Nebraska Sues Truck OEMs Over ‘Collusion’ on California Deal
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Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers filed an antitrust suit against Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar Inc. and Volvo Group North America, alleging the original equipment manufacturers colluded in order to eliminate choice and raise truck prices.
The truck makers plus the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) are said to have harmed Nebraska consumers and freight companies by entering into a pact with the California Air Resources Board in July 2023, the Clean Truck Partnership.
Filed in Lincoln County District Court in Nebraska, the suit — filed in conjunction with the Energy Marketers of America and Renewable Fuels Nebraska — seeks to ensure an “honest marketplace” in the state for Class 8 internal combustion engine trucks.
In response to the suit, Jed Mandel, EMA President, told Transport Topics in an email: “While EMA is reviewing the online complaint, which we have not received formally, we can affirm at this time that the allegations are without merit, and we will defend ourselves accordingly.”
Hilgers
International Motors, Paccar and Volvo Group North America declined to comment.
DTNA — owner of Freightliner, which accounted for 37.7% of all October Class 8 retail sales, and builds America’s most popular Class 8 tractor, the Cascadia — said it was aware of the suit but does not comment on ongoing litigation.
Class 8 ICE vehicles and zero-emission vehicles are not “reasonably interchangeable,” the plaintiffs allege in the suit, adding that electric trucks also cannot be put to the same uses as ICE trucks.
“This antitrust action challenges an industrywide conspiracy to completely phase out medium- and heavy-duty ICE vehicles,” according to the suit.
Today, our Office sued truck manufacturers for conspiring to force a transition to electric trucks. Read more here: https://t.co/IEm6rsPhQD @nebraskatrucker pic.twitter.com/xvsIgy564W — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (@NEAttorneyGen) November 19, 2024
“The CTP is nakedly anti-competitive. It represents an industrywide commitment by companies to reduce their output of ICE vehicles and eliminate consumer choice, which will drive up prices for those same vehicles in Nebraska and elsewhere to subsidize the so-called ‘transition’ to ZEVs,” it added.
The CTP is a “classic antitrust violation,” Hilgers said in a statement, adding that it would raise prices, reduce output and increase costs for Nebraskans.
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“Eliminating diesel-powered semi-trucks is practically impossible to accomplish and would impose enormous costs on Nebraska and Nebraska companies. That is why Nebraska sued California officials from issuing an anti-democratic regulation to eliminate diesel-powered semis in their state,” he said.
In May, Hilgers filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California alongside 16 other states seeking to block California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation.
The antitrust suit won support Nov. 20 from American Trucking Associations, which has criticized the pace of change required by California regulations, with President Chris Spear sending a letter to his peers at the truck makers named by the suit urging them to abandon the CTP.
.@TRUCKINGdotORG urges manufacturers to leave California Clean Truck Partnership #cagov #towinghttps://t.co/7YhSdKzySV — California Safe Roads Coalition (@CASafeRoads) November 22, 2024
“As your customers and partners, we ask that you work with all members of the American Trucking Associations to forge a viable path forward,” he wrote. “Abandon the CTP and work with us and the incoming administration in Washington to reopen Greenhouse Gas Phase 3 and revise it with achievable, national standards that put our industry on a sustainable and successful path towards a zero-emissions vehicle future. We look forward to your partnership moving forward.
“By strong-arming our industry into unachievable targets and timelines void of operational and economic reality, the California Air Resources Board’s mad dash to zero has set our industry up for failure, sowing the seeds of another supply chain crisis.”
The .@oregoncatalyst reports that Oregon is poised to delay implementing California Air Resources Board HD electric truck regulations. Oregon gets it, while in California #towtruck manufacturing and sales will soon come to a screeching halt. https://t.co/uUxfHoKyQy — California Safe Roads Coalition (@CASafeRoads) November 19, 2024
The CTP applies to Class 8 tractors as well as truck models weighing more than 14,000 pounds — Classes 4-7.
That group includes heavy-duty pickups from major manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis as well as models from Isuzu, which posted the highest Class 4 retail truck sales in the U.S. in 2023, according to Wards Intelligence data.
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