Fegan Scott is looking to hear about the experiences of all current and former drivers who leased trucks from CRST Lincoln Sales and drove as an independent contractor for CRST Expedited or Specialized from August 23, 2021 or later. A case has been filed against CRST in federal court for directing and implementing deceptive “lease purchase” opportunities which defrauded drivers out of their labor and money– such as overcharging drivers for insurance premiums, charging drivers excessive fees, and controlling drivers by deciding the rates they will be paid, the customer loads they will transport, etc. A copy of the complaint is linked above.
On August 23rd, 2024, FeganScott filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that CRST used misleading advertisements to lure potential employees. These employees were then ensnared in predatory Lease Purchase contracts with exorbitant fees and low pay, falling into insurmountable debt. The complaint alleges that CRST violated Iowa’s “business property promotions act,” a law which prohibits businesses from making false or misleading advertisements, and alleges that CRST lied to potential contractors & truckers in their advertisements about potential pay, benefits, and the costs accrued by leases for their trucks.
On October 17th, 2024, CRST filed a motion to dismiss the case. Instead of attempting to take accountability for their actions and prove their innocence or otherwise in court as is their right, CRST has resorted to claiming that the court has no jurisdiction over this case to sidestep the consequences. On January 6th, 2025, the court denied CRST’s motion to dismiss our case, allowing us to move forward.
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Case Update:
U.S. District Court Gives Prospective Class of CRST Contract Truckers Green Light in Case Seeking Damages for Predatory Lease-Purchase Program
CEDAR RAPIDS (Aug. 19) – A U.S. District Court handed a victory today to current and former contract truckers who fell victim to CRST’s misleading and fraudulent promises.
The class action lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleges that the Iowa-based CRST family of companies (CRST International Holdings, CRST Lincoln Sales, CRST Expedited, and CRST Specialized) directed and implemented deceptive “lease purchase” opportunities which defrauded drivers out of their labor and money by, among other things, making bold promises about what drivers could expect to earn, which almost never panned out. The case alleges that CRST violated Iowa’s Business Opportunity Promotions Act (“BOPA”), which protects individuals from unscrupulous firms selling “business opportunities,” by requiring fulsome disclosures prior to the execution of any contract and prohibits misleading advertisements.
As Plaintiffs summarize in their Amended Complaint:
In order to induce Drivers to purchase the Driving Opportunity and defraud them out of their labor and money, CRST Trucking, at the direction and under the control of CRST International, its Board of Directors, and common officers and executives, including Gannon and Smith—from within Iowa—directed and implemented a fraudulent business opportunity scheme. The scheme involved (a) running hundreds, if not thousands, of false and misleading nation-wide internet ads, across multiple platforms (including online job boards and CRST’s own website); (b) utilizing inhouse and third-party recruiters to sell available Driving Opportunities to Driver candidates using misleading uniform scripted presentations that omitted material facts; (c) sending Driver candidates false and misleading “Lease Purchase Information Packet[s]” that omitted material facts; and (d) having Driver candidates attend orientation meetings where further false and misleading representations were made and material facts were omitted. As noted in detail below, these activities involved generally false and misleading representations about the profitability and income to be earned in the Driving Opportunity, as well as the success to be had, all while concealing material information about the high turnover, low income, short tenures, and other poor outcomes and metrics suffered by those who purchased the Driving Opportunity.
On August 19, U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams largely denied CRST’s motion to dismiss the complaint, holding that Plaintiffs’ stated a claim under BOPA. Critically, the Court rejected Defendants’ attempt to limit Plaintiffs’ claims strictly to drivers within Iowa. It also denied the bulk of Defendants’ other arguments, and permitted the case to advance.
The case is currently advancing through discovery and Plaintiffs anticipate filing a motion to certify the case as a class action in early 2027.