Third-party logistics providers arrange transportation, manage freight networks, and sometimes hold both broker and carrier authority. Liability theories include negligent carrier selection, negligent undertaking where the provider assumed safety responsibilities, and vicarious liability where the provider operated as a carrier.
The applicable theory depends on the capacity in which the provider acted for the shipment.
Alternative Names:
3PL Liability, Third-Party Logistics Liability
Why it Matters?
These companies are attractive defendants because they are typically better capitalized than the carriers they engage, and the threshold question is whether they acted as a broker or as a carrier on the shipment at issue. Providers holding dual authority frequently blur the distinction in their contracts and marketing, and evidence that the provider held itself out as a carrier or exercised control over the transportation undermines the broker defense and its preemption argument.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does capacity affect liability?
What undermines a broker defense?
