A lawsuit has been filed and is seeking class action status against several large trucking companies for allegedly colluding to fix shipping rates through fuel surcharges since 2003. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Southern California and names 11 of the biggest carriers in the United States.
The lawsuit claims the less-than-truckload trucking industry is highly consolidated and that cooperation among companies is greater than in other industries. When gas prices began to rise sharply in 2003, all the carriers imposed a fuel surcharge.
The defendants named in the suit include YRC Worldwide Inc., Arkansas Best Corp., Con-Way Inc., UPS Inc., FedEx Corp., Averitt Express, Jevic Transportation Inc., Sun Capital Partners IV, New England Motor Freight Inc., Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., R+L Carriers Inc., and Saia Inc.
