As an Uber Freight accident lawyer team, we help people injured in crashes involving trucks arranged through Uber Freight’s app-based freight brokerage. Uber Freight matches shippers with motor carriers through a digital marketplace, and when a truck booked that way causes a serious crash, families increasingly ask whether the broker — not just the trucking company and driver — can be held accountable. Recent developments in broker-liability law have made that question far more than academic.
In a typical load, a shipper hires a broker to find a motor carrier to haul freight. Uber Freight operates as that broker: it does not own the trucks or employ the drivers, but it selects and arranges the carriers that do. That intermediary role is exactly where the newest questions about freight broker liability after a truck accident are being decided. A broker that negligently selects an unsafe carrier may share responsibility when that carrier causes a crash.
The landmark Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II ruling reshaped how courts treat negligent-selection claims against freight brokers. For victims injured by a truck that a digital broker like Uber Freight arranged, the decision opens a path to hold the broker responsible where it failed to vet a dangerous carrier. Because these cases turn on detailed facts about how the load was booked and which safety records were available, they demand careful investigation.
Establishing broker liability generally requires showing that the broker owed a duty of reasonable care in choosing a carrier, that it breached that duty by selecting a carrier it knew or should have known was unsafe, and that the selection was a cause of the crash. Evidence can include the carrier’s federal safety rating, prior violations, insurance history, and the broker’s own booking and vetting records. Our firm works to preserve this evidence early, before it disappears.
Crashes involving heavy commercial trucks tend to cause catastrophic harm. Two of the most common serious injuries we see are traumatic brain injuries and spine and disc injuries that may require fusion surgery. These are the same devastating injuries that arise across our Illinois truck accident practice, and they drive the long-term value of a claim.
If you or a loved one was hurt in a crash involving a truck arranged through Uber Freight or another digital freight broker, the legal questions are complex and time-sensitive. Illinois generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim. Contact Collins Law Group or call (630) 527-1595 for a free, confidential consultation.
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