General Transportation
Transportation and logistics operations succeed when goods move where they need to go, as efficiently and predictably as possible. We understand that performance, margin and reliability are the core drivers. The Benesch Transportation & Logistics Group provides the legal and business solutions that support these priorities, backed by deep industry insight and hands-on experience across all modes and roles in the supply chain.
We help clients manage day-to-day transportation operations, resolve disputes efficiently, structure commercial relationships, and address regulatory and contractual challenges before they interrupt business. Our approach blends practical problem-solving with strategic, aggressive representation when litigation or administrative proceedings become necessary.
Full-Chain Perspective
Unlike firms that touch transportation only at the periphery, Benesch represents motor carriers, air and ocean carriers, rail carriers, brokers, forwarders, warehouse operators, 3PLs, shippers and consignees. Because we see the full transportation continuum, we understand how risk is allocated, how contracts actually function in the field and how operational decisions interact with regulatory obligations.
Proven, High-Stakes Experience
Our team has managed high-value claims and complex disputes across jurisdictions, including:
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Freight loss, damage and delay claims involving multimodal transport
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Freight charge and collection disputes
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Contract and indemnity claims involving shippers, carriers and brokers
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Personal injury and catastrophic loss litigation where transportation operations are at issue
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Cross-border disputes and international commercial claims requiring coordinated strategy and use of international treaties
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Emergency response, crisis management and post-incident risk mitigation
We have obtained dismissals, summary judgments, trial victories and favorable settlements in state and federal courts across the country, as well as before regulatory agencies and administrative tribunals. Our work has also shaped industry expectations around liability, preemption, commercial reasonableness and contractual enforcement.
Operationally Informed Counsel
Our guidance is informed by attorneys who have worked inside the industry, including former in-house counsel at motor carriers and logistics companies. We understand how dispatch, claims management, safety compliance, systems integration, subcontracting, warehousing and last-mile operations work in practice—because we have been responsible for them. That background allows us to deliver advice that is not only legally sound but operationally workable.
Our goal is to maximize your operational performance, protect commercial relationships and position your business for long-term competitiveness.
Experience
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Represented a global freight forward transportation dispute in the New Jersey Superior Court. After filing, fully briefing, and arguing a motion to dismiss, the Court found that the plaintiff had not stated a claim for which relief may be granted. Accordingly, the judge dismissed the complaint from the bench before the end of the hearing.
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Represented a New York-based ocean and air freight intermediary in two related actions against an international steamship line. During the height of the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic, the Line improperly in-gated five shipping containers owned by our client’s customer into its terminal. Despite our client’s attempts to reclaim the shipping containers, the Line continued to use the shipping containers in its own business for several years, in derogation of our client’s superior ownership rights. Ultimately, we filed a complaint for conversion in the United States District Court -Southern District of New York, and a companion action at the Federal Maritime Commission for damages related to the Line’s alleged violations of the Shipping Act. We successfully defended against motions to dismiss in both forums and litigated both actions through numerous motions, counterclaims, third-party pleading practice, and administrative proceedings. Ultimately, the parties were able to resolve these related disputes in a favorable global settlement.
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Represented Cargill, Inc., a multi-billion-dollar food products processor and manufacturer, in a motor vehicle accident case pending in Cook County, Illinois. First, we succeeded in obtaining summary judgment on all of the plaintiff’s vicarious liability claims in a court long known as plaintiff friendly. The plaintiff filed a motion to reconsider that dismissal and a motion to amend the complaint to include direct negligence claims against Cargill for the loading of the cargo. We opposed the plaintiff’s motions, and the judge agreed, drafting a thoughtful written order denying plaintiffs’ motions in their entirety. Not only was this a huge win for Cargill, but it was also a win for the nation’s third-party logistics industry and manufacturers such as Cargill across the country.
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Represented C.A.T. Transport, Inc., a Canadian-based transportation provider focused on extensive and elaborate cross-border motor carrier transportation, in successfully managing the dismissal of over 20 lawsuits from a hundred-vehicle pileup in Texas.
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Represented Johanson Transportation Service, a large nationwide transportation broker and logistics provider headquartered in California in a high profile, high value, multiple fatality lawsuit for Johanson in California. We obtained a complete dismissal.
- Won at jury trial in high-dollar international freight claim trial involving alleged damage to geodesic dome.
- Won at jury trial in international freight charge dispute involving global transport of tunnel boring equipment.
- Houmani v. Roadway Express, Inc., 2008 WL 731497 (N.D. Ohio) Freight loss and damage litigation; prevailed on summary judgment.
- The New Hampshire Insurance Co. v. Marinemax of Ohio, Inc., 408 F.Supp. 2d, 526, 63 Fed.R. Serv. 3d 976, (N.D. Ohio) Summary judgment regarding marine policy coverage issues.
- Brennan v. A-A Auto Transport, Inc., 2007 WL 2886355 (N.D. Ohio) Motion for Judgment on the pleadings granted; federal Carmack Amendment preemption.
- Shonac Corporation v. Maersk, Inc. 159 F.Supp. 1020, 2001 A.M.C. 1924 (S.D. Ohio) Summary judgment regarding damages recoverable in a COGSA maritime case.
- Smeltzer, et al. v. Binsley, et al., 2007 WL 397336, Ohio App. 9. Dist., No. 23092, 2007
- Halpern v. Atlas Van Lines, 2009 WL 484202 (N.D. Ohio) Partial summary judgment, and awarding sanctions and fees.
- Mid-West Materials, Inc. v. Packard Logistics, Inc., 2007 WL 893890 (N.D. Ohio) Summary judgment dismissal; Carmack Amendment federal preemption.
- Terminal Warehouse, Inc. v. CSX Transp., Inc., Fed. Corr. Cos. P. 85,442 (6th Cir.) Appeal of Surface Transportation Board decision as to railroad abandonment.
- DWC Company v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 2009 WL 150671 (S.D. Ohio) Removal approved based upon 28 U.S.C § 1337's "other paper" language.
- Automated Window Machinery, Inc. v. McKay Insurance Agency, Inc., 320 F.Supp. 619, Fed. Corr. Cas. P. 84, 343 (N.D. Ohio) Granting dismissal on federal Carmack Amendment preemption grounds.
- Carr v. Olympian Moving & Storage, Fed. Carr Cas. P. 84, 459 (N.D. Ohio) Dismissal on complete federal Carmack Amendment preemption grounds.
- F.M. Machine Co. v. R&L Carriers, Inc., 2009 WL 175977 (N.D. Ohio), Fed. Carr. Cas. P. 84, 610 Partial summary judgment enforcing liability limitations of motor carrier.
- Frankenmuth Mut. Ins. v. D.J. Franzen, Inc., 2008 WL 3836535 (N.D. Ohio) Granting dismissal based upon federal Carmack Amendment preemption.
- Associates Insurance Co. v. Whittington, 170 F.Supp. 2d 1119 (N.D. Ohio) Trucking insurance coverage summary judgment victory.
