Post-Montgomery Playbook
Carrier Vetting After Montgomery: The 5-Minute Fix
The ruling changed broker liability overnight. But the fix doesn't require a legal team, a six-month project, or a seven-figure budget. It requires documentation. Here's how.
The one-sentence summary
Brokers who can prove they checked a carrier's safety record before tendering will defend successfully. Brokers who can't will pay. That's the entire post-Montgomery landscape in one sentence.
What changed on May 14
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the FAAAA doesn't shield brokers from state negligent-hiring claims. The practical effect: if you select a carrier with documented safety problems, and that carrier causes an accident, you can be sued under state law. The defense that worked for 30 years — "federal law preempts this claim" — is gone.
But the Court also made clear what a successful defense looks like: reasonable care in carrier selection, documented at the time of the decision. The standard isn't perfection. It's diligence you can prove.
The problem with how most brokers vet today
Most brokerages check three things at onboarding: active authority, insurance certificate, and maybe a quick look at SAFER. Then the carrier goes on the panel and stays there — sometimes for years — without another safety check.
That was fine when federal preemption protected you. It's not fine anymore. Here's why:
- × Authority ≠ safety. A carrier can have active authority and a 95th-percentile Unsafe Driving score. Active MC number doesn't mean safe trucks.
- × Onboarding ≠ monitoring. A carrier that was safe 6 months ago may not be safe today. Scores change monthly. One bad inspection spikes a percentile for 24 months.
- × Checking ≠ documenting. Your ops team might glance at SAFER before booking. But can you produce a timestamped record of that check 3 years later in discovery? If not, it didn't happen.
The fix: automated, documented, defensible
The solution isn't hiring a compliance team or building internal tooling. It's adding one API call to your existing workflow that generates the documentation automatically.
Before you tender a load:
// One API call. Returns safety assessment + vetting receipt.
GET /v2/partner/carriers/9999999/percentiles
// Response includes:
// - All 5 BASIC percentiles (current month)
// - Alert status per BASIC
// - Risk band classification
// - Timestamped vetting receipt ID
// - Cryptographic signature (tamper-proof)
That receipt is your defense. Retained 7 years. Exportable as PDF. Signed so it can't be fabricated after the fact.
What this looks like in practice
- 1
Integrate the API into your TMS or booking flow
One endpoint. REST. JSON response. Most TMS platforms support webhook or pre-booking API calls. Takes your dev team an afternoon.
- 2
Set your threshold policy
Define what percentile scores are acceptable. Document it. We recommend: no BASIC above the FMCSA intervention threshold (65th for UD/HOS, 80th for VM/CS/DF) without documented escalation.
- 3
Let the system document for you
Every query generates a receipt automatically. No manual logging. No spreadsheets. No "I think we checked but I can't find the record." The documentation is the byproduct of the check itself.
- 4
Get alerted when carriers deteriorate
Webhook notifications when a carrier on your panel crosses a threshold. You act — document the decision (continued use with justification, or removal). Either way, it's documented.
The math
Without documented vetting
$2.5M+
Average negligent-hiring settlement (trucking fatality)
+ $200K–$500K defense costs even if you win
+ 20–40% insurance premium increase
With BrokerAware
$199–$499/mo
Automated vetting + timestamped receipts
+ Defensible documentation for every tender
+ Continuous monitoring with threshold alerts
The window
The first post-Montgomery negligent-selection lawsuits will be filed within weeks. Plaintiff's attorneys are updating their complaint templates right now. The carriers involved in those cases were tendered to before the ruling — but the discovery will ask what vetting process was in place.
Every load you tender from today forward without documented vetting is a load you can't defend. The fix takes an afternoon to implement. The risk of waiting is measured in millions.