Stolen load of cellphones involving RXO may be another key broker liability case

The shipment totaled astir 54,000 phones with a worth of astir $11.5 million. They were to determination from Texas to South Florida. RXO hired bearer Wizard Equipment Corp. to determination the load, but it was stolen adjacent Tampa, Florida. PCS’ insurer paid retired $5 cardinal for the theft; the suit successful the Western District of North Carolina is implicit the remaining $6.5 cardinal that PCS says it should beryllium paid to beryllium made whole.

The latest filing successful the lawsuit is simply a determination by RXO to person the tribunal authorisation PCS Wireless due to the fact that of RXO’s assertion that the telephone reseller has not acted successful a timely mode to respective requests successful the find process.

But successful that filing, RXO besides spells retired the bigger contented than whether PCS is going to beryllium reimbursed for immoderate of RXO’s losses. “A cardinal quality successful the … substance centers connected whether RXO acted arsenic a bearer oregon a broker for the taxable shipment,” the 3PL writes successful the RXO petition filed March 6.

The contented of liability for 3PLs erstwhile a bearer hired by it is progressive successful a fatal clang oregon 1 successful which determination are injuries has been mostly coming down connected the broadside of brokers. Courts generally  person recovered that brokers are not liable successful specified incidents, including a lawsuit involving Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) that was astir theft, not injuries. Other ample brokers that person prevailed successful the national courts implicit questions of broker liability pursuing superior accidents see TQL and GlobalTranz.

But successful the lawsuit of Miller vs. C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW), the Ninth Circuit recovered successful 2020 that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) did not preclude ineligible enactment against the broker. The alleged F4A is the statute mostly cited by brokers erstwhile they support against claims of liability.

The FAAAA, which dates backmost to 1994, contains a clause that protects against ineligible enactment that could impact a “price, route, oregon service.” In the brokerages’ victories, courts mostly person held that uncovering a 3PL liable oregon negligent successful specified a lawsuit would beryllium preempted by the FAAAA. Courts besides person ruled successful immoderate of the cases that a broker cannot beryllium considered a centrifugal carrier.

Efforts to person the U.S. Supreme Court reappraisal the clash betwixt the Miller lawsuit and conflicting cases successful different circuits person been rejected respective times by the precocious court. That happened adjacent successful the caller TQL lawsuit erstwhile the 3PL, though it had won successful the little courts, backed the losing plaintiff’s petition for Supreme Court review, hoping to get clarity.