Trucking broker can face lawsuit over fatal crash, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a man maimed in a tractor-trailer crash could sue the broker who arranged the load, a major win for highway safety advocates who have sounded alarms about record numbers of deaths and injuries in collisions with unsafe trucks. A CBS News investigation last month revealed the widespread scope — and deadly consequences — of the explosion in demand for overland shipping, in part because more people shop online, and the strain that demand has placed on America's trucking fleet . The high court rejected arguments from the trucking industry that it would be unfair and burdensome to hold big logistics companies responsible for screening the safety backgrounds of the haulers they work with. The court's unanimous decision clears the way for the continuation of a lawsuit by Shawn Montgomery, who lost part of his leg when a speeding truck driver slammed into his parked vehicle in Illinois in 2017. Montgomery sued C.H. Robinson, the country's largest freight broker and the one that contracted the load to a driver and trucking firm. The lawsuit claimed C.H. Robinson should have been aware of the firm's questionable safety record. The broker — along with the Trump administration and other large trucking interests — argued that allowing such lawsuits to go forward would expose them to liability under a convoluted mix of state laws. …