A lawsuit has been filed against YRC Freight by the United States federal government. According to the Department of Justice, YRC Freight “systematically overcharged” the U.S. Department of Defense for freight, costing the government millions of dollars more than it should have.
The shipments in question were LTL shipments, and therefore the weight of the shipment played a large factor in pricing. When YRC did reweighs to determine the weight of the goods, they allegedly did not report a discrepancy when the goods came in as lighter than expected. According to a DOJ press release, YRC was “knowingly overcharging the government.”
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division called the practice “an affront to American taxpayers.” She promised that the DOJ will seek to hold YRC accountable for its actions.
But the DOJ is also alleging that after an investigation was launched, the company tried to hide their fraud. Because of that, the DOJ claims that YRC also “made false statements to the government that hid their misconduct.”
The press release also states that during the investigation, authorities also found that YRC lied to the DOD in order to get the agency to use them as a freight carrier in the first place.
YRC responded to the allegations with a press release of their own which states that “these claims are totally without merit.”
“In this case, YRC did not legally fulfill its agreed upon obligations to the Defense Department, choosing instead to line its pockets with tax payer’s dollars,” stated U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York. “Such actions are fraudulent and illegal. This case should serve as a warning to any organization that enters into a contract with the federal government—if you try to rip us off, be prepared to pay a heavy price.”
Source: DOJ, YRC, gobytrucknews, truckinginfo, overdrive, yahoofinance, kansascitystar
The government is trying HARD to CRIMINALIZE TRUCKING BIG TIME. What they NEED TO DO is SEE HOW THEY ARE CRIMINALS. All the LIES they tell the AMERICAN TAX PAYERS. I agree that SOME of The BIG Carriers ARE GREEDY
You are so right Betty. Our government officials are the biggest liars who are ripping off taxpayers every day.
It wasn’t misweighed…their thumb slipped off.
I’ve looked at thousands of LTL reweighs across most major carriers and every single one resulted in additional charges for the shipper; exceedingly few resulted in the freight being lighter than listed on the BOL. Statistically one would expect an equal balance of reweighs resulting in higher and lower weights.
This leads me to believe that charging more when it benefits the carrier and not reimbursing the shipper when the reweigh should benefit them is industry standard practice.
Could also be a work-around to recoup some revenue lost in the ridiculous discounts the LTL carriers give to customers.
A trucking company lied? This is preposterous!
They should definitely be held accountable if the investigation finds they were fraudulent.
The fine imposed by a court will be less than the amount of the fraud…. Where have you been? standard operating practise…lol
got to cover that high dollar labor and all those benefits
Actually YRC and the union screwed its drivers in pay. To avoid losing their jobs the drivers took a hit in pay and was looking at striking just to get back to their original pay scale. My husband was offered a job by them until he heard of the mandatory 2 week shut down at the end of the year and the chance of a strike after that. YRC may have karma knocking on its door.
They don’t have a pension, they get paid less than a bunch of the other carriers and they drive older equipment. Willful ignorance is deplorable and should not be tolerated.
They do actually have the same pension they have always had the company pays in at .25 percent of the their normal obligation so it takes 4 years to make 1 year of retirement.
They do have a pension.
They can be guaranteed, that will not be the only major trucking company that cant hold there obligation to the letter. DOD would want to be treated like the only customer. Doesn’t work like that when you have 10,000 plus trucks. Dod just needs to have there own trucks , that’s the only way to control your freight base.
I would disagree, it is the responsibility of the vendor to operate in an above board fashion, oops sorry that is the problem is it not ? It is a default problem with government contracts.
Everybody that ever hauled a government load and bragged about their 3 and 4 and $5 a mile was doing it
Trucking companies can charge what they want. If u pay them then thats on you🤣🤣. Its their trucks and business so they name the price
So that is where all those Flying J management people went…YRC Freight
Stealing from the government? Of course they’ll come after you, crooks don’t like competition!
You are exactly!! Correct
Illegal for YRC legal for US government
You hit the nail on the head there Buck.
Funny because I thought the BOL showed the exact weight of the load, scaling the load doesn’t change the weight listed on the BOL, and GVW changes in route as you burn off fuel, or even if you have to fuel after scaling, freight is billed according to weight listed on BOL, not at scales
Its LTL freight, not truckload! Every individual pallet is weighed by a scale on the forklift. LTL freight is billed by the cube and pound. If the freight doesn’t match size and weight on bol provided by shippers then the company adjusts for proper payment.
YRC pays enormous union pay to it’s driver’s and dock loader’s, office personal and over head, and retirement, and the company needs to replace it’s equipment, the company hangs on the equipment for 20 plus years so the justification to overcharge is a necessary, and profit
Unions are a thing of the past!! Had their place at one time, not anymore. They’re the biggest crooks of the era!! YRC is getting a very long overdue slap in the face. Time for all to come into the real world.
As long as UPS package is around there will always be teamsters. Time to join the real world Randall.
Unions have only one purpose…..to protect the lazy man!
We aren’t lazy we’re just tired from all of us nailing your old lady.
I used to agree that trade unions were no longer necessary. I’m not sure anymore though. With small business going under every day, and mega corporations taking over, unions might be needed again to uphold the middle class. I agree the corruption that comes with unions must be dealt with.
Unfortunately YRC drivers are some of the lowest paid drivers in the LTL business. Yes, the medical benefits are good but the pay and equipment is horrible.
I wonder if this was just an oversight due to incompetence or laziness. I have spent quite a bit of time on an LTL dock and one of my primary responsibilities was to re-weigh shipments as they transferred across the dock. I know that some within my company have circumvented this process as a “shortcut”. At times there was no system to ensure accountability for someone who was not properly doing the re-weighs. If this sort of thing was going on at YRC, it’s possible that nobody caught it.
YRC should still be held accountable in any case…
Lemme get this straight….the Government says YRC overcharged and lied to them.
Pot calling the kettle black if you ask me.
Anybody trust the Government? Nope
Anybody trust a trucking company? Nope
Case dismissed.
The DOD should have initially weighed the shipments properly and the discrepancy would have been minute. Instead they are whining after the fact. If we forget a tax deduction does the gov’t let us know and send us the difference? The DOD should be blamed for mislabeled weights and laziness for not taking the time to properly scale their goods. Not go after YRC after the fact. Imagine the red tape involved in notifying the govt that their freight is light, and all the bureaucracy you need to go through to refund their overpayments. YRC/Yellow/Roadway are far from saints…it could have been oversized? I have seen single LTL shipments that weigh nothing take up a entire length of truck, and screw up adding anything else into the truck.
I call b.s. on many levels. The Government has strict protocol before they sign anything to payment….
Oh wait, nvm…