Suffice it to say that the past year has been a very good year for brokers; in the courts, that is! While there have been several very favorable preemption decisions across the country, the preemption doctrine is not...more
7/15/2024
/ Agents ,
Bodily Injury ,
Brokers ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Corporate Liability ,
Independent Contractors ,
Liability ,
Motor Carriers ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Accident ,
Trucking Industry
The U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking input from industry stakeholders on the role of artificial intelligence in the supply chain. The DOT’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Infrastructure is one of many federal...more
7/12/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Common Carriers ,
Compliance ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Forced Labor ,
National Security ,
Nuclear Power ,
Supply Chain ,
Trucking Industry ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Vessels
Courts have clearly established that a shipper cannot prevail in a freight claim against a carrier if an “Act of God” caused the freight loss or damage. The Act of God defense is an original, and one of the most...more
3/25/2024
/ Act of God ,
Business Losses ,
Defense Strategies ,
FOIA ,
Loss of Income ,
Property Damage ,
Public Records Act ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Severe Weather ,
Shipping ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Vessels ,
Waterborne Freight Transportation
Courts have clearly established that a shipper cannot prevail in a freight claim against a carrier if an “Act of God” caused the freight loss or damage. The Act of God defense is an original, and one of the most...more
Air carrier liability has been governed by international convention nearly since the inception of the technology. In 1903, the Wright Brothers infamously conducted powered flight at Kitty Hawk. In 1919, the first reported...more
9/14/2023
/ Air Carriers ,
Boycotts ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Liability ,
Defense Strategies ,
DFARS ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FMCSA ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mallory v Norfolk Southern Railway Co ,
Montreal Convention ,
Motor Carriers ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Warsaw Convention
Reptile theory litigation tactics and commensurate nuclear verdicts have become a recurring problem for motor carriers, transportation brokers, and now, even shippers in high-stakes, catastrophic casualty litigation. There...more
In Ohio, the nation’s capital, and across the country, legislators have taken action in response to the Norfolk Southern train derailment that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3. Here are the top three things to...more
4/3/2023
/ Biometric Information ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Customs ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Logistics ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Railroads ,
Railways ,
Train Accidents ,
Trains ,
Transportation Industry
The shipment of goods through various complicated shipment schematics, in conjunction with commercial situations by which transportation and logistics contracting parties have ongoing relationships, often involves a series of...more
The growing prevalence of supply chain sustainability and related environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles signals a shift requiring attention. Despite some vocal holdouts across the supply chain, the speed of...more
11/15/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Connected Cars ,
Corporate Governance ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Cybersecurity ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FMCSA ,
Logistics ,
Military Conflict ,
Offers in Compromise ,
Public Comment ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Transportation Industry ,
US Trade Policies
Nuclear verdicts in catastrophic motor vehicle accidents litigation (and even not so catastrophic accidents) have been proliferating for motor carriers (and brokers) for the past several years, with no immediate letup...more
As many are aware, the Nuclear Verdict phenomenon (a “nuclear verdict” is described as a verdict of $10 million or more) - by which plaintiffs’ personal injury counsel, propagating a sophisticated yet simultaneously...more
On February 23, 2021, Benesch published an article on titled Government Gone Wild! Another First-Of-Its-Kind Regulations Targets the Logistics Industry. The article examined California’s South Coast Air Quality Management...more
The possibility of a shipper being found liable to a third party who is injured by allegedly improperly loaded freight is an evolving one. Historically, the onus of responsibility, and liability, for loading freight has been...more
On March 30, 2021, a California federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting anyone - including the California Attorney General - from filing or prosecuting any new lawsuit to enforce the Proposition 65...more
As many in the industry are aware, we are now in, and have been for over a decade, the era of the transportation contract. More and more shipments, shipment schematics, and overall transportation relationships are governed by...more
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is the renewed need for transportation providers to consider strengthening operating platforms by expanding into new markets, integrating new offerings or adjacent services, or growing the...more
11/10/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Country of Origin ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Made in the USA ,
Mergers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Transportation Industry ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Even prior to the COVID era, the transportation and logistics industry was seeing an increased prevalence of instantaneous technological contact, via texts, for all types of logistics protocols and practices. Transportation...more
July 1, 2020, will mark the official start of the long-heralded United State Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as it replaces the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA will modernize free trade between...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) provides a (deceptively?) simple definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS):
The term “automatic telephone dialing system” means equipment which has the capacit...more
There will likely be a massive amount of litigation in the Transportation & Logistics industries in the post- COVID-19 world. Some of the lawsuits will be legitimate and others will be frivolous but both come with a cost: in...more
Both the speed of business disruption and depth of uncertainty created by COVID-19 have been unparalleled in our experience. Developments over the past week alone have emerged at an exponential rate and have impacted every...more
3/20/2020
/ Boycotts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Emergency Response ,
Misclassification ,
State of Emergency ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Secrets ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry ,
TSA
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) has issued an Emergency Declaration for motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance in support of relief efforts related to the COVID-19 outbreaks. The...more
Introduction: The PRO Act Overall -
Early last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act,” H.R.2474 (“PRO Act”), which would fundamentally shift various important...more
2/21/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Rights ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State Attorneys General ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
We have found that more and more of our clients are involved in e-commerce fulfillment, distribution and last-mile services. We handle sophisticated issues in this sector every single day, including drafting and negotiating...more
3/16/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bodily Injury ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Exports ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Freight Forwarding ,
Manufacturers ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Surface Transportation ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
UPS
We have found that more and more of our clients are involved in e-commerce fulfillment, distribution and last-mile services. We handle sophisticated issues in this sector every single day, including drafting and negotiating...more
3/16/2018
/ Bodily Injury ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Distributors ,
E-Commerce ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Motion for Judgment ,
Negligence ,
Preemption ,
Premises Liability ,
Risk Management ,
UPS