Supreme Court rules 9-0 trucking broker can be sued after deadly crashes

This guy legals.

 

While i have mixed feelings on this one. Wonder what thats going to do to #### tier carriers/brokers like cramazon and super ego. The have some of the most abismal drivers in the industry and relied on the "they arent our trucks" excuse. That could backfire big time now.

Going to suck for the new guys though. Hell even O/Os like me who have been leased on for a long time are going to have one hell of a time using our own numbers or leasing to new carriers i bet.

 

If it makes it more difficult for new O/O it will also stop these scam companies just opening up under a new name and number. The crazy Amazon drivers and super ego all hiding behind the idea of we are not a trucking company or responsible for what the driver does. When they set the schedule and demand drivers to thing that are not legal. It hard to tell if this will have impact on that part of trucking.

if the broker can be held liable for the illegal or unqualified driver or just not giving drivers enough time to rest and sleep. The scam drivers and fake companies is very big today. We see all bad wrecks of people getting killed because so many unqualified companies and driver. Every one is hiding behind shell game of companies and independent drivers.

 

Pretty much, this seems like a nuclear option for fixing a lot of issues at once. The only question remains is how often will it be enforced and how will brokers respond to putting up legal barriers that protect them better before its business as usual but harder for ligit drivers.

Also what new laws will be passed and/or lobbied for to prevent this from going into effect. I can easily see super ego or cramazon pushing laws to make it hard or imposible to sue THEM but leaving everyone else involveds ##### to flap in the wind.

 

UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT:

I am 100 percent on CH Robinson's side. The driver is totally responsible. Federal agencies are responsible. There are a lot more hurdles for a driver to cross prior to even getting to a point of hauling loads. You're going to tell me that this is the first fatality from a truck driver hauling a CH Robinson load? All the trucking accidents that have occurred nobody ever went after the broker. I feel like if the driver and family had different optics, this story would blow over like a fart in the wind. I feel like if CH Robinson wasn't a powerhouse broker, this wouldn't be a story past a passing headline. The root of the problem is how easy it is to become a truck driver. The root of the problem is how easy it is to become an owner operator. Save up a few dollars, establish credit, buy/lease a truck, you're out on the road. Some of these drivers get their own authority right after getting a license. I feel like the Supreme Court is passing the buck here. The government with their policies concerning the industry is being massively protected here in my estimation. I don't really know what the solution is, but I don't believe that this is the way, nor do I believe CH Robinson is responsible.

 

it’s just as easy to become a good driver than a poor driver: the problem is lack of standards. Swindle sheets turned into editable ELD’s, and the administrators declared victory. The Covidiocy happened, and roadside enforcement agencies jumped on the excuse to just quit roadside enforcement-ing.

Fixing it requires fixing the company audit system, fixing the ELD standard, and creating a meaningful inspections system.

I’m afraid the only thing this decision is going to do is create “chameleon brokers”. Brokers who just change their name phone number and email when they get sued and keep rolling, or locate overseas. Who’se going to touch them in Russia?

 

Totally understand where you're coming from. I liked what the guy from the video in another thread said about the chameleon characters. He said yoi have to get ahead of the bad behavior. I feel like it will be very tough to get every single bad driver off the road without some sort of screw up on the driver's part. If going forward, they create policies that make it more difficult to get out here, I feel that will be the longer term issue. In the case of this accident, I still stand with CH. I feel like the federal agencies that got him his license and/or authority bears the most blame. I'll be more convinced that things will change if they start getting ahead of these types of issues. For now, to me, it feels like changing optics.

 

Overall good news for the Carriers that operating legally with due diligence. It's been a long time coming so something had to eventually give. Vetting the right carriers not the bottom dweller ones who ONLY slash rates and undercut the hardworking legit carriers who operate big or small. Its a shame that it had to come to this but the chaos needed accountability from the Frieght Brokers side. Too much bad actors who broker out freight trying to be wrong and strong with the ignorance towards their part of the business. Those who suppose these types of brokers have a warped mindset of the business showing they haven't ethics. Glad to see that finally some accountability for the brokers has been mandated.