The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a man maimed in a tractor-trailer crash could sue the broker who arranged the load, a major win for highway safety advocates who have sounded alarms about record numbers of deaths and injuries in collisions with unsafe trucks.

A CBS News investigation last month revealed the widespread scope — and deadly consequences — of the explosion in demand for overland shipping, in part because more people shop online, and the strain that demand has placed on America's trucking fleet.

The high court rejected arguments from the trucking industry that it would be unfair and burdensome to hold big logistics companies responsible for screening the safety backgrounds of the haulers they work with.

The court's unanimous decision clears the way for the continuation of a lawsuit by Shawn Montgomery, who lost part of his leg when a speeding truck driver slammed into his parked vehicle in Illinois in 2017. Montgomery sued C.H. Robinson, the country's largest freight broker and the one that contracted the load to a driver and trucking firm. The lawsuit claimed C.H. Robinson should have been aware of the firm's questionable safety record.

The broker — along with the Trump administration and other large trucking interests — argued that allowing such lawsuits to go forward would expose them to liability under a convoluted mix of state laws. They also argued they should not be held responsible for safety screening that they say is the role of the federal government, which licenses haulers.

Michael Leizerman, an attorney who represented Montgomery and other crash victims, said the ruling could put pressure on brokers to weed out dangerous drivers.

"They don't end up behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle unless someone hires them to do so," Leizerman said. "And many times that's the large brokers like C.H. Robinson."

The CBS News investigation documented how thousands of trucking companies have evaded federal oversight by reincarnating under new names. The investigation found dozens of such companies that have hauled loads brokered by C.H. Robinson, some resulting in severe crashes.

One example: the 2022 Christmas Eve crash in Ohio that killed four members of a single family. The truck was operated by BLF Truck Transportation, a company that had previously operated under three other names each of which had been flagged by regulators for safety concerns.

Alexander Delgado, the operator of BLF, testified in a deposition obtained by CBS News that a representative from C.H. Robinson coached him to "open up another" trucking company after his previous company faced a government shutdown for safety problems.

In a statement, C.H. Robinson said BLF "deceived C.H. Robinson by double brokering a load, which is a violation of federal law and our carrier agreements" and said Delgado's allegation "comes from a carrier owner whose credibility is in question."

CBS News' exclusive analysis of millions of Department of Transportation records found the government approved at least 10,000 of these reconstituted "chameleon carriers" just since 2021. The operators often use the same officers, facilities, or equipment as defunct companies with serious safety concerns on their records.

CBS' data analysis revealed these kinds of carriers represent a profound danger on American highways; they are four times more likely to be involved in severe crashes than companies that are not reincarnated. Over the last five years, at least 141 people have died and 1,800 have been injured in crashes involving these operators.

Despite repeated promises of government crackdowns on chameleon carriers, federal regulators continue to miss blatant red flags in their own data. The CBS News investigation identified over 30,000 carriers using fake or undeliverable registration addresses, such as "NOMORE, GONE, GA". While the number of trucking firms surged by 31% since 2015, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) workforce has decreased by 10%.

The Minnesota-based C.H. Robinson had gotten the lawsuit dismissed in a ruling affirmed by an appeals court in Chicago, but Montgomery appealed to the Supreme Court.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the federal transportation law exemptions that the broker said protected it from liability in state courts include an exemption for cases involving motor vehicle safety.

"Requiring C.H. Robinson to exercise ordinary care in selecting a carrier therefore concerns motor vehicles — most obviously, the trucks that will transport the goods. So Montgomery's negligent-hiring claim falls with the (law)'s safety exception," she wrote, determining that the lawsuit can move forward. 

C.H. Robinson is the subject of similar lawsuits related to other loads it brokered, including two profiled in the CBS News investigation.

Dorothy Capers, chief legal officer at C.H. Robinson, said in a statement that the company was disappointed in the court's ruling.

"Our hearts continue to go out to the victims of truck accidents. Safety is foundational to who we are — our employees and their families travel these same roads, and our business depends on safe freight delivery," Capers' statement said. "While we are disappointed in the Court's decision, we will continue to operate responsibly, support stronger federal enforcement, and work constructively with regulators, carriers, and customers to strengthen the national safety system and support safe, reliable transportation across the country."