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The deadline to register a claim against truck manufacturers found to have broken competition rules has been extended.
Five major truck manufacturers were collectively fined €2.93bn by the European Commission in 2016, for fixing prices between 1997 and 2011.
The price-fixing related specifically to the market for the manufacturing of medium (weighing between 6 to 16 tonnes) and heavy trucks (weighing over 16 tonnes).
Royal Mail and BT were awarded approximately £17.5 million in damages against DAF Trucks following a decision by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, last year.
The pair had claimed they were overcharged for vehicles leased and bought from in the long-running pan-European trucks cartel scandal.
The tribunal’s decision represented the UK’s first successful follow-on damages claim against a participant in the EU truck cartel.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal granted the Road Haulage Association (RHA) a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) in August, allowing it to seek compensation for fleets.
The Tribunal has now also agreed to a request from the RHA to extend the time available to opt in to the truck cartel claim, with claims now needing to be submitted by February 28, 2025.
Richard Smith, RHA managing director, said he was delighted that many thousands of operators have already opted into the claim.
However, he added: “The RHA considered that further time was necessary given the substantial period of time that has passed since the claim was first issued in July 2018, due to delays outside of the RHA’s control, and the particular operational pressures on operators during this busy pre-Christmas period.
“The RHA is currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries regarding the claim, both from operators who had previously signed up and from new class members that wish to join the claim.
“The Tribunal agreed with the RHA that in order to ensure effective access to justice for operators, it is appropriate to grant potential class members further time to sign-up.”
The European Commission’s investigation in 2016 revealed that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), Iveco and DAF had engaged in a cartel relating to:
• Coordinating prices at “gross list” level for medium and heavy trucks in the European Economic Area (EEA). The “gross list” price level relates to the factory price of trucks, as set by each manufacturer. Generally, these gross list prices are the basis for pricing in the trucks industry. The final price paid by buyers is then based on further adjustments, done at national and local level, to these gross list prices.
• The timing for the introduction of emission technologies for medium and heavy trucks to comply with the increasingly strict European emissions standards (from Euro 3 through to the currently applicable Euro 6).
• The passing on to customers of the costs for the emissions technologies required to comply with the increasingly strict European emissions standards (from Euro 3 through to the currently applicable Euro 6).
The infringement was EU-wide and lasted 14 years, from 1997 until 2011, when the Commission carried out unannounced inspections of the firms.
The collusion identified by the Commission concerned the new emission technologies required by the Euro III to Euro VI environmental standards, specifically coordination on timing and coordination on passing on of costs of emission technologies for trucks compliant with newly introduced emissions standards.
The collusion was not aimed at avoiding or manipulating compliance with the new emission standards, said the Commission.
Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) was fined €1.08 billion, DAF was fined €752m, Iveco €494m, and Volvo/Renault €670m.
MAN (part of Volkswagen Group) was not fined, as it reported the cartel to the European Commission.
Scania, also part of Volkswagen Group, was fined more than €880m for its participation in a truck cartel the following year (2017).
Smith said: “The RHA is particularly keen to hear from operators who registered an interest in the claim previously but have yet to sign up.
“As a reminder, even if you previously signed up to the claim, since August 2024, you have been required to take further steps to opt in to the RHA’s claim to ensure you can benefit.”
More information can be found in the Rule 81 Notice and on the RHA’s website. If operators have any questions regarding the claim or the extension of the opt in period, contact the RHA at truckcartel@rha.uk.net.
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