Trucking company FST Express is the latest to file a lawsuit against Pilot Flying J, saying it lost more than $75,000 in a fuel-rebate scheme, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
The suit says the Columbus, Ohio-based carrier was misled by Pilot Flying J, and when FST found a discrepancy, it was given false excuses, the newspaper reported.
By filing the lawsuit, FST has opted out of a class-action settlement that calls for Pilot Flying J to pay back the companies that were shortchanged fuel rebates. The settlement is expected to cost Pilot more than $40 million, according to the paper.
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of more than 20 that have been filed against Pilot in state and federal courts nationwide since the company’s Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters was raided by the FBI in April.
Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam said Sept. 30 that his company has instituted practices to prevent fuel-rebate discrepancies in response to revelations that the truck-stop chain shortchanged some trucking company customers.
“Since April 15, we have done our best to investigate the allegations made against some members of our diesel-fuel sales team, to identify any wrongdoing and to assure our customers that we will not tolerate that kind of behavior anywhere in our company, and we will make right 100% of any errors we discover,” Haslam said in his statement.
