Truck cartel claim clears last compensation hurdle

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has moved a step closer to winning compensation for more than 18,000 fleets after truck manufacturers were found to have broken competition rules.

Five major truck manufacturers were collectively fined £2.44 billion (€2.93bn) by the European Commission in 2016 for fixing prices between 1997 and 2011. 

The price-fixing related specifically to the market for the manufacturing of medium (weighing between 6 to 16 tonnes) and heavy trucks (weighing over 16 tonnes).

Reacting to the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s decision to grant the RHA a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO), RHA managing director, Richard Smith, said: “This is great news as the CPO is the legal instrument that permits us to move forward and seek to secure the compensation operators have long awaited.

“During a recent hearing one of the manufacturers – DAF – indicated that they wish to settle.

“It may therefore be possible to conclude the claim before long, although this requires agreement between the parties.

“It's been a long journey since we launched the claim for compensation in 2018.” 

Progress with the RHA claim comes after Royal Mail and BT were awarded approximately £17.5 million in damages against DAF Trucks following a decision by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal last year.

The pair had claimed they were overcharged for vehicles leased and bought from in the long-running pan-European trucks cartel scandal.

The tribunal’s decision represented the UK’s first successful follow-on damages claim against a participant in the EU truck cartel.

The European Commission's investigation in 2016 revealed that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), Iveco and DAF had engaged in a cartel relating to:

• Coordinating prices at "gross list" level for medium and heavy trucks in the European Economic Area (EEA). The "gross list" price level relates to the factory price of trucks, as set by each manufacturer. Generally, these gross list prices are the basis for pricing in the trucks industry. The final price paid by buyers is then based on further adjustments, done at national and local level, to these gross list prices.
• The timing for the introduction of emission technologies for medium and heavy trucks to comply with the increasingly strict European emissions standards (from Euro 3 through to the currently applicable Euro 6).
• The passing on to customers of the costs for the emissions technologies required to comply with the increasingly strict European emissions standards (from Euro 3 through to the currently applicable Euro 6).

The infringement was EU-wide and lasted 14 years, from 1997 until 2011, when the Commission carried out unannounced inspections of the firms.

The collusion identified by the Commission concerned the new emission technologies required by the Euro III to Euro VI environmental standards, specifically coordination on timing and coordination on passing on of costs of emission technologies for trucks compliant with newly introduced emissions standards.

The collusion was not aimed at avoiding or manipulating compliance with the new emission standards, said the Commission.

Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) was fined £902m (€1.08bn), DAF was fined £628m (€752m), Iveco £412m (€494m), and Volvo/Renault £560m (€670m).

MAN (part of Volkswagen Group) was not fined, as it reported the cartel to the European Commission.

Scania, also part of Volkswagen Group, was fined more than €880 million (£770m) for its participation in a truck cartel the following year (2017). 

Smith concluded: “We’ve seen off rival cartel claims and navigated many frustrating legal hurdles over the last six years.

“Most recently we had to satisfy a Court of Appeal ruling that said we couldn’t represent the interests of operators who purchased and leased new and used trucks.

“I’d like to thank those who have registered for their patience and perseverance with us over this long journey together.”

In order to recover damages in respect of the trucks from each manufacturer, the RHA is urging operators to formally ‘opt in’ to the RHA claim.

If you have already signed up or registered you will be sent an email which will take you to the key documents for you to review, including a rule 81 Notice which sets out details of the claim, how the conflict is being managed; how to opt in and the time limits to do so.

If you have not yet registered your interest, you will need to do so via the dedicated website www.truckcartellegalaction.com.

Once you have registered you will then be sent a link which will enable you to read the relevant documents and opt in should you wish to do so.