RHA truck price fixing claim hits £720m

Almost 2,000 hauliers operating some 120,000 trucks, have signed up to the Road Haulage Association’s price fixing claim against a group of commercial vehicle manufacturers.

The RHA estimated that operators could obtain an average of £6,000 for each new truck purchased or leased. That means that if successful, the claim could cost the manufacturers some £720 million.

On top of the hauliers that have already signed up, the RHA says an additional 650 hauliers have registered interest in the claim, which is not limited to RHA members.

The claim follows last year’s decision by the European Commission to fine five major truck manufacturers (MAN, Daimler/Mercedes, Iveco, Volvo/Renault, and DAF) a total of €2.9 billion for colluding in a price fixing cartel.

The association, its legal counsel Backhouse Jones and Exchange Chambers are leading the group claim before the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. The financial support for this group action is being provided by litigation funding experts Therium.

In total, the RHA calculates that between 1997 and 2011 some 650,000 vehicles over 6 tonnes were either leased or sold to approximately 70,000 hauliers from 80,000 operating centres across the UK.