The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) handed down a unanimous decision on Thursday in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, ruling that shippers can be sued for negligence.
The ruling allows Shawn Montgomery to proceed with his negligence lawsuit against C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. over injuries and damages stemming from a 2017 crash involving a contract hauler hired by the transportation broker.
According to the Alabama Trucking Association, Montgomery suffered severe, permanent injuries, including the loss of a leg, when his parked tractor-trailer was struck by another truck on an Illinois highway. The other vehicle was driven by Yosniel Varela-Mojena, who was transporting a shipment for motor carrier Caribe Transport II, LLC, a job coordinated by C.H. Robinson.
Montgomery sued all respondents in federal district court, alleging, among other things, that C.H. Robinson was liable for his injuries because it negligently hired Varela-Mojena and Caribe Transport.
Mark Colson, Alabama Trucking president, called the SCOTUS ruling a “game changer.”
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe II Transport is a necessary step of acknowledgment that everyone in the supply chain has a responsibility for the safety of American highways,” Colson said. “It also complements the work of the Trucking Association Executives Council’s (TAEC) Trucking Resurgence action plan that is focused on rooting out the bad actors in the supply chain. The trucking industry spends more than $14 billion annually on creating a safety culture through investments in training and safety technologies, and we need all supply chain partners (brokers, shippers, freight forwarders, 3PLs insurers etc.) to make this type of commitment.”
He added, “While there will certainly be plaintiffs’ attorneys that weaponize this ruling for their own profit, hopefully one of the outcomes of this ruling will be a more thoughtful conversation about real solutions that save lives on our roads.”
“At the same time, the good actor trucking companies need relief from the frivolous lawsuits targeted at them that have little to do with safety or justice and more to do with lining billboard attorneys’ pockets. We remain committed to fighting this battle in Alabama,” Colson concluded.
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