The RHA says its long-running truck cartel compensation claim is now making “real progress” and expects a trial date to be set at a case management hearing next month.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) is due to hear the case on 13 October, with the hearing expected to set out the next steps in the proceedings and provide a clearer indication of when the claim could eventually come to trial.
In the latest update from the RHA, MD Richard Smith said delays had largely been outside its control, due to truck manufacturers raising legal challenges throughout the proceedings.
He added: “The Road Haulage Association truck cartel claim has been ongoing for some time but the RHA is making real progress and expects that a trial date will be set at the Case Management Hearing in October this year,” the association said.
“As I have mentioned in previous posts, the claim delays have been as a result of matters outside of the RHA’s control and largely due to the truck manufacturers raising challenges and bringing appeals at every opportunity.
“Now that the CPO has been granted, we are making real progress with the claim.”
Despite the latest progress, operators should not expect compensation to be paid out imminently.
In August this year Smith warned that, if the claim has to proceed to a full trial, it could be at least another couple of years before compensation is paid.
Following the announcement of the October hearing, Smith said the case management conference would determine the next steps and provide a better indication of the likely timescale for the case.
The hearing is therefore an important procedural milestone rather than the conclusion of the claim.
The RHA and its subsidiary RHA Used Trucks have been authorised by the CAT to bring the collective claim on behalf of UK haulage operators against the truck manufacturers involved in the cartel.
The defendants include DAF, MAN, Daimler, Iveco and Volvo/Renault.
The claim covers companies, firms and individuals that purchased or leased a new truck between 17 January 1997 and 31 January 2014, or a used truck between 17 January 1997 and 31 January 2015.
The deadline for opting into the claim was 28 February 2025.
The action stems from the European Commission’s 2016 decision that several of Europe’s leading truck manufacturers had colluded over truck pricing and the timing and passing-on of costs associated with emissions technologies between 1997 and 2011.
The Commission imposed fines totalling almost €3bn after concluding that the manufacturers had breached EU competition rules.
The number of participants in the RHA action has fallen during the lengthy proceedings.
Around 11,000 class members now remain, compared with the 17,500 businesses and individuals that registered an interest between the launch of the case and the opening of the formal opt-in period.
The decline in participating vehicles could affect the economics of the claim. Fewer trucks would mean a smaller overall damages pool, while fixed costs, including the fee charged by the litigation funder financing the action, could account for a greater proportion of any compensation eventually recovered.
However, the RHA said that does not necessarily mean operators would receive less compensation per affected truck. Any final payment would depend on the outcome of the proceedings, the losses established and how any damages or settlement were ultimately distributed.
Some operators have already reached settlements through separate legal actions against individual manufacturers, but the RHA’s collective claim remains unresolved.
The October case management conference could now mark a significant turning point in the long-running dispute, if a trial date is set, giving operators greater clarity over when the claim could finally be heard, although compensation could still be several years away, the RHA has warned.
