Independence Day Hours

By: Andrew Johnson, Account Executive, Roanoke Insurance Group Inc. The freight brokerage industry as we know it today began in the late 1970s and early 1980s, around the time of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Before the passage of this landmark legislation, regulations were too restrictive to make freight brokerage a viable business segment. Fast-forward to today, and most motor carriers, by authority definition, also have a freight brokerage operation. Freight brokerages fulfill a vital service in modern logistics, connecting independent carriers with loads and drastically reducing empty repositioning moves. Brokering also allows carriers to complement their assets by […]

By Glenn Patton, Managing Director, Roanoke Insurance Group Canada, Inc.   The following are several important issues regarding the insurance industry and regulatory changes that impact freight brokers and forwarders. With so many Canadian freight brokers and forwarders conducting cross-border business, U.S. regulatory changes affect the entire industry. Nuclear verdicts in liability cases in the U.S. involving motor carriers have included freight brokers. Nuclear verdicts against trucking companies in the U.S. have reached tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in the past decade or so. In their lawsuits, plaintiffs in accidents with motor carriers have named all parties involved […]

The liability landscape for the trade and transportation industry is changing. Carrier accidents on the road resulting in bodily injury and property damage (BIPD) claims pose a real financial threat to brokers, forwarders, and other transportation intermediaries. Recently, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes and the resulting jury awards have skyrocketed. Inconsistent application of the law has put the burden of these “nuclear verdicts” on not just the carriers but also the broker-forwarders responsible for hiring the carriers. This volatile litigation landscape and the rise in “nuclear verdicts” has specifically led to two related issues for transportation […]