If your company were involved in a catastrophic truck accident tomorrow, could you prove—under oath—that every carrier you selected met your documented and defensible qualification standards?
If your answer isn't an immediate "yes," your organization may have more exposure than you realize.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court's Montgomery decision held that transportation brokers like C.H. Robinson could face state-law negligence claims arising from the carriers they select. Then, last week, a Dallas jury awarded $604 million against C.H. Robinson and other defendants in a fatal accident case.
Whatever ultimately happens on appeal, one message is unmistakable: Carrier selection is no longer simply an operational decision. It has become an enterprise risk issue.
Think about the implications. A transportation decision made by a transportation analyst, , or procurement professional could ultimately become the subject of a deposition involving your CEO, General Counsel, or even your Board of Directors.
The consequences of transportation decisions now extend far beyond the transportation department.
The legal standard for selecting carriers is still evolving. Historically, many organizations focused on a handful of basic qualification checks. Today, transportation attorneys and industry experts believe courts may increasingly examine whether companies consistently exercised reasonable care in selecting and monitoring carriers—and that standard will be refined through future litigation.
That means every truckload shipment now carries a second question.
Not simply: Will the freight arrive safely? But also: If something catastrophic happens, can we demonstrate that we exercised reasonable care?
The implications extend well beyond the courtroom.
As brokers, insurers, and shippers become more selective about the carriers they use, lower-rated carriers may find it increasingly difficult to obtain freight. As insurance costs rise, available capacity could tighten, and more freight will likely migrate toward carriers with stronger safety records, better documentation, and greater financial stability. Companies may soon find themselves paying a premium not simply for transportation—but for risk mitigation.
For decades, truckload sourcing has largely been about balancing cost, service, and capacity. An important factor has now moved to the forefront: enterprise risk.
The question is no longer simply: "Who's the lowest-cost carrier?" It's increasingly: “Which carrier represents the best overall decision for our company?"
One final note. After college, I started my career as an Internal Auditor for Union Pacific Railroad. Auditors learn to ask one simple question: "Show me your evidence."
Auditors and juries have something in common. Neither is interested in what your policies say. They're interested in what you can prove.
Having written carrier qualification policies alone doesn't protect companies. Execution does. Being able to demonstrate consistency in following those policies, periodically audited compliance, documented exceptions, and retained supporting records that allow those decisions to be reconstructed years later. That's what reduces risk.
So, here are five questions every CEO, General Counsel, Chief Procurement Officer, and Supply Chain Executive should be asking today:
• Who owns carrier qualification and oversight?
• Could we prove we followed our carrier qualification process every time?
• How are exceptions documented and approved?
• Could we reconstruct our decision-making process three years from now?
• If our files were subpoenaed tomorrow, how confident would we be defending them before a jury?
If you're uncertain about even one of those answers, now is the time to find out—not after an accident.
After Montgomery... After a $604 million verdict... The question is no longer whether transportation risk deserves your attention. The question is whether your organization is prepared to defend its decisions.
You can't eliminate transportation risk. But you can dramatically improve your ability to defend your decisions. Looking five years ahead, successful shippers may not be those that simply negotiate the lowest freight rates. They'll be the ones that have demonstrated they exercised reasonable care in selecting the carriers entrusted with moving their freight.
If this article has prompted even one question about your organization's readiness, I'd encourage you to schedule an Executive Transportation Risk Assessment. In about an hour, we'll help you identify potential vulnerabilities, discuss practical improvements, and better understand how prepared your organization would be if its carrier selection decisions were ever examined in a deposition, courtroom, or boardroom.