Shippers press carriers and brokers on safety

Shippers are intensifying their vetting of carriers and brokers in the wake of the Supreme Court’s May 14 Montgomery ruling, according to Ferguson Enterprises executive Nick Palmucci. Speaking at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte, N.C., Palmucci noted that business reviews have shifted focus from traditional metrics like service levels, claims ratios, and rates to safety strategies, risk management, and driver development. Ferguson Enterprises, North America’s largest supplier of heating, air conditioning, and plumbing equipment, operates about 1,700 locations, handles products from over 37,000 manufacturers, serves 1 million customers, and entered the S&P Global 500 index in August. The May 14 Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II exposed freight brokers to state negligent-hiring lawsuits, stripping away federal shield protections. The case centered on Eden Prairie, Minn.-based C.H. Robinson, the largest freight brokerage in North America and No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of logistics companies. Compounding industry pressure, a Texas judge affirmed a July nuclear verdict in Lipe v. Lupus Superior, leaving C.H. Robinson facing a judgment exceeding $600 million after a jury found it liable for a fatal 2021 crash in Mississippi that killed three people and injured two others. C.H. Robinson is appealing the verdict. In response to these legal developments, logistics firms and shippers have ramped up carrier vetting. ArcBest President and CEO Seth Runser, appearing alongside Palmucci on the MCE panel, reported that customers are asking deeper questions regarding safety standards and driver training. ArcBest, ranked No. 14 on the TT Top 100 list of for-hire carriers and operating the ABF Freight less-than-truckload division which ranks No. 7 among LTL carriers, has responded by re-vetting its carrier network and evaluating partners using internal and external software, especially for carriers that have not hauled a load recently.