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On The Desk

Broker Liability

New lawsuit approach: accusing C.H. Robinson, TQL of RICO violations

Six carriers — Stevens Trucking, Western Flyer Express, D&M Carriers (d/b/a Freymiller Trucking), IWX Motor Freight, Christenson Transportation and E.O.S. — filed a federal RICO suit against C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) and TQL in the Eastern District of Texas, alleging the two brokers knowingly funneled freight through what the complaint calls “Illegal Carrier” networks built on forced labor and wire fraud. Super Ego Trucking, cited as one of those networks and separately the subject of a critical 60 Minutes report and its own lawsuit, isn’t named as a defendant — but the complaint notes C.H. Robinson named Super Ego one of its carriers of the year roughly a year ago. The suit argues both brokers actually function as motor carriers — using their own trailers, dispatching drivers and controlling freight — and lean on broker status to dodge DOT registration and the safety-reporting duties that would come with it. It’s legally separate from Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, though it echoes that ruling’s broker-as-carrier theory, and lands while C.H. Robinson is still fighting the $604 million Lipe v. Lupus Superior verdict in a separate Texas case. C.H. Robinson issued a lengthy statement rejecting the allegations, saying it doesn’t set freight rates, vets carriers on multiple factors beyond price, and plans to defend itself and pursue countersuits; TQL had not responded to FreightWaves by publication.

John Kingston  |  September 26, 2026  |  Read More →

Carrier Vetting

Interrupted authority and written vetting rules at center of New Mexico crash lawsuit

An amended complaint filed against Amazon in July alleges the company let Road Warriors Logistic haul Amazon Relay freight before the carrier met Amazon’s own requirement of 180 days of active operating authority — Road Warriors’ authority had been revoked in May 2022, reinstated May 8, 2024, and the carrier was allegedly moving Amazon loads by July with only about two months of reinstated authority behind it. The suit stems from an Oct. 25, 2024 crash in which driver Harmanpreet Singh, cited by New Mexico State Police for careless driving, lost control of a Road Warriors tractor pulling an Amazon trailer, crossed the median and jackknifed across both eastbound lanes, injuring three people. Plaintiffs point to a string of violations before the crash — hours-of-service violations, six maintenance violations in mid-September, another crash Sept. 30, and an unsafe-driving violation just 18 days before the collision — that they say should have prompted Amazon to investigate the carrier’s safety fitness. The complaint also leans on Amazon’s Relay technology, alleging the company exercised heavy operational control through load assignments, delivery appointments, routing and direct intervention with drivers and dispatchers, as grounds to hold Amazon responsible for the carrier’s conduct. Transportation attorney Cassandra Gaines, who developed the CAVRA carrier-vetting standard, said a written minimum-authority policy cuts both ways: it gives staff a rule to follow, and it gives a jury a rule to measure the company against when that rule isn’t followed.

Contributed Content  |  September 25, 2026  |  Read More →

The Stack

Freight Tech

Tabi Connect, Kleinschmidt partner to automate freight quoting

Tabi Connect and Kleinschmidt announced a Sept. 14 partnership that routes freight quote requests moving through Kleinschmidt’s Intelligence Network directly into Tabi, where a brokerage’s own pricing rules — set by customer, lane, equipment type and market conditions through Tabi’s Pricing Logic Engine — apply automatically before the quote goes back to the shipper. The deal also connects Tabi to Kleinschmidt’s Capacity IQ, which scans more than 150,000 North American loads a day to predict where trucks are likely to free up, giving brokers a capacity read to factor into a rate before it’s quoted rather than after. Tabi already links to more than 88 shipper TMS platforms, bid boards and freight marketplaces (17 native API integrations, 71 RPA connections) plus rate and market-data providers including DAT, Greenscreens, Sonar and Truckstop; API-based quotes return in about three seconds, RPA-based ones in 35 to 50 seconds. The company says its platform serves more than 100 logistics companies, including over 20 of the Top 100 U.S. brokerages, and processes more than 1 million quotes a month. For Kleinschmidt, the deal extends the EDI/API/B2B integration business it broadened with its May acquisition of eBase Solutions into brokerage pricing directly.

Patrick Hatzis  |  September 22, 2026  |  Read More →

Cross-Border Trade

Borderlands Mexico: Customs proposal raises concerns over border delays, cargo seizures

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sent the Chamber of Deputies a package of amendments to the country’s customs law as part of the 2027 economic package, aimed at cracking down on undervaluation — importers declaring goods below their real value to cut duties and taxes. The changes would make it easier for customs authorities to open verification procedures, remove the existing 50% undervaluation threshold tied to precautionary seizures in certain cases, and cut a separate value-difference threshold from 50% to 20% for goods moving under deferred-duty regimes. One Mexican lawmaker said more than 2,500 customs operations worth roughly $89.6 million currently avoid seizure under the existing 50% threshold. A Finance Committee working session was held this week with officials from Mexico’s National Customs Agency and industry representatives, with a floor vote possible as soon as next week. Trade law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg expects heavier scrutiny of related-party transactions, royalties and transfer-pricing documentation under the proposal, and Mexico’s auto-industry association has warned that eliminating the 50% threshold could disrupt just-in-time manufacturing if components get tied up in valuation disputes; bonded-warehouse operators have separately flagged congestion and storage-cost risk if seizures increase.

Noi Mahoney  |  September 27, 2026  |  Read More →

Tweet Of The Week

Yard Automation

A Look at How Loblaw and EAIGLE Are Bringing Automated Gates to a National Distribution Network

Loblaw, Canada’s largest food retailer, is running EAIGLE’s AVAC automated-gate platform at what its transportation team calls the flagship site for its whole network, processing roughly 400 trailers in and 400 out every day at about three seconds per inbound transaction and four seconds outbound — against 30 seconds to five minutes per truck at a conventional staffed guard booth. Loblaw and EAIGLE announced Sept. 16 they’re expanding the partnership across more yards and distribution centers. Each gate transaction pings seven or eight backend systems — including Manhattan Active, SAP, Blue Yonder, TruckMate, C3 Solutions for appointments and Setaris for mechanical records — to validate trailer contents, check the trailer into yard management and automatically kick off shunt tasks; drivers complete the transaction by phone, kiosk touchscreen or in-cab tablet, and anything the system can’t clear routes to a staffed office rather than a guard booth, where a team can watch camera feeds or walk a driver through a failed attempt. The current site’s hardware is admittedly oversized legacy infrastructure from an earlier design; EAIGLE says a simpler four-camera setup cuts the infrastructure cost of new sites by roughly 90-95%. Ten more sites are being assessed, with the next live in mid-November, and Loblaw’s stated goal is automated gates at close to half of its 26 distribution centers within a couple of years.

Adam Wingfield  |  September 23, 2026  |  Read More →

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