broker C.H. Robinson to proceed. The ruling did not decide liability. For companies hiring transportation providers, it is a reason to review carrier selection, broker due diligence, and documentation.

Key takeaways

What leaders need to know

• Vetting goes beyond insurance and operating authority. Review available safety information and compare it with your company’s requirements for hiring a carrier.
• Understand how your freight broker chooses carriers. Ask how it checks qualifications, handles safety concerns and monitors carriers over time.
• Document why you chose a carrier. Keep records of what was reviewed, who approved the decision and how concerns or exceptions were addressed.
• Vetting is not a one-time task. Periodically reevaluate carriers because operating authority, insurance and safety performance can change.
• No process makes your company lawsuit-proof. Consistent vetting and documentation can help you explain and defend your decisions.

What Happened in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II? 

Shawn Montgomery’s tractor-trailer was stopped alongside an Illinois highway when it was struck by another truck. Montgomery suffered severe and permanent injuries, including the loss of a leg.

The other driver was transporting freight for Caribe Transport II, LLC. Freight broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide had arranged the shipment.

Montgomery alleged that C.H. Robinson negligently selected the carrier despite safety information that should have raised concerns. His allegations included a conditional federal safety rating and deficiencies involving driver qualifications, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and other areas.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether federal law prevented Montgomery’s state-law negligent-hiring claim against the broker.

On May 14, 2026, the Court ruled that the claim fell within the federal law’s motor-vehicle safety exception and could proceed. It did not determine whether C.H. Robinson was negligent or liable for Montgomery’s injuries.

For business leaders, the practical takeaway is to examine how transportation providers are selected, and what supports those decisions.

What it Means for Your Business 

Your company needs a shipment delivered. Someone finds a carrier, confirms availability, agrees on a price, and schedules the pickup. What happens before that decision is made? 

For some companies, carrier selection follows established requirements. For others, it depends on who is arranging the shipment, how quickly it needs to move, or whether the carrier has been used before. 

This U.S. Supreme Court decision puts those decisions into focus. It raises a question worth considering before your next shipment:

Can your company explain why it chose that carrier, and show the records behind that decision?

Where Does Your Company Enter the Decision?

Although Montgomery involved a freight broker, companies that hire carriers directly should also examine their selection practices.  Start with how freight actually moves through your business.

Does a purchasing manager arrange transportation? Does your shipping team select carriers? Do individual locations make their own arrangements? Do you rely on a broker for some shipments and hire carriers directly for others?

Those differences matter because a process can look consistent on paper while working very differently across departments or locations.

If the answers depend on which employee you ask, that is a useful place to begin. Your manufacturing partner or another supplier may arrange transportation for your products. In that situation, consider who selects the carrier, what responsibilities your company retains, and whether your agreement clearly reflects how shipping is handled.

What Should Businesses Review Before Hiring a Motor Carrier? 

A carrier has insurance, can meet your delivery schedule, and offers a competitive price. Is that enough for your company to approve it? What if you have used it for years without a problem?

Availability, cost, and past experience all influence business decisions. But your process should establish what else your company considers before entrusting a carrier with its freight.

That may include carrier identity, applicable operating authority, insurance, a federal safety rating when one has been assigned, and reasonably available safety-performance information.

Accessing information is one consideration. Deciding how your company will evaluate it is another. Does your team know which findings require further review? What happens when information is limited or conflicts with what the carrier provided? Who has the knowledge and authority to evaluate those questions?

Safety information also needs context. FMCSA cautions against drawing conclusions about a carrier’s overall safety condition solely from the information displayed in its Safety Measurement System.

Your shipping employees do not need to become transportation compliance experts. They do need clear expectations about what to consider and when to involve someone with additional expertise.

What Happens When Something Raises a Concern?

This is where a vetting process is put to the test.

Suppose an employee reviewing a carrier finds recurring vehicle-maintenance concerns. The carrier says the issues have been corrected, and the shipment needs to leave that afternoon. What happens next?

Does the employee know what additional information to request? Is there someone responsible for reviewing the response? Can the shipment be paused while the concern is evaluated?  Or does the delivery deadline effectively make the decision?

Consider another situation: A familiar carrier cannot handle a shipment and proposes sending a different company instead. Does your team recognize that the replacement needs to be considered under your approval process? These situations are worth discussing before they happen.

A process that leaves employees guessing under pressure will be difficult to apply consistently. If a carrier is approved after a concern is identified and evaluated, the records should explain what was considered and why the decision was made. Recording the concern without addressing it does not resolve the underlying issue.

If You Use a Freight Broker, What Do You Know About Its Process?

A broker may handle carrier selection on your behalf. That makes understanding the broker’s practices an important part of your own evaluation. “We only use qualified carriers” sounds reassuring. But what does “qualified” mean to that broker?

The goal is to understand how the broker makes decisions and whether those practices align with your expectations. Your company should also understand the responsibilities established in its agreement with the broker. The appropriate level of additional review will depend on the arrangement and circumstances.

What Carrier-Vetting Records Should Businesses Keep? 

Imagine a carrier-selection decision being reviewed months or years later. The employee who arranged the shipment may have changed roles or left your company. Online records may have changed. Conversations that seemed clear at the time may be difficult to reconstruct.

There is a meaningful difference between “We’ve used them for years” and a record showing what your company knew and how it evaluated that information. Documentation should reflect the work behind the decision. A checked box that says “approved” provides little insight if no one can explain what approval involved.

How Often Should Businesses Reevaluate Motor Carriers? 

Initial approval captures a point in time. Insurance, operating authority, and safety performance can change.

McClone generally recommends requalifying motor carriers at least annually, with earlier reviews when significant concerns arise. Those concerns may include a serious crash, a changed safety rating, an out-of-service order, a change in operating authority, worsening safety performance, or an insurance lapse.

Consider who in your organization would receive that information and what they would do with it. Would it trigger a review? Could approval be placed on hold? Would other departments or locations know that the carrier’s status had changed?

Reevaluation helps your team make decisions based on current information, rather than relying on an approval from years ago.

Start With Your Current Practices

A useful first step is to walk through a recent shipment with the people who arranged it.

Why was that carrier selected? What was reviewed? Were there any concerns? Where is the approval documented?

If a broker arranged the shipment, what does your company know about how that broker selected the carrier? The answers can reveal strengths in your current approach and places where decisions rely on assumptions, individual judgment, or information that never gets recorded.

No vetting process can guarantee that a crash will not happen or that your company will never face a lawsuit. A consistent process can, however, guide more informed decisions and create a clearer record of how those decisions were made.