Pink Cheetah, TQL fight it out as transparency rule awaited

Oral arguments in the broker transparency case between Pink Cheetah and Total Quality Logistics (TQL) were brief, taking around 20 minutes during a recent hearing. However, the dispute between the two parties dates back to 2023, long before any rulemaking process on broker transparency began. Pink Cheetah's outside counsel, Laurence Socci, argued that the District of Columbia court made an error by granting summary judgment and dismissing Pink Cheetah's lawsuit over the broker's failure to provide documentation.

TQL's outside counsel, Scott Carey, emphasized that the proposed rulemaking is not relevant to the case, as the issue is whether the district court prematurely dismissed the complaint. The controversy arose from a 2023 shipment of ice cream, where TQL had a clause in the standard contract that allowed it to waive its rights to Pink Cheetah's records on demand, violating existing federal law.

Although TQL claimed that an email from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in November 2023 directing TQL to remove the waiver language was not an enforceable order, Pink Cheetah argued that the broker withheld payment, receiving only 56% of the load's payment and extracting a higher commission.