Kern County Drivers Have New Protection Against Dangerous Trucking Companies. Here’s What Changed.

The following article was submitted by Matt Clark at the Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark as a Community Voices article in The Bakersfield Californian.

===

In Bakersfield, we are aware of the risks of driving on our major freeways. A component of this risk is the heavy commercial traffic on Highway 99, State Route 58 and State Route 178. Last year there were 55 traffic fatalities in Kern County, some of which were attributable to commercial trucks.

In recent years we have seen a disturbing trend in commercial trucking with an increase in very small trucking companies that maintain minimal policies of insurance.  In many instances, there is insufficient insurance to cover the damages caused by these trucks, leaving the families of people killed by a truck, or someone who has suffered life-altering injuries, to sue the broker who hired the trucking company to transport goods.  A broker should ensure that they are hiring reputable and safe trucking companies. Unfortunately, this does not always happen.

Most carriers operate safely. Most drivers are professionals who take their responsibilities seriously. But the trucking industry is enormous, over 780,000 carriers and 28,000 brokers operating across the country, and not every carrier maintains the same standards.

In California, plaintiffs have been able to sue the broker for negligently hiring a dangerous trucking company. However, in other states, like Texas, courts held that a federal statute prohibited such lawsuits. This inconsistency resulted in a case being brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued its opinion on May 14, 2026. The case is called Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, and it was decided unanimously. If you drive on our local roadways alongside commercial trucks, this case should matter to you.

Here’s what happened. A man named Shawn Montgomery was stopped on the side of an Illinois highway when a commercial truck veered into him. His leg was amputated. He suffered other severe, permanent injuries. The truck driver was working for a carrier called Caribe Transport, which had been hired by a company called C.H. Robinson, a transportation broker.

Now, a broker isn’t a trucking company. Brokers are middlemen. They connect businesses that need to ship goods with the trucking companies that move them. C.H. Robinson had arranged for Caribe Transport to haul a load of plastic pots. The problem? Caribe Transport already had a “conditional” safety rating from federal regulators, meaning the government had flagged serious deficiencies in driver qualifications, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and crash rates. C.H. Robinson hired them anyway.

When Mr. Montgomery sued the broker for negligently hiring an unsafe carrier, the lower courts threw out his claim. Their reasoning: a federal law called the “FAAAA,” designed to deregulate the trucking industry, preempted, or blocked, his right to even bring that case. The broker, the courts said, was essentially immune from accountability under state law.

The Supreme Court disagreed. Every single Supreme Court justice.

The court held that states retain the authority to hold brokers accountable when they negligently hire dangerous carriers. The safety exception built into the federal statute, which says the law “shall not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles,” means that claims like Mr. Montgomery’s survive. Requiring a broker to exercise basic reasonable care in choosing who hauls freight on our public highways concerns motor vehicle safety. Full stop.

Why does this matter to our community?

Had the Supreme Court ruled against Shawn Montgomery the law of the land would have prevented claims against brokers who hire unsafe trucking companies and drivers.  Those of us in Kern County would have lost the right to sue a broker even when the broker hires a trucking company with a string of red flags. The broker could hand the trucking company a contract because the price was right. If someone got hurt, the broker could point fingers at the trucking company and walk away clean. That’s exactly what happened to Shawn Montgomery.

The Supreme Court just closed that escape hatch.

This does not mean brokers will now lose every lawsuit filed against them. Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence, which is worth reading if you have the time, makes clear that brokers who act reasonably, ask the right questions, and choose reputable carriers should be able to defend themselves successfully. The ruling isn’t about punishing the industry. It’s about restoring a basic principle; if you have the power to prevent harm and you choose not to exercise it, you bear some responsibility for the consequences.  The by-product of this: safer roads. Nationwide, brokers now have to take safety into consideration when hiring a trucking company. The dangerous trucking companies are going to be out of work. The professional and safe companies will no longer be at a competitive disadvantage. This protects us all.

As a personal injury attorney, I have sat with families whose lives were shattered by preventable truck accidents. Death. Broken bodies. Lost wages. Grief that doesn’t have a settlement figure. In those cases, the question of who is accountable matters enormously. Not just for justice, but for ensuring the injured have any real path to recovery.

Matt Clark is the managing partner and attorney for the Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark. For more information visit chainlaw.com.

———

If you or someone you know is injured in an accident at the fault of someone else, or injured on the job no matter whose fault it is, contact the attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000, or fill out a free consultation form, text, or chat with us at chainlaw.com.