At tech/AI confab, C.H. Robinson tackles insurance and liability
It was a tech conference but C.H. Robinson’s legal battles were never too far away from the discussion. The post At tech/AI confab, C.H. Robinson tackles insurance and liability appeared first on FreightWaves.
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Technology conferences are not usually the place where C. H. Robinson greets an audience of investors, with most of its appearances on the conference circuit focused on transportation and logistics. But the changing legal environment for brokerages was never too far away from the discussion Tuesday at Citi’s Global TMT Conference in New York, where C. H.
Robinson CEO Dave Bozeman presented along with two colleagues at a tech-focused gathering that often has as many as 2,000 attendees. C. H. Robinson and the rest of the logistics legal community is waiting on a ruling from Dallas County Court Judge Dianne Jones on whether to affirm all or part of the more than $600 million verdict handed down against C. H.
Robinson in late July over a fatal 2021 crash in Jackson, Mississippi. C. H. Robinson had hired carrier Lupus Superior, which owned the truck that crashed, killing employee driver Gorgonio Gonzalez as well as a car passenger, Peyton Lipe, the first named plaintiff in the lawsuit. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd.
push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag. defineSlot('/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1', [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], 'div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag. pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.
enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (! document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); Lupus Superior is based in Texas which is why the case was heard in that state.
Formal request is in Attorneys for the plaintiffs last week filed their formal request to the court for entry of the judgment. It noted that the jury had found 45% of the blame assigned to Gonzalez, 45% to Lupus Superior and 23% to C. H. Robinson. But the filing also noted that C. H.
Robinson is vicariously liable for that portion of the blame assigned to Gonzalez, who is deceased. The jury also had found that C. H. Robinson was effectively Gonzalez’ employee, a ruling that if it stands on appeal could have far-reaching impact on trucking litigation. In the discussion about the landscape for C. H.
Robinson and brokers in general, with the Lipe nuclear verdict and the Supreme Court decision in Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II in the background, C. H. Robinson CFO Damon Lee reiterated comments that Bozeman and other company officials have made recently: we’re in good shape. Lee said C. H.
Robinson had an opportunity to settle the Lipe case but chose not to do so. “We feel like we will prevail on appeal,” he said. Lee added that 98% of “all our cases either get dismissed or settled. We don’t think that trend is going to be disrupted post-Montgomery and post-Lipe.” window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd.
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enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (! document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); Bozeman said the number of lawsuits C. H.
Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) is fighting at any given time is in “the lower side of the tens” which he contrasted with “hundreds of millions of shipments.” No insurance premium crisis expected On questioning from Citigroup’s Ariel Rosa about investor concerns about C. H.
Robinson’s future, in particular about how much it might need to spend on insurance post-Montgomery and post-Lipa, Lee said he was optimistic about what insurance companies will do when they provide “their verdict” on the company’s 2027 premiums, which are now being negotiated. C. H.
Robinson expects insurance costs are going to increase by “a very manageable number,” he said, “and the majority of it will get passed through freight rates anyway. Ultimately the consumer will bear the majority of that cost.” Insurance costs plus claims are “immaterial” at C. H. Robinson, Lee said.
They are less than 50 bps of gross revenue and auto liability insurance is only about 25 bps of that, he added. “Even if we did see a material increase in inflation on insurance, it’s not going to have a material increase on our earnings,” Lee said. “So we feel really good about where we’re at.” window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.
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