Echo Global Logistics faces renewed liability risk after Fourth Circuit remands wrongful death case

Echo Global Logistics will face trial in a South Carolina court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a 2024 summary judgment that had previously dismissed the company from a wrongful death lawsuit. The appellate court ordered the remand in light of the recent Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II decision, which ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act’s safety exception applies to freight brokers, potentially exposing them to liability for negligent hiring.

The case involves the death of James Fuelling in a crash involving a truck hired by Echo and operated by S&J Logistics. The incident occurred in early January 2022 when the truck struck Fuelling’s pickup truck while he was stopped on Interstate 85 in Cherokee County, South Carolina. His wife, Angela Fuelling, filed the lawsuit in 2022, naming both Echo and S&J Logistics as defendants.

In November 2024, the federal district court for South Carolina granted Echo’s request for summary judgment, citing the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act as barring state action against a transportation company that could affect a price, route, or service. This ruling had removed Echo as a defendant, creating a split in circuit court interpretations regarding whether the safety exception for motor vehicles included brokerages.

The Fourth Circuit’s order explicitly states that the district court’s grant of summary judgment is vacated and the case is remanded in light of the Montgomery precedent. The three-judge appellate panel indicated that the lower court must now proceed with further proceedings, effectively overturning the previous dismissal that relied on federal preemption arguments.

Plaintiff’s law firm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley has published a blog post outlining a strategy for pursuing broker liability in the post-Montgomery world, suggesting that brokers now have a duty of reasonable care. The firm advises that brokers should review FMCSA safety ratings, investigate carriers with conditional or unsatisfactory ratings, check CSA BASIC scores, and avoid hiring carriers with documented histories of driver-qualification failures or hours-of-service violations.

The blog post cites Echo Global Logistics and C.H. Robinson as examples of brokers that may now face increased litigation risk. The firm argues that without a second responsible defendant, recovery is capped far below the actual worth of a case, noting that a $1 million policy does not begin to compensate a client whose life has been altered forever.

This legal shift follows a period of uncertainty where some circuits held that motor vehicles did not include brokerages, while others held they did. The unanimous Montgomery decision has ended this confusion, establishing that the safety exception includes brokers and that they can be held liable for negligent hiring decisions.

The law firm also noted that the brokerage industry landscape has changed, with Coyote Logistics sold to RXO in 2024 and Transplace part of Uber Freight since 2021. However, Echo and C.H. Robinson remain prominent examples of freight brokerages that must now screen for broker involvement in catastrophic trucking cases at intake.

While it may take several years for a body of law to develop enough to answer what constitutes reasonable care, the Searcy firm warns that broker negligent-hiring cases are multi-defendant litigations against billion-dollar corporate defendants represented by national defense firms with seven-figure budgets. These defendants are expected to fight hard and spend freely to defend against such claims.