Family-owned customer sues Pilot Flying J

Trucking company Western Express Inc. has sued Pilot Flying J for breach of contract,

the

Wall Street Journal

reported.

The

Journal

called Western one of Pilot’s “most loyal” customers; Western’s attorneys told the

Journal

the company still buys 90% of its fuel from Pilot. The article noted that the suit could exceed $70 million.

The FBI raided Pilot’s headquarters in April. The company is accused of plotting to defraud its customers by shorting them on rebates it had promised them.

Western’s suit alleges that Pilot charged it more per gallon of fuel than was stipulated in agreements between the companies, and the overcharges caused the company to miss a profitability target and default on its debt. Western seeks actual and punitive damages, the

Journal

article said.

The

Journal

report noted that both Pilot and Western are family companies. While Pilot has “mostly thrived” despite a downturn in the industry, “Western Express, exposed to fuel margins, faltered during the downturn,” the report said.

An attorney for Pilot called Western’s allegations “extremely aggressive and overreaching” and said Pilot is auditing Western’s account and would pay the company any money it owes, the

Journal

article said. “Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam says that he wasn’t aware of a scheme to defraud customers and hasn’t done anything wrong,” the article said. (Source:

Wall Street Journal,

Sept. 12, 2013.)