A U.S. District Court has issued an order resolving a number of outstanding motions in the class action suit brought by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers against Swift Transportation Inc.

The suit, filed by OOIDA and 10 of its owner-operator members in 2002, alleges that the leases of Swift and M.S. Carriers Warehousing Distribution Inc., which merged with Swift in 2001, violated the federal truth-in-leasing regulations.
It contends the carriers failed to provide owner-operators with required documentation for chargebacks against compensation; forced purchase of insurance and other products and services; made illegal deductions from escrow accounts; and failed to return escrow accounts within the required time after termination.
Subsequent to the filing, the claims against M.S. Carriers were referred to arbitration by the court. The court then granted a request by OOIDA to add Interstate Equipment Leasing Inc. -- the truck leasing company owned by Swift Chairman Jerry Moyes -- as defendants in the class action.
Swift had argued that the truth-in-leasing claims brought by OOIDA are governed by a two-year statute of limitations, but Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona recently ruled that the claims are governed by the four-year federal statute of limitations. Thus the plaintiffs can potentially recover damages going back four years instead of two.
The judge also denied a motion by Interstate to dismiss its status as a defendant in the case, ruling that the affiliation between Interstate and Swift was close enough to allow him to exercise jurisdiction over Interstate.