TIA Says Federal Carrier-Selection Guidance Unlikely Soon as Broker Liability Risks Mount

Federal guidance on carrier selection for freight brokers is not imminent, Transportation Intermediaries Association CEO Chris Burroughs said Monday, warning that the group's petition for a federal rulemaking will take considerable time amid stalled prior efforts. Burroughs, speaking at the FreightWaves Broker Compliance Symposium in Chattanooga, said the TIA wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to set a federal safety standard for carrier vetting, moving the issue out of Congress. He said shorter-term FMCSA guidance listing five or six pre-selection checks could serve as a "pseudo carrier selection standard," and urged the agency to publish its private list of high-risk carriers. The push follows the Montgomery vs. Caribe ruling, which curtailed broker protections under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, and the more than $700 million verdict against C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) in Lipe vs. Lupus Superior. Burroughs said C.H. Robinson CEO Dave Bozeman and chief legal officer Dorothy Capers will appeal rather than settle. He said broker insurance renewal rates spiked for two to four weeks after the rulings but have since stabilized.