• Courts deliver favorable opinions for OOIDA in three class-action suits (7-26-04)
• U.S. district court rules in favor of class certification in OOIDA suit against Allied Van Lines (5-31-05)
• OOIDA files class-action complaint against Allied Van Lines for violating the Truth-in-Leasing regulations (5-5-2004)

As of mid-November 2007 - Filed May 2004 in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. The truckers alleged that Allied’s leases failed to comply with federal law in regard to driver compensation and chargebacks. The parties in the class action negotiated an $8 million settlement, and the court approved it this fall.

A similar case against North American Van Lines Inc. was consolidated with the Allied case for settlement purposes. The named individuals who represented the class received their settlement payments in early November 2007.

OOIDA’s legal team was calculating individual settlement amounts for more than 4,000 class members at press time, and had plans to mail checks by the end of November. That first distribution payment was expected to be made from the first $3 million settlement installment paid by the Van Lines. The second and third distributions are scheduled in June 2008 and sometime in 2009.

OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston expressed satisfaction that significant portions of the household goods industry and drivers could put their differences behind them and look to the future under revised owner-operator leases.

“Not everyone gets everything they want in a settlement,” said Johnston, “but where the parties continue to deal with each other on an ongoing basis, it is as important to build for the future as it is to try and redress every conceivable grievance from the past. Allied and North American Van Lines deserve great credit for showing real leadership in addressing these types of long-standing industry issues.”