By Coral Beach
staff editor
Attorneys for OOIDA are scheduled to present evidence in four key cases in 2006, touching on two thorny issues - unlawful lease agreements and USIS/DAC reports.
First on the 2006 calendar is the damages phase of OOIDA's case against Ledar Transport of Kansas City, MO. In late December 2004, a federal judge ruled in favor of OOIDA and more than 600 truckers on all counts in the case, including holding the company owners personally liable for damages, which could be "several millions," according to OOIDA's legal team.
Drivers testified that Ledar lured them into leases and lease-purchase agreements, and then charged so much in fees and chargebacks that they often ended up driving for free.
Also expected in 2006 is the long-awaited case against USIS Commercial Services - which does business as DAC Services. Attorney Randall Herrick-Stare said he expects to be presenting OOIDA's evidence at a late spring trial.
Herrick-Stare said OOIDA's case contends that DAC reports are ambiguous and inaccurate and therefore violate federal law. At the heart of the case are terms used to describe drivers' work histories. Vague phrases such as "company violation" have black-balled truckers for years, and OOIDA's case seeks to have all of DAC's "descriptors" declared illegal.
In April 2006, OOIDA's case against Landstar System Inc. goes to trial, taking with it more than 33,000 owner-operators. The case states Landstar violated federal leasing regs. A judge in Florida granted class-action status in August 2005, meaning that all owner-operators who, after Nov. 1, 1998, signed Landstar leases are included as plaintiffs.
The case is similar to many OOIDA has launched. It contends the carrier failed to disclose required information to drivers, overcharged for fuel and transaction fees, and overcharged for base plates and permits.
OOIDA is asking the court to order Landstar to reimburse drivers and stop violating the leasing regs.
Another case that involves at least 7,000 truckers is OOIDA's action against carrier C.R. England, set for trial in October 2006 in federal court in Salt Lake City. This case also alleges violations of federal leasing regs, including unlawfully forcing truckers to buy goods and services and improper deductions from owner-operators' escrow funds.
Any owner-operator who entered into a lease agreement with C.R. England from August 1998 through the duration of the case is included in the class action. Also at issue in the case are markups on parts and tires at the carrier's service centers and the carrier's failure to pass on fuel discounts.
