Road Haulage Association authorised to proceed with collective claim against Truck Cartel

09 August 2024

Market leading transport law firm Backhouse Jones together with Addleshaw Goddard, have on 5 August 2024 been granted a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on behalf of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) which is seeking compensation from a group of truck manufacturers who it is alleged overcharged operators for the purchase of trucks.

Steven Meyerhoff, Director at Backhouse Jones, who acts for the RHA, said:

“This ruling is a significant milestone that allows us to move forward to secure the compensation that truck operators have long awaited. The RHA truck cartel litigation is now in its seventh year – it’s a by-product of its pioneering nature which has seen the case visit the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on two occasions and set a blueprint for how future litigation of this nature will be conducted. “

The claim is the UK’s first ever ‘opt-in’ class action under the new collective actions regime established by the Consumer Rights Act (2015). It is also the first ever collective action to feature a separately represented sub-class of claimants. It seeks up to £2 billion in damages and is intended give access to justice to thousands of truck operators (18,000 + have signed up to the RHA claim) impacted by a 14-year cartel comprising five major European manufacturing groups that were found to have breached competition law by the European Commission in 2016. The European Commission estimated that 9 out of 10 trucks on the roads in Europe were subject to the cartel.

Richard Smith, Managing Director of the RHA said:-

“We’ve seen off rival cartel claims and navigated many frustrating legal hurdles over that last six years since we issued the claim in 2018.

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

Background to the latest CAT hearings

In June 2022, the CAT ruled that the RHA should be granted the first ever opt-in CPO. This was appealed by the truck manufacturers as they considered that there was a conflict of interest between purchasers of new trucks and purchasers of used trucks. The Court of Appeal heard the appeal and determined that there was a conflict that needed to be addressed now (as opposed to later as the CAT had envisaged), as purchasers of new trucks have an interest in showing that none of the overcharge they suffered as a result of the cartel was passed on when they came to reselling their truck. On the other hand, those who purchased used trucks will have an interest in showing that the new truck overcharge was passed on when the truck was resold. The Court of Appeal therefore remitted the matter back to the CAT to consider the measures put in place by the RHA to address the conflict, before a CPO could be made.

The RHA has now set up a separate company, RHA Used Trucks Limited (RUTL), who will act on behalf of user truck purchasers to determine the overcharge they suffered as a result of the truck cartel. RUTL has instructed its own legal team, expert economist and has separate funding. An information barrier has been put in place between the RHA team and the RUTL team to eliminate the conflict or potential conflict and to ensure that the separate teams on either side of the information barrier act in the best interests of the operators they are representing. Similar arrangements have also been put in place with Therium Capital Management LLP who are also funding RUTL.

The hearing of the remitted matters took place on 4 and 5 June and 18 July 2024 where the CAT considered the RHA’s proposals to address the conflict of interest. The Tribunal heard arguments on behalf of the RHA, RUTL and truck manufacturers and having handed down its judgment on 2 August 2024, granted a CPO on 5 August 2024.

The Tribunal has confirmed that it is satisfied with the measures put in place by the RHA and RUTL to address the conflict and dismissed the arguments made by the manufacturers. Operators have until 31 December 2024 to opt-in to the RHA’s claim.