An Outdated Number

HAPPY MONDAY.

Insurers are already squeezing small brokers over Montgomery, and lessors might be the next ones sweating.

Plus:

• U.S. Ports Are About to Set a Record

• Diesel Just Had Its Worst Day Since 2022

• States Are Finally Writing Cargo Theft Into Law

💡 QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Insurance costs at the top 10 U.S. trucking companies jumped ____% over the past five years.

🍳 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT

🚢 U.S. Ports Are About to Set a Record. U.S. container ports are on track to handle 2.47 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard measure for a shipping container) in July, a new all-time monthly high that beats the 2.4 million TEU record set in May 2022. Retailers are frontloading hard: a 10% tariff exemption expires July 24, and a new round of tariffs tied to forced labor could land as early as August. May's final numbers were already up 14.9% year over year. The National Retail Federation projects the reversal lands just as fast: August falling to 2.22 million TEUs, then 1.99 million in both September and October.

⛽ Diesel Just Had Its Worst Day Since 2022. Diesel futures jumped 11.6% to $154.71 a barrel in a single day, the sharpest gain in four years, after Russia banned exports of the fuel following Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries. The U.S. doesn't import Russian diesel directly, but oil analyst Tom Kloza says countries that do will turn to the West for replacement barrels, drawing on a market already tight from OPEC+ supply cuts and Iran-related disruptions. Kloza expects U.S. wholesale diesel prices to rise more than 40 cents a gallon as a result. U.S. distillate exports hit 1.7 million barrels a day last week, a record for early July, while domestic demand is running 1.6% above last year.

🚨 States Are Finally Writing Cargo Theft Into Law. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed SB1452, a new law creating a statewide cargo theft task force that combines federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate theft across the supply chain, including fraud, identity scams, and load diversions. Tennessee went further, creating a legal definition of fraudulent freight theft that treats linked thefts as a single ongoing criminal operation rather than separate crimes, giving prosecutors a real tool against organized rings. Georgia's own cargo theft law took effect July 1, imposing penalties of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for stealing high-value freight. More states are expected to follow.

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MONTGOMERY’S FALLOUT MIGHT BE WIDER THAN EXPECTED

C.H. Robinson picked Caribe Transport II to carry a load in December 2017, and Caribe's truck struck driver Shawn Montgomery on an Illinois highway, which is the crash behind Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II, the case brokers have been talking about since May.

On June 30, both sides asked the appeals court to send the case back down to the same Illinois district court that first heard it, a normal next step that puts C.H. Robinson back in front of a trial judge on the question the Supreme Court just revived: did the broker do enough checking before booking Caribe Transport for that load?

Greg Feary, an attorney at trucking-focused law firm Scopelitis, thinks a settlement is "fairly likely." He points to Miller v. C.H. Robinson, an almost identical case that settled within months of being remanded to a lower court.

Whatever happens next in the Illinois courtroom, the Supreme Court's ruling has already reshaped the industry. And the reach is going further than most people expected.

The Bond Was Never Built for This

Chris Burroughs, CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, says a patchwork of state-level standards could increase insurance costs, litigation exposure, and operating burdens for brokers with no legal department to fall back on.

The federal bond every broker is required to carry is $75,000, designed to guarantee payment to carriers and shippers, not to cover a lawsuit.

Carriers face their own outdated floor: transportation attorney Jayne Bart-Plange told FreightCaviar the $750,000 minimum liability coverage required of motor carriers is "incredibly low" and "an outdated number" that hasn't moved in roughly 40 years.

Kenneth Johnson, executive chairman of Leonard's Express, doubts a two- or three-person shop will be able to find or afford contingent liability coverage once insurers finish repricing the risk.

Carriers are already feeling this: insurance costs at the top 10 U.S. trucking companies jumped 54.4% over five years, and brokers are next in line for the same repricing.

Lessors Might Be Up Next

FreightWaves contributor Rob Carpenter, an expert witness in related litigation, says the next target isn't a broker; it's commercial truck lessors. Companies like Ryder, Penske, and Idealease rely on the Graves Amendment, a 2005 law that shields vehicle owners from liability based solely on ownership.

But it never covered a lessor's own negligence. Carpenter's point: lessors run credit checks on the carriers they equip, not safety checks. If that gap gets tested in court, lessors have less cover than brokers ever did.

The Montgomery case will probably settle before it ever reaches a jury, but the fallout doesn't wait for a verdict.

The cost is already landing on small brokers first, through insurance. And if leasing companies have to start vetting carriers themselves, that's not a legal footnote. It's a capacity problem, since it changes who gets trucks and how fast.

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 🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB

🤖 Aurora Truck Involved in Texas Crash. An Aurora autonomous truck was involved in a crash in Aledo, Texas. Witnesses say a pickup ran a red light, though fault hasn't been officially determined. On X, Adam Wingfield noted it was "a first" for Aurora, while others pointed out the truck had a safety driver onboard.

🚛 A New Route Pulls Trucks Out of Savannah's Neighborhoods. The $126 million Brampton Road Connector opens July 16, giving trucks a direct highway link from the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal to I-16.

🔍 The Tech Indiana Won't Name Is Finding Stolen Trailers. Indiana State Police recovered a dozen stolen truckloads worth more than $11 million since April using tracking technology it won't disclose, so thieves can't route around it.

🚨 One Month, Eight Loads, $17 Million in Drugs. A Canadian man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for running meth and cocaine across the U.S.-Canada border in semi trucks; eight separate loads worth up to $17 million were moved in barely a month.

🤖 Autonomous Vehicles Get Real Tickets Now. California's new autonomous vehicle rules, effective July 1, let police cite the vehicle's manufacturer directly. Autonomous trucks face a separate bar: a million supervised miles logged before they can haul a commercial load.

🎣 THE FREIGHT MAGAZINE

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😂 FREIGHT HUMOR

🎧 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR PODCAST

Listen to this week's episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch the interview on YouTube.

Update

Regarding last week's story on the nuclear verdict involving Mesilla Valley Transportation, the company provided FreightCaviar with the following statement:

"We want to take a moment to address the recent jury verdict concerning the tragic accident involving two of our drivers. Our hearts continue to go out to the families affected by this tragic accident. This loss has had a profound impact on all of us. While we respect the judicial process, we are evaluating our appellate options."