In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that brokers could be held liable for hiring unsafe carriers.
Since then, we’ve already seen ripple effects, including a case involving Echo Global Logistics that was sent back to the district court following that court’s ruling.
And on June 11, C.H. Robinson was named as a defendant in a case involving a high-profile U-turn crash that killed three people in Florida.
There was one problem, however. C.H. Robinson said it couldn’t be held liable because it didn’t broker the load.
On June 26, the plaintiffs representing the deceased’s estate removed C.H. Robinson as one of the case’s defendants.
“The lawsuit in Cantelar v. White Hawk Carriers incorrectly alleged that C.H. Robinson brokered the shipment involved in the accident,” the company said in a statement. “That was false, which is why C.H. Robinson has been dismissed from the case. C.H. Robinson did not broker or arrange the shipment, nor was it involved in the selection of the trucking company that moved the shipment. In fact, at the time of the accident, the trucking company in question was blocked in C.H. Robinson’s system from being booked on any load.”
The crash
On Aug. 12 in St. Lucie County, Fla., a minivan crashed into a tractor-trailer driven by Harjinder Singh. All three of the van’s occupants were killed in the crash. The initial investigation indicated that Singh made an illegal U-turn, which led to the crash.
White Hawk Carriers, which was Singh’s company, had its insurance policy canceled a week later. The company’s operating authority was also revoked.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced days after the crash that it lodged an arrest detainer for Singh, a native of India. DHS said that Singh was in the United States illegally.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has used the incident as a cautionary tale for why it believes the non-domiciled CDL system needs to be overhauled. About a month-and-a-half after the crash, FMCSA issued an emergency interim final rule that would make about 200,000 current non-domiciled CDL drivers ineligible. A rule took effect this past March.
The case
Yaniel Cantelar, a personal representative of the Estate of Faniola Joseph filed a lawsuit on June 11 against Singh, White Hawk Carriers and C.H. Robinson, bringing action against the parties under the Florida Wrongful Death Act.
In that June 11 complaint, the plaintiffs claimed that Singh was transporting a load of produce in interstate commerce and that the shipment had been brokered by C.H. Robinson.
“Once the plaintiff learned the truth, they voluntarily dismissed C.H. Robinson from the case on June 26, 2026,” the company said. LL
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