Arctic Express fails to pay; OOIDA seeks contempt ruling

A federal judge in Ohio is one step away from a possible ruling that Arctic Express Inc. is in contempt of court for failing to stick to a court-ordered payment schedule in a class-action settlement with truckers regarding escrow funds.

Wednesday, April 18, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley granted a request from OOIDA and thousands of truckers, ordering Arctic to prove that it is not able to make the ordered payments. If detailed evidence is not presented, the judge indicated he will hold Arctic in contempt. A hearing is set for early June.

“If Arctic cannot show, categorically and in detail, that it is impossible for it to meet its obligations to plaintiffs as outlined in this court’s May 28, 2004, order, Arctic shall be found in contempt of this court,” the judge wrote in an eight-page order filed Wednesday, including italicized type to emphasize his point.

Leaders of the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association and attorneys representing the association and thousands of truckers in the class action said that they are encouraged.

Attorney Joyce E. Mayers of The Cullen Law Firm in Washington, DC, has been working on the truckers’ case for several years and when Arctic’s settlement checks stopped coming in the mail, she filed a motion requesting the judge to order the Ohio-based motor carrier to “show cause,” or prove, why it is unable to pay the court-ordered installments.

Full story here; Arctic Express fails to pay