The named plaintiffs who filed this Action are two owner-operators that used to provide drayage transportation services to C&K Trucking, LLC, in Illinois. The Action accuses C&K Trucking of violating the Truth in Leasing Act, 49 U.S.C. § 14704(a)(2), and Illinois common law of breach of contract and fraud, by paying the owner operators less than the agreed-upon amounts for their runs and for not adequately disclosing the grounds for several categories of deductions or chargebacks made against their pay. Defendant C&K Trucking strongly denies violating any laws or failing to pay the contractually agreed-upon amounts. C&K Trucking further contends it complied with all applicable laws and contractual obligations.

So far, the Court has made no determination whether C&K Trucking or Plaintiffs are correct on the merits. In the meantime, after conducting discovery, taking witness statements, and performing a legal analysis of the contracts and applicable law, Plaintiffs and C&K agreed to appear before an experienced mediator in an effort to resolve the Action by negotiating an end to the case by agreement (settle the case) rather than continuing the expensive and time-consuming process of litigation. The negotiations were successful. By signing a lengthy written Settlement Agreement (“Agreement”) and agreeing to jointly ask the Court to enter a judgment ending the Action and enforcing the Agreement, Plaintiffs and C&K Trucking have negotiated a proposed Settlement that is subject to the Court’s Final Approval. Both sides agree the proposed Settlement is a compromise of disputed claims. By agreeing to settle, C&K Trucking does not admit any violations or concede the merit of any claims.

Plaintiffs and Class Counsel strongly believe the Settlement is a good deal for you because they believe that: (1) C&K Trucking has agreed to pay a fair, reasonable and adequate amount considering the strength of the claims and the risks and uncertainties of continued litigation; and (2) the settlement is in the best interests of the Class Members. The Court preliminarily approved the proposed settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate, authorized the Notice, and scheduled a hearing to determine Final Approval.

1. C&K Trucking Will Pay $3,350,000.00 as the Gross Settlement Amount (Gross Settlement). C&K Trucking has agreed to deposit the Gross Settlement into an escrow account controlled by the Administrator of the Settlement. The Administrator will use the Gross Settlement to pay the Individual Class Member Payments, Class Representative Service Payments, Class Counsel’s attorney’s fees and expenses, and the Administrator’s expenses. Assuming the Court grants Final Approval, C&K Trucking will fund the Gross Settlement not more than 7 days after the Judgment entered by the Court becomes final. The Judgment will be final on the date the Court enters Judgment, or a later date if Participating Class Members object to the proposed Settlement or the Judgment is appealed.
2. Court Approved Deductions from Gross Settlement. At the Final Approval Hearing, Plaintiffs and/or Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve the following deductions from the Gross Settlement, the amounts of which will be decided by the Court at the Final Approval Hearing:
   1. Up to one-third (1/3) of the Gross Settlement to Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and up to $50,000.00 for their litigation expenses. To date, Class Counsel have worked and incurred expenses on the Action without payment.
   2. Up to $20,000.00 each to the three Class Representatives as Service Payments for filing the Action, producing documents, answering interrogatories, having their depositions taken, and participating in the mediation sessions that resulted in the Settlement. A Class Representative Award will be the only monies Plaintiffs will receive other than their Individual Class Member Payments.
   3. Up to $54,309.00 to the Administrator for services administering the Settlement.
      
      Participating Class Members have the right to object to any of these deductions. The Court will consider all objections.
3. Net Settlement Distributed to Class Members. After making the above deductions in amounts approved by the Court, the Administrator will distribute the rest of the Gross Settlement (the “Net Settlement”) by making Individual Class Member Payments to Participating Class Members using the formula described in FAQ 4 below.
4. Taxes Owed on Payments to Class Members. Each Participating Class Member’s Individual Class Member Payment will be reported on an IRS 1099 Form.
   
   Although Plaintiffs and C&K Trucking have agreed to this tax allocation, neither side is giving you any advice on whether your Payments are taxable or how much you might owe in taxes. You are responsible for paying all taxes (including penalties and interest on back taxes) on any Payments received from the proposed Settlement. You should consult a tax advisor if you have any questions about the tax consequences of the proposed Settlement.
5. Need to Promptly Cash Payment Checks. The front of every check issued for Individual Class Member Payments will show the date when the check expires (the void date). If you don’t cash it by the void date, your check will be automatically cancelled, and the monies will either be redistributed to the Class Members who cashed their checks and/or paid to a non-profit organization or foundation (“Cy Pres”).
6. The Proposed Settlement Will be Void if the Court Denies Final Approval. It is possible the Court will decline to grant Final Approval of the Settlement or decline to enter a Judgment. It is also possible the Court will enter a Judgment that is reversed on appeal. If the Settlement does not become Final for any of these reasons, the Agreement will be void such that C&K Trucking would not pay any money and Class Members would not release any claims against C&K Trucking.
7. Administrator. The Court has appointed a neutral company, JND Legal Administration (the “Administrator”) to send the Notice, calculate and make payments, and mail and re-mail settlement checks and tax forms. The Administrator also will process Class Members’ Requests for Exclusion, Objections, and Disputes as to the number of Settlement Statement Workweeks or Adjusted Settlement Statement Workweeks, if any. The Administrator will also perform other tasks necessary to administer the Settlement. The Administrator’s contact information is contained in FAQ 9.
8. Participating Class Members’ Release. After the Judgment is final and C&K Trucking has fully funded the Gross Settlement, Participating Class Members will be legally barred from asserting any of the claims released under the Settlement. This means that unless you opted out by mailing a timely and valid Request for Exclusion to the Administrator in accordance with the instructions set forth in FAQ 6 below, you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against C&K Trucking or related entities for claims that have been resolved in this Settlement.
   
   The Participating Class Members will be bound by the following release:
   1. All Participating Class Members, on behalf of themselves and their respective former and present representatives, agents, attorneys, heirs, administrators, successors, and assigns, release Released Parties from all claims that were pleaded or could have been pleaded based on the facts alleged in Plaintiffs’ original Complaint and/or First Amended Complaint filed in this action, including but not limited to any claims related to compensation or deductions, which accrued between July 22, 2010 and July 29, 2022.

1. Individual Class Member Payments. The Administrator will calculate Individual Class Member Payments according to the following distribution formula:
   1. First, the Administrator will determine, for each Participating Class Member, the total number of weeks in the Class Period during which C&K Trucking issued that Participating Class Member one or more Settlement Statements based on the performance of services for Defendant C&K using one or more of the vehicles registered with that Class Member. This figure will be known as a Settlement Workweek;
   2. Second, the Administrator will count each Settlement Workweek between July 22, 2016 to July 29, 2022 as two Adjusted Settlement Workweeks; whereas each Settlement Workweek occurring between July 22, 2010 and July 21, 2016, will count as one Adjusted Settlement Workweek. The Parties have agreed to this formula as a fair and equitable approximation of the difference in potential value and risks of the claims at each time period;
   3. Third, the Administrator will aggregate all the Adjusted Settlement Workweeks for all the Participating Class Members to arrive at the Total Adjusted Settlement Workweeks for the entire Settlement Class;
   4. Fourth, the Administrator will calculate each Participating Class Member’s Settlement Ratio by dividing the number of Adjusted Settlement Workweeks belonging to that Participating Class Member by the Total Adjusted Settlement Workweeks for the entire Settlement Class; and
   5. Fifth, the Administrator will calculate each Participating Class Member’s Individual Class Member Payment by multiplying that Participating Class Member’s Settlement Ratio by the Net Settlement Amount.
2. Workweek/Calculation Disputes. The number of Settlement Workweeks and Adjusted Settlement Workweeks credited to you, based on C&K Trucking’s records, as well as your estimated Individual Class Member Payment based on these records, are stated in the first page of the personalized Notice mailed to you. You may dispute these records by sending a letter to the Administrator. For a dispute to be timely submitted, it must be mailed to the Administrator at the address provided in FAQ 9 below and postmarked on or before January 30, 2023. Any dispute should explain the basis of the dispute, state the number of Settlement Workweeks, Adjusted Settlement Workweeks and/or calculation that you believe is correct, and attach any documentation reasonably available to support your dispute. (You should send copies of documents rather than originals because the documents will not be returned to you.) The Parties will confer to determine whether adjustments to the Class Member’s Individual Class Member Payment is warranted. If the Parties are unable to reach an agreement as to a dispute, the Court will decide the outstanding issue. The Court’s determination of the eligibility for and amount of any Individual Class Member Payment will be binding.

Checks were mailed on March 15, 2023. If you believe that your check has gotten lost or needs to be reissued, please let us know. The Administrator has sent, by U.S. mail, a single check to every Participating Class Member.

Your check has been sent to the same address as the Notice you received. If you change your address, be sure to notify the Administrator as soon as possible. FAQ 9 has the Administrator’s contact information.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement (“opt out”), you must have sent a letter to the Administrator on or before January 30, 2023, which reasonably communicated your election to be excluded from the Settlement. Excluded Class Members (i.e., Non-Participating Class Members) will not receive Individual Class Member Payments, but will preserve their rights to personally pursue the claims asserted in this case against C&K Trucking.

To be valid, a Request for Exclusion must (a) be written; (b) state your name; (c) be signed by you; (d) identify the Action; (e) state that you have reviewed the Class Notice regarding the settlement of the Action and the consequences of requesting exclusion from it, and wish to be excluded from the settlement; and (f) be mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the address provided in FAQ 9 below.

You will be treated as a Participating Class Member, participating fully in the Class Settlement, unless you sent the Administrator by mail a signed written Request for Exclusion that is postmarked on or before January 30, 2023.

Participating Class Members (i.e. Class Members who do not opt out or request exclusion from the Settlement) must have filed their Objections on or before January 30, 2023.

FAQ 9 has the Administrator’s contact information.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing on February 14, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom No. 1203 of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, located at 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois 60604.The Court approved the Settlement on February 22, 2023.

The Agreement sets forth everything C&K Trucking and Plaintiffs have promised to do under the proposed Settlement. The easiest way to read the Agreement, the Judgment or any other Settlement documents is to go to the Important Documents page of this website. You can also telephone or send an email to Class Counsel or the Administrator using the contact information listed below. You may also review case and settlement documents on PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) by going to www.pacer.uscourts.gov and entering in the Case Name, Case Number and District Court information shown at the top of the Notice.

Class Counsel:

Settlement Administrator:

JND Legal Administration

Mailing Address:
C&K Trucking Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91205
Seattle, WA 98111

Email Address:
info@IllinoisDriverSettlement.com

Telephone:
1-855-533-0226

Fax Number:
1.866.304.3206

If you lose or misplace your settlement check before cashing it, the Administrator will replace it as long as you request a replacement before the void date on the face of the original check.

To receive your check, you should immediately notify the Administrator if you move or otherwise change your mailing address. The Administrator’s contact information is in FAQ 9 above.