Almost 1000 transport and logistics companies from all over Germany continue to put pressure on the members of the so-called trucks cartel. As the Federal Association of Good Working Logistics and Disposal (BGL) announced, the legal service provider Truck Reclaim claims to be claimed for almost 15,000 procurement processes in court, which he previously had the freight forwarders. The bundled claims have a total volume of 85 million euros, including interest, as a BGL legal specialist at F.A.Z. When requested, in third place of lawsuits in court is the third and probably the last wave of lawsuits in one of the largest complexes due to antitrust damage replacement in the history of the Federal Republic. Overall, the freight forwarders are calling for more than 1.3 billion euros, including interest due to too high prices for trucks and accessories, for illegal agreements. According to the EU Commission, all major European vehicle builders were involved in the truck cartel from 1997 to 2011. This includes, Daimler (now Daimler Truck), Volvo/Renault, DAF, IVECO and Scania. After long investigations, the competitive officers took the companies in 2016 and 2017 with a total of 3.7 billion euros. Only you got away as a crown witness in Brussels without a fine. Scania did not accept the fine imposed in the amount of 880 million euros and accused the Commission’s bias. After a long legal dispute, the European Court of Justice finally confirmed the fine in early 2024. If the truck buyers caused damage due to the price setting, however, the competitive keepers from Brussels left open. In several European countries there were a collective complaints against the manufacturers. For the two current mass procedures in Germany, the BGL industry association is once again working with the collection provider Tuck Reclaim. Tuck Reclaim assumes the costs of the procedure and, if successful, receives a commission of 33 percent of the disputed sum. The latter had already brought the two previous mass lawsuits supported by the BGL in 2017 and 2018. After a lawsuit failed in 2020, the Munich Higher Regional Court raised the decision last year: The entrance instance must now negotiate again on the antitrust damage replacement. More on the topic of the current complaints are trucks of the manufacturer, Daimler, Volvo/Renault, DAF, IVECO and Scania, which were bought or leased between January 1997 and the end of 2016. The plaintiff, especially in the plaintiff, is likely to be the Swedish part of the VW utility daughter company Traton. Because according to Truck Reclaim, “claims for damages against most truck manufacturers are already time-barred”. However, the statute of limitations for claims against Scania were inhibited from the European courts during the legal proceedings. In this case, according to the BGL and Truck Reclaim industry association, there has been no statute of limitations, but also buyers and lessists from the other brands can continue to hope for compensation. Since Scania “is responsible for all other cartels”, the procurement processes of the other affected truck brands can also be asserted, the plaintiff lawyers emphasize.
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