Carriers vs truck manufacturers
Cases are pending before courts in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK against truck manufacturers accused of price collusion.
The European Commission has already fined truck manufacturers once, in 2016, for similar practices and fined them €3.6 billion. Unfortunately, according to transport associations from Europe, similar practices continue to take place.
According to the carriers, they have suffered real harm as a result of such unfair cartel practices. Similar cases usually have a long track record, as it is difficult to even value the amount of losses. On behalf of its members, the British hauliers’ association Road Haulage Association (RHA) has been unsuccessfully suing for years for compensation for the purchase of 250,000 trucks between 1997 and 2011. As RHA estimates, the prices of the trucks were inflated by up to £6,000.
A key verdict in the price collusion case, which involves several manufacturers from different countries, will come before an Amsterdam court in the spring of 2023. Back in the summer of this year, the Dutch court decided that it had jurisdiction to settle the case. Several law firms are acting on behalf of several thousand victims, including Poland’s Kancelaria Prawna IURIDICA and Dutch law firm BarentsKrans. A verdict awarding compensation to carriers could pave the way for other victims.
