Nov. 1, 2002, Grain Valley, MO - On Nov. 1, the board of directors of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. (OOIDA) approved the filing of a lawsuit against Landstar System Inc. and its operating companies: Landstar Express America Inc., Landstar Gemini Inc., Landstar Inway Inc., Landstar Ligon Inc., Landstar Logistics Inc. and Landstar Ranger Inc.

Joining OOIDA in the suit are OOIDA members and current and former Landstar truckers, G.L. Brewer, William D. Cunningham, Gerald E. Eidam, Jr., Carey R. Laue, James E. Michael, Robert Penman and James E. Schmidt. The class action suit charges Landstar has been violating the federal truth-in-leasing regulations in three different ways.

First, OOIDA is seeking refunds of alleged overcharges for fuel Landstar buys from truckstops when owner-operators use their Comdata-issued fuel card. The OOIDA suit alleges Landstar obtains a significant discount on those transactions and only passes on a portion of that discount to the drivers. The suit also alleges that Landstar imposes excessive chargebacks for fees charged to them by Comdata. OOIDA is also seeking refunds of alleged overcharges for base plates and permits that the company obtains on behalf of owner-operators.

Finally, OOIDA is seeking refunds of chargebacks to or reductions from compensation for costs charged by U.S. Bank on Department of Defense shipments. The Department of Defense requires all motor carriers hauling its shipments to obtain the payment through U.S. Bank's Power Track payment system. The complaint alleges Landstar reduces the rated freight bill by two percent for this cost before it calculates owner-operators' compensation even though it is charged only one percent by the bank for most of these transactions. Since these deductions are not shown on owner-operator settlement sheets nor mentioned in owner-operator leases, OOIDA believes they are fully recoverable as undisclosed chargebacks or undisclosed reductions in compensation under the truth-in-leasing regulations.

Landstar and its companies have operating agreements with over 8,000 owner-operators.

Landstar's share price fell recently on word from its Chief Executive, Jeff Crowe, that the company was having difficulty recruiting and retaining owner-operators. Jim Johnston, president of OOIDA, says "We believe the difficulties carriers claim to have in recruiting drivers are more a result of the discriminatory treatment owner-operators are subjected to by these companies. Business practices that unfairly take advantage of owner-operators are continuing to drive increasing numbers of experienced, quality truckers out of the industry."

Commenting on OOIDA's aggressive position in the courts towards motor carriers, Johnston said "the purpose of this and other suits against motor carriers is to correct these practices and to promote greater compliance with the federal regulations. When unscrupulous companies cannot subsidize their profits at the expense of its owner-operators they will have no choice but to raise rates to profitable levels or go out of business." OOIDA is currently engaged in lawsuits with a number of major motor carriers over alleged violations of the federal leasing regulations. Among these are C.R. England, Swift, Prime, Heartland Express and Mayflower.

Founded in 1973, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is comprised of more than 86,000 owner-operators, professional drivers and small business truckers from all 50 states and Canada. OOIDA represents the interest of this nation's more than 350,000 small business trucking professionals in the legislative and regulatory processes at both federal and state levels.