TQL and C.H. Robinson RICO lawsuit: jury selection proposed for April 2028

The dates are a proposal and are not final. Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has set a scheduling conference for Nov. 23, FreightWaves reported. The draft calls for discovery deadlines in late 2027, mediation finished by late January 2028, proposed jury instructions due by March 13, 2028, and a pretrial conference on March 20.

Stevens Trucking, Western Flyer Express, D&M Carriers (Freymiller Trucking), Christenson Transportation, E.O.S. Inc. and IWX Motor Freight filed the suit on Sept. 23. They allege the two brokers won shipper contracts by promising safe, compliant service, then handed loads to what the complaint calls "Illegal Carriers" and undercut the plaintiffs' rates. The complaint accuses the brokers of racketeering tied to forced labor and wire fraud and describes chameleon carriers that switch DOT numbers. Super Ego is cited as one such network but is not a defendant. None of the claims has been proven.

The most pressing issue is TQL's motion to dismiss, FreightWaves reported. TQL says every plaintiff except IWX signed a carrier contract requiring disputes to be heard in state court in Clermont County, Ohio, near its Cincinnati headquarters. The carriers answered last week that the clause cannot be stretched to cover disputes unrelated to the contract. In October, TQL also argued that the carriers lost freight to lower bidders and could not tie any lost account to a TQL act.

C.H. Robinson has not filed anything in the case, and a spokeswoman said the company is not connected to TQL's venue motion. When the suit was filed, C.H. Robinson rejected the allegations and said every carrier it uses is federally authorized and carries more insurance than the law requires. The carriers' latest filing also says the brokers pushed a driver shortage story through the American Trucking Associations. ATA said it is not a party, neither broker is a member and the claims about it are false.