The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Assn. continues to fight for class action status in two lawsuits brought against carriers for alleged violation of truth-in-leasing laws.

A U.S. District Court Judge has denied a motion by Arctic Express to reverse an earlier court decision granting class certification in the case brought against it by OOIDA, ruling that Arctic Express had presented no new evidence or argument that would justify reversing the class certification granted in September.
OOIDA, with members Carl Harp, Garvin Keith Roberts and Michael Wiese, filed suit against Arctic Express Inc. of Hilliard, Ohio, and its affiliate truck leasing company, D&A Associates Ltd., claiming Arctic failed to return escrow accounts after the termination of the owner-operators' leases. The class is estimated to potentially include as many as 2,000 owner-operators.
In another case involving violations of the federal leasing regulations, this one against New Prime Inc., OOIDA is preparing to file an appeal against a ruling denying its motion for class certification. On Feb. 25, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled against OOIDA's request that a class be certified to combine all of the owner-operators affected by Prime's alleged truth-in-leasing violations into one lawsuit. The proposed class would consist of as many as 10,000 owner-operators. U.S. District Court Dean Whipple denied the motion for class certification on the ground that certifying a class of owner-operators "would entitle the defendants to present individualized proof of offsets, advances and maintenance expenses charged to the owner-operators accounts to determine whether any escrow funds remained to which the owner-operators may be entitled."
Because the judge agreed with OOIDA on many of the prerequisites for class action status, the association says it is appealing.