Toyota says U.S. railroads engaged in price-fixing
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
The Jacksonville Business Journal reports that Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. says that major U.S. railroads colluded to fix prices. Specifically, the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas last Friday, says that four railroads – CSX, Norfolk Southern, BNSF, and Union Pacific – engaged in a conspiracy to impose excessive fuel surcharges on Toyota shipments from 2003 to 2011.
A Toyota spokesperson said “Toyota has overpaid hundreds of millions of dollars for rail transport in the U.S. and Canada because of collusion between the four largest U.S.-based railroads to artificially inflate prices. This long-running conspiracy to deceive customers through a so-called ‘rail fuel surcharge’ has stifled competition, negatively impacted interstate and international commerce, and harmed shippers and the public.”
The Jacksonville Business Journal also reports that similar suits have been recently filed by Campbell Soup Co., Duke Energy, Vulcan Materials Company, Hyundai Motor America, Inc., AK Steel Corporation, Kellogg Company, as well as others.
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