Truck cartel compensation hearing to start in April

A hearing to decide whether or not a claim by hauliers for compensation over price-fixing by a cartel of truck makers can take place will start in April.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal will hear the RHA’s application for a collective proceedings order between 19 and 26 April, with any subsequent trial possibly taking place in 2022 at the earliest.

Steven Meyerhoff, head of commercial litigation at Backhouse Jones, said there were currently around 13,100 operators in the RHA’s application, representing more than 15,000 businesses.

He said a landmark case in the Supreme Court that tested the standards applied to a collective proceedings order in a separate competition claim had now been resolved, opening the way for the RHA to pursue its claim.

However, he added that DAF Trucks has appealed against one aspect of a tribunal decision that the RHA’s funding arrangement is compliant and this will be heard in the Court of Appeal on 26 and 27 January.

DAF Trucks did not respond.