A claim for R90-billion in compensation from firms found to have colluded in a price-fixing cartel is being sought by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) in the UK – this move coming two years after the European Commission fined several truckmakers for inflating prices.

In a statement the RHA said: "Those truckers that have signed up to our claim could be in for a possible windfall of more than R108 000 for every truck they bought or leased during the 14-year period."

More than 600 000 UK-registered trucks are involved and the payout is the estimated overspend figure hauliers paid for each vehicle.

In July 2016, four truck manufacturers – Daimler, DAF, Iveco and Volvo/Renault – were fined a record R44,2-billion by the EU for colluding on prices and passing on the costs of emissions-reducing technology.

MAN, owned by Volkswagen, avoided a fine as it blew the whistle on the cartel.

In September last year, Scania, which held out and would not co-operate with the investigation, was fined R1,5-billion for its part in the cartel.

"As the only UK organisation specifically dedicated to the road haulage industry, we at the RHA considered ourselves duty-bound to pursue a compensation claim for the operators that paid over the odds for their trucks - new, leased or second-hand," the association said.