Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit Against Logistics Company in Truck Crash Case

The US supreme court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a man who lost part of his leg when his parked vehicle was struck by a speeding truck driver can proceed with a lawsuit against a major logistics company. The case centers on whether the freight broker can be held liable under state law for its role in selecting the motor carrier despite known safety concerns.

The incident occurred on an Illinois highway in 2017. The company maintains that federal licensing of carriers shields it from such state-level claims. The plaintiff contends the broker should share responsibility because it hired the carrier after the trucker had been cited for careless driving in a prior crash months earlier.

The carrier itself had been involved in at least three crashes over a roughly five-month period. The company argued it relies on federal government licensing and cannot be sued under state law.

More than two dozen states supported the lawsuit, stating the case could help strengthen safety standards in the trucking industry that transports billions of tons of goods across billions of miles annually. The Trump administration and several companies opposed the effort, warning that it would expose logistics firms to a patchwork of state liability rules.

The freight broker, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had the case dismissed by a lower court. That dismissal was upheld by a Chicago-based federal appeals court. The man then appealed to the supreme court, arguing that federal law does not preclude state claims involving motor carrier safety issues.

The supreme court’s decision reverses the appeals court ruling and returns the case for further proceedings. Legal observers will now monitor how lower courts interpret the scope of the safety exception recognized in the opinion.