J.B. Hunt, AONE Brokerage Face Liability Claims Over Double-Brokered Loads

Can a broker be held liable when a carrier double-brokers a load?

Two federal judges say yes. Both cases are moving forward after the Supreme Court's Montgomery decision stripped brokers of immunity from state negligence claims.

The first case involves J.B. Hunt, which brokered a load to Borderlands in October 2023. A Borderlands driver crashed, killing or injuring multiple people. Plaintiffs argue J.B. Hunt is liable because it hired a carrier with a history of safety alerts, frequent crashes, and inspection violations. The case is in U.S. District Court for Arizona, where J.B. Hunt has requested summary judgment.

The second case, Hardy vs. Singh in U.S. District Court for Nevada, involves AONE Brokerage Company LLC. AONE brokered a hay load to Lucky Transport in July 2022. Lucky then double-brokered it to GRK Transport, whose driver skidded on a Nevada highway and killed a pickup-truck passenger. Judge Anne Traum denied both sides' requests for summary judgment on August 11, ruling there is evidence AONE breached its duty of care by continuing to do business with Lucky even though AONE knew Lucky was subcontracting loads.

What did J.B. Hunt know about Borderlands before the crash?

According to the plaintiffs' complaint, Borderlands had a history of safety assessment alerts, frequent crashes, and inspection violations, including improper lane changes, failure to obey traffic control devices, and inability to speak English. The driver in the October 2023 crash, Shokhijakhon Bekmuradov, was a Borderlands employee who did not speak English.

J.B. Hunt argues it is not liable because it acted as a broker, not a carrier. In its June request for summary judgment, the company said Borderlands agreed in the Outsource Carrier Agreement and Carrier Confirmation that it was responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, and dispatching its drivers. J.B. Hunt said there is no basis for finding it vicariously liable for Bekmuradov's actions.

The plaintiffs counter that J.B. Hunt ignored Borderlands' dangerous history. They also claim J.B. Hunt held itself out as the carrier to Lincare, the shipper, who believed J.B. Hunt would be transporting the load on a J.B. Hunt truck. The judge's decision on summary judgment is now awaited.

How did the double-brokering work in the Nevada case?

AONE brokered the hay load to Lucky Transport. Lucky then brokered it to GRK Transport and driver Bhupinder Singh, who owns GRK. Federal regulations require anyone without a brokerage license to be prohibited from acting as a broker. Lucky did not have broker authority.

Judge Traum wrote that there is evidence to show AONE breached its duty of care when it continued to do business with Lucky even though AONE knew Lucky was subcontracting loads. Plaintiffs argue that Lucky, as a matter of normal practice, subbed loads out to GRK despite having no broker authority and AONE knew it.

AONE's defense is that the intervening bad acts of Lucky and Singh cut off the chain of causation as a matter of law. Judge Traum rejected that argument. She wrote that if AONE breached its duty to contract with a safe carrier, there is evidence the breach could be the legal cause of the plaintiffs' injuries. She added that AONE contracting with Lucky could have been unreasonable because illegal double-brokering can put more high-risk drivers on the road.

What changed after the Supreme Court's Montgomery decision?

Before Montgomery, brokers cited the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A), which prohibits state action that might impact a price, route, or service. Brokers argued F4A shielded them from state negligence claims.

The unanimous Supreme Court decision in Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II said brokers are not protected under F4A from the safety exception, which allows liability and negligence cases with respect to motor vehicles. The court found that brokers fell under the definition of motor vehicles.

The J.B. Hunt and AONE cases are part of a growing pool of post-Montgomery litigation. In recent weeks, C.H. Robinson was hit with a verdict of more than $600 million in a case where the 3PL is now appealing. Companies in the Penske network also saw an earlier dismissal of a brokerage arm reversed by the Fifth Circuit in a lawsuit involving a fatal crash in Texas.

What verification should carriers run on brokers who double-broker?

Carriers should verify that the broker they are contracting with is the same entity that appears on the shipper's bill of lading. If a broker is subcontracting loads to you, check whether that broker has active broker authority. You can look up MC numbers and broker licenses on the FMCSA's Safer System.

If you are a carrier and you suspect a load has been double-brokered, document the chain of custody. Save the rate confirmation, the load tender, and any communication showing who originally booked the load. If the broker who hired you is not the broker the shipper hired, you may be hauling a double-brokered load. That puts you at risk of non-payment if the first broker disappears or if the shipper refuses to pay the second broker.

The Nevada case shows that brokers who knowingly do business with carriers that double-broker can now be held liable for the resulting crashes. Carriers should ask brokers whether they have policies in place to prevent double-brokering and whether they verify that the carrier they hire is the one that actually hauls the load. If a broker cannot answer those questions, walk away.