Dec. 5, 2006 - At the request of attorneys from both sides, a federal judge in Florida has set a trial date for a class action against Landstar System Inc. that includes about 27,000 truckers.

In an order dated Nov. 20, Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. set the case for a bench trial - meaning he will hear and rule on the case, rather than having a jury - during the term beginning Jan. 2, 2007. He set aside five to seven days for the trial.

The trial could start as early as Jan. 2, 2007, but Paul Cullen Jr. of The Cullen Law Firm in Washington, DC, said it is more likely to start a week or two later after the court disposes of criminal trials set for the month of January.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association filed the suit in November 2002 in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida. It challenges the legality of the leases used by Landstar Inway, Landstar Ranger and Landstar Ligon.

Specifically, the case calls into question undocumented chargebacks.

"A chargeback is a charge to an owner-operator for an item or service provided to them by the carrier, that is directly charged back against their settlement," said Dan Cohen, of The Cullen Law Firm in Washington, DC, which is representing the owner-operators in the suit.

"For example, a permit - if a carrier makes that available to an owner-operator, which they often do, the owner-operator buys it and gets the charge taken out of his/her paycheck.

"The regulations are very clear about the procedures as to how that is done - the chargeback must be disclosed in the lease and the regulations require that the method of computation be disclosed as well. The regulations also require that the carrier produce documents to the owner-op so they can determine the validity of the chargeback."

In October Judge Adams ruled that Landstar had indeed violated those regulations.

"We expect to recover the entire amount of the differentials, which was in excess of $40 million, at trial," Cohen said.

The case includes owner-operators who, after Nov. 1998 and through the end of the trial, had or have leases with Inway, Ranger or Ligon.

- By Coral Beach, staff editor
coral_beach@landlinemag.com