For freight brokers, how you choose the carriers you work with has always mattered, but recently, the potential consequences of that decision are getting even more attention.
In May 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, a case involving a serious crash and a negligent-hiring claim against the freight broker that selected the motor carrier involved.
The Court ruled that this type of negligent-hiring claim against a broker is not preempted by federal law, allowing the claim to move forward under state law.
The decision didn’t determine that the broker was negligent, nor did it establish a specific process brokers must follow when selecting carriers; SCOTUS simply said brokers must exercise reasonable care when selecting carriers for the freight they’ve brokered. This reinforces something the industry can no longer afford to overlook: the carrier you choose matters and having the right information behind that decision matters too.
In summary: brokers can be held legally responsible for the carriers they hire – meaning they’ll be getting a lot more careful about ensuring those carriers have safe business practices. Savvy carriers need to be able to demonstrate why they’re the right companies for future jobs.
That’s exactly where CarrierProtect can help.
Public Data Is an Important Starting Point, Not the Whole Picture
Brokers already have access to valuable public information when evaluating carriers, including operating authority, inspection history, crash data, and other safety information.
That data matters. But it can only tell part of the story. CarrierProtect is designed to give brokers more context to consider when evaluating a potential partner, as a step towards exercising the reasonable care required by the Montgomery decision.
A carrier’s public record data doesn’t necessarily show you how that fleet operates every day. It may not tell you about the processes they’ve put in place to hire qualified drivers, the training they’re providing, the way they’re managing compliance, or the steps they’re taking to prioritize safety across their operation.
Just as a carrier wouldn’t hire a driver based solely on whether they have a valid CDL, brokers and shippers increasingly need to look beyond whether a carrier simply has a valid DOT number.
And in a post-Montgomery environment, having greater context around the carriers you’re choosing can be increasingly valuable.
CarrierProtect combines public carrier information with real-world operational insights from Tenstreet to give brokers and shippers a more complete picture of the carriers they work with.
Powered by Real-World Tenstreet Insights
For more than 20 years, Tenstreet has helped carriers manage critical processes throughout the driver lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding to safety and compliance.
That gives Tenstreet visibility into operational activity that can’t be found in public records alone.
CarrierProtect brings those insights together with traditional carrier information to help answer important questions about who a carrier is hiring, how they’re operating, and their overall compliance standing.
Depending on the information available for a particular carrier, that can include aggregated insights into the experience and safety history of the drivers they’re hiring, the records being reviewed during the hiring process, ongoing safety training practices, and how fleets respond to unsafe driving behaviors.
It can also provide insight into compliance practices, including whether Driver Qualification Files are complete and up to date, whether records align with the carrier’s active driver population, and other indicators that help demonstrate how actively a fleet is managing safety and compliance.
But CarrierProtect isn’t designed to boil all that information down into a single safety score. Instead, individual metrics are placed into quartiles to provide context around how a carrier compares, while preserving the underlying evidence behind those insights.
The result is more than a number. CarrierProtect can provide a documented, time-stamped record of the information considered and where it came from, giving brokers a clearer evidence trail to support their carrier-selection process.
Once a carrier opts in, they can securely share their fleet-level safety information with their selected brokers and shippers, giving them an opportunity to demonstrate the work they’re doing while keeping individual driver data private.
Better Information Matters More Than Ever
Montgomery didn’t create a universal carrier-vetting checklist. It didn’t decide that a broker is automatically liable when a carrier is involved in an accident. And no technology can eliminate every risk associated with moving freight.
What the decision did make clear is that while negligent carrier-selection claims against brokers can proceed under state law, brokers can defend themselves by demonstrating they exercised reasonable care in the selection process.
That makes the questions surrounding carrier selection increasingly important:
- What did you know about the carrier you selected?
- What information did you consider?
- And did you have enough information to make a thoughtful decision?
CarrierProtect gives brokers and shippers another layer of information to bring into that process, while giving responsible carriers an opportunity to make the work they’re doing visible.
Build Stronger Partnerships With a More Complete Picture
At its core, the broker-carrier relationship depends on trust.
Brokers need confidence in the carriers moving their customers’ freight. Carriers need a fair opportunity to demonstrate why they’re worthy of that trust.
CarrierProtect helps bring both sides closer together by giving brokers greater visibility into potential partners and giving carriers a better way to showcase how they operate.
Because in today’s freight market, knowing that a carrier is authorized is only the beginning.
The more complete the picture, the more informed the decision.
