3PL victory: TQL tossed as defendant in Colorado liability trial

While a dire view of what might happen to brokerages in a post-Montgomery world ripping through the logistics industry, one of the biggest 3PLs just won a victory in Colorado that relieved it of potential liability.

Total Quality Logistics (TQL) had its request to be dismissed from a case in a Colorado federal court granted on Tuesday by Judge Nina Wang.

The facts of the case filed by Deann Miller are that her husband, Scott Miller, was driving on U.S. 285 in the Centennial State in June 2024 when steel beams fell off a truck and on to the pickup truck Miller was driving, killing him.

Judge Wang said it was "unclear" who Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza was driving for when the metal on his truck fell off his vehicle, but that he "may have been delivering the cargo on behalf of Monique Trucking."

Deann Miller sued pretty much everybody in the supply chain. The original complaint from March 2025 only had the driver and Monique as defendants. But an amended complaint brought in TQL, Intsel Steel West LLC (which was the customer that was supposed to receive the shipment), and Triple-S Steel Holdings, which also was a customer for the steel. It also brought in a company called Searing Industries, which actually delivered the steel on to the truck involved in the fatal crash.

Judge Wang granted the request of TQL, Intsel and Triple-S Steel to have them tossed out as defendants. However, the dismissals were without prejudice, so the plaintiff can refile with a different legal approach.

Not surprisingly, when the lawsuit was first filed, TQL in its response cited the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A) as shielding it from charges of liability or negligence. F4A held that states could not take action that might impact a "price, route or service." TQL also argued that the so-called "safety exception" that did open the door to lawsuits against, for example, a carrier involved in a crash, could not be extended to a broker.

That defense ended with the Supreme Court unanimous decision in the case of Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II. The judge's decision in a footnote acknowledges that TQL withdrew the F4A defense after Montgomery.

The judge's separate rulings for TQL and (jointly) Triple-S and Intsel left little doubt where she stood on the issue, at times calling the plaintiffs' arguments "vague" and having "not adequately alleged facts" supporting her claims.

Judge Wang said Miller "clearly averred that the negligence, carelessness and/or recklessness of defendants, as being vicariously liable for the actions of (Cruz-Mendoza, the driver of the truck carrying the steel), consisted of various actions or omissions."