Capabilities / Truck, Transit, & Ground
Keeping businesses rolling.
Husch Blackwell understands the regulatory, labor and employment, litigation and safety compliance concerns inherent in the ground transportation industry. By resolving day-to-day legal matters and partnering on strategic objectives, we put these clients in the driver’s seat.
Our attorneys advise truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, long and short haul truckers, third-party logistics providers, transportation brokers, freight forwarders, and other intermediaries on over-the-road matters involving everything from cross-border operations and driver compliance to taxes and litigation. We’re here to ensure that clients stay in line with federal and state operational, licensing, security, and regulatory requirements, and we assist with the drafting of internal manuals and external shipping agreements. Our team is deeply immersed in laws such as the:
- Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
- Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
- Federal Chemical, Natural Resource, and Waste Transportation Law
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCPA)
- Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 5101, et seq.
We also defend trucking clients in a wide variety of disputes, including cases involving motor vehicle accidents, cargo loss and damage, freight charge claims, cargo theft and fraud and fraudulent use of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCAC), surety bonds, as well as contractual disputes involving transportation master and load-specific agreements. Our litigation experience also includes challenges especially common in the trucking sector, such as issues of negligent hiring and retention, cargo and freight claims, adherence to working hours regulations, analysis of Engine Control Module (ECM) data, communication and GPS tracking data, compliance with Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements, and the intricacies of accident reconstruction. We have also advocated for clients directly before the DOT.