A COMPETITION tribunal has given the UK's main trucking industry trade body the OK to progress a landmark £2bn opt-in claim against a "cartel" of European truck makers, over allegations they fixed the prices of lorries for more than a decade.

The UK's Road Haulage Association (RHA) trade body's claim is set to be the first ever opt-in claim approved by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

The claim will see the RHA sue truck manufactures including DAF, Iveco, and MAN, for damages worth £2bn, on behalf of those who purchased or leased new and old trucks made by the cartel between 1997 and 2015, on an opt-in basis.

The opt-in claim comes after the European Commission (EC) fined DAF, Iveco, Daimler/ Mercedes, and Volvo/ Renault, €2.9bn (£2.5bn) in 2016, over their running of a pricefixing cartel from 1997 to 2011.

MAN avoided a fine in the same case, after being granted immunity for blowing the whistle, while Scania is currently appealing its €880m fine.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper