# GroundCheck FMCSA

> The standard-of-care layer for motor-carrier selection. GroundCheck vets a carrier
> against FMCSA authority, insurance and safety data plus an identity graph that catches
> reincarnated ("phoenix") carriers, then seals the decision into a tamper-evident
> selection record a broker or insurer can produce in litigation. Built for the world
> after *Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC* (SCOTUS, May 14, 2026), which removed
> the FAAAA preemption defense for negligent carrier selection in all fifty states.
> Operated by Earth Pro Connect LLC. Tagline: "Vet the carrier. Document the decision.
> Defend it later."

## URL: https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/

## The one-line answer

After *Montgomery*, a freight broker can be sued in any state for negligently selecting a
motor carrier. The defense is no longer "we had a process" — it is a contemporaneous,
produceable record of what was known at the moment of tender, who decided, and why.
GroundCheck produces that record.

## The ruling this product exists for

*Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC*, No. 24-1238, 608 U.S. ___ (2026), decided
**May 14, 2026**, unanimous.

- **Question:** does FAAAA § 14501(c)(1) — which bars state laws "related to a price,
  route, or service" of a broker — preempt a state negligent-hiring claim against a
  freight broker?
- **Holding:** no. Requiring a broker to use ordinary care in selecting a carrier
  "concerns" motor vehicles, so the claim falls inside the safety exception at
  § 14501(c)(2)(A) and survives preemption.
- **Facts:** Shawn Montgomery was stopped on an Illinois roadside and struck by a truck.
  He sued the broker, C.H. Robinson, alleging it negligently selected Caribe Transport II,
  a carrier holding a *conditional* FMCSA safety rating with documented deficiencies in
  driver qualification, hours of service, vehicle maintenance and crash rate.
- **Effect:** the preemption defense brokers used for over a decade to end these cases
  early is gone. Liability is now decided on the facts of the selection, in front of a jury.

## Who this is for

- **Freight brokers and 3PLs** — the direct defendants in a negligent-selection claim.
- **Shippers** who select or approve carriers themselves, and so can be sued on the same theory.
- **Insurers, MGAs and program managers** writing freight-broker liability or contingent
  auto liability, who now need to underwrite vetting behavior rather than a questionnaire.
- **Freight forwarders, NVOCCs and customs brokers** performing brokerage functions.
- **Transportation defense counsel** who need a contemporaneous exhibit at claim time.

## What GroundCheck answers

- "Is this carrier authorized?" — operating status and common, contract and broker authority.
- "Is its safety record acceptable?" — safety rating and date, inspection and out-of-service
  rates, crash history.
- "Is the insurance real?" — BIPD and cargo coverage *on file*, not merely required.
- "Is this carrier who it says it is?" — identity-graph continuity across address, officer
  and phone, which is how a revoked authority reappearing under a new MC number is caught.
- "Could this load be re-brokered?" — a party presenting as a carrier while holding active
  broker authority, or sharing dispatch contact details with one.
- "Can I prove what I decided?" — a sealed selection record naming the decider, the time,
  the signals, and any override and its stated reason.

## The four elements of a defensible selection

1. **Identity verified** — the carrier is not a reincarnation of a revoked authority.
2. **Risk assessed** — authority, insurance and safety weighed on the record, with the
   reasoning preserved and not just the conclusion.
3. **Decision documented** — a named reviewer, a fixed timestamp, any override and its
   reason, under a tamper-evident seal.
4. **Monitoring maintained** — material changes after tender append to the same file, so
   the record is current rather than frozen at onboarding.

Miss any one and the record has a hole a plaintiff's expert will find.

## Design commitments that affect accuracy

- **Absence is never reported as clean.** A source that is restricted, times out, or returns
  nothing is recorded as a coverage gap and degrades the disposition. Reporting silence as a
  pass converts "we don't know" into "we checked."
- **Regulatory exposure and identity fraud stay separate scores**, never blended into one
  number, so a decision remains explainable and every point traces to a factor and its evidence.
- **No claim without a source id.** Every finding carries a pointer to the underlying record.

## Key pages

- https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/ — platform overview
- https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/montgomery-brief.html — standard-of-care brief on the ruling
- https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/for-brokers.html — at-tender vetting for brokers and 3PLs
- https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/for-insurers.html — portfolio loss-control for insurers and MGAs
- https://www.groundcheckfmcsa.com/demo.html — interactive end-to-end vetting demo

## Terms defined on this site

double brokering · chameleon (reincarnated / phoenix) carrier · negligent carrier selection ·
FAAAA preemption · safety exception · conditional safety rating · out-of-service percentage ·
BIPD · cargo insurance · surety bond · operating authority · broker authority ·
contingent auto liability · freight broker liability · standard of care · selection record

## Attribution

Operated by Earth Pro Connect LLC. Carrier data is compiled from FMCSA public records and
other public sources. Nothing here is legal advice.