Zurich American Insurance Company wants its money back. On May 21, 2026, the insurer sued Capital Logistics Group, LLC over a stolen coffee shipment on the road between Louisiana and Tennessee.
Zurich is chasing more than $132,000.
According to the complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Community Coffee Company hired Capital Logistics on or about May 28, 2025 to move sacks of coffee from New Orleans to Knoxville. The shipment went onto a single trailer that day. A clean bill of lading was issued - meaning the goods were in good order when they left.
The coffee never arrived.
The complaint alleges Capital Logistics handed the job to a third party, Big Show Logistics, LLC, and that Big Show stole the shipment. Nothing was delivered. Nothing was returned.
Community Coffee says it lost not less than $132,029.87. Zurich paid out $127,029.87 on the claim and is now stepping into its insured's shoes - a mechanism known as subrogation - to chase Capital Logistics. The complaint also seeks the $5,000 deductible Community Coffee absorbed.
For insurers writing cargo lines, the live question in the case is one that comes up often in stolen-load disputes: was Capital Logistics acting as a carrier, or only as a broker?
Zurich's lead count is brought under the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706 et seq. The complaint alleges Capital Logistics is "a carrier subject to the Carmack Amendment."
But Zurich expects a fight on that. The filing says, "Upon information and belief Defendant alleges that it did not act as a carrier with regarding to the shipment but, rather, acted only as a broker with regard to the shipment." Zurich's complaint says it disputes that characterization.
To cover both scenarios, Zurich has pleaded six counts: Carmack, breach of contract, vicarious liability, negligence, a second breach of contract count framed for the broker scenario, and bailment.
The negligence count alleges that even if Capital Logistics was only a broker, it still "had a duty to act with due diligence and to properly and carefully select and vet any third-party it hired to transport the shipment." Zurich says it failed that duty - that Capital Logistics "knew or should have known that Big Show was unqualified, was not properly vetted or was otherwise inadequate at the time of the hire."
The bailment count is simpler. It alleges the shipment was "entrusted to the care, custody and control of Defendant" and got lost on Capital Logistics' watch.
Zurich is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, plus interest, costs, and attorneys' fees.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Capital Logistics Group has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
