US Supreme Court decision: A transatlantic wake-up call for transport liability?

On 14 May 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its judgment in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, a case that has attracted significant attention in the American transport sector. 

The Court held that claims against freight brokers for negligent hiring of carriers are not pre‑empted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), as such claims fall within the Act’s “safety exception”. In practical terms, this confirms that freight brokers may face tort liability where inadequate vetting of carriers contributes to accidents or losses.

Although the decision is grounded in U.S. federal pre‑emption doctrine – a concept without a direct equivalent in EU or Danish law – it has been described by industry commentators as a structural shock to the U.S. trucking market. The reason is not the novelty of negligence claims as such, but the Court’s clear acceptance that intermediaries in the transport chain can bear responsibility for systemic failures in carrier selection, documentation and ongoing oversight.

For European shipping, logistics and transport companies, the relevance lies less in the specific legal mechanism and more in the underlying regulatory logic. Across Europe, there is a growing emphasis on documented due diligence, indirect liability and system responsibility in supply chains. Developments such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) reflect a broader expectation that companies must actively identify, manage and document risks throughout their value chains – including transport and logistics functions often treated as outsourced or operational.

From a transatlantic perspective, U.S. case law has historically functioned as an early warning indicator of where liability and compliance expectations may be heading. European companies with U.S. operations, or exposure through freight brokerage, NVOCC or logistics structures, should therefore view the Montgomery-case as a prompt to reassess carrier‑vetting processes, contractual risk allocation and audit trails across jurisdictions.

DLA Piper has offices in the United States and across the globe, advising transport and logistics clients in an increasingly complex and shifting legal landscape. This global footprint enables DLA Piper to support companies navigating cross‑border liability, compliance and risk management issues arising from developments such as Montgomery v. Caribe Transport. You are welcome to contact our shipping and transport team (Christian Benedictsen‑Nislev and Minik Christoffersen Bolø) for guidance on the implications of the judgment and related questions concerning transport liability and due diligence.