Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Trucker fleet card issuer agrees to settle claims brought by independent truck stops, (Jan 22, 2014)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

Comdata Inc. announced yesterday that it has agreed to pay up to $130 million to settle a putative class action antitrust suit brought on behalf of U.S. retail fueling merchants in the federal district court in Philadelphia (Marchbanks Truck Service, Inc., v. Comdata Network, Inc., No. 07-1078-JKG-HSP).

According to Berger & Montague, P.C., Co-Lead Counsel in the proposed class action, independent truck stops filed suit in 2007, seeking to recover for paying inflated transaction fees for processing Comdata trucker fleet card transactions. Comdata is the dominant trucker fleet card issuer.

The suit named Comdata, Comdata’s parent Ceridian Corporation, and three large truck stop chains: (1) TravelCenters of America LLC and its wholly owned subsidiaries TA Operating LLC f/k/a TA Operating Corporation d/b/a TravelCenters of America, TravelCenters of America, Inc. and Petro Stopping Centers, L.P.; (2) Pilot Travel Centers LLC and its predecessor Pilot Corporation; and (3) Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc. Comdata allegedly engaged in anticompetitive conduct to maintain its dominance in the trucker fleet card market. Further, Comdata and the major chains allegedly agreed not to compete in the fleet card market. Comdata purportedly agreed to offer the chains discounts in the form of low transaction fees in return for their cooperation.

The settlement would resolve the claims of a putative class consisting of over 4,000 independent truck stops and other retail fueling merchants. In addition to requiring Comdata to make the substantial monetary payments, the settlement includes valuable prospective relief, according to Berger & Montague.

Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding, which will need to be finalized in a definitive settlement agreement and approved by the court, Comdata agreed to make a one-time cash payment of $100 million as part of a $130 million global settlement with other defendants in the lawsuit, the company said in a statement. Comdata has also agreed to modify specific provisions in its merchant agreements.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement that directly addresses merchant issues while continuing to emphasize and ensure fair treatment at the point of sale for fleets that carry the Comdata Card,” said Comdata Chief Executive Officer and President Stuart C. Harvey, Jr., announcing the settlement. “While Comdata believes the lawsuit lacked merit, we decided to resolve the lawsuit so that we can continue to focus our full attention on strengthening and growing our relationships with our merchant and fleet customers.”

News: Antitrust