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October 13, 1999 11:56 AM, EDT

Truckers who feel as if they’re the ones who will end up paying for a $1 billion settlement between the nation’s six largest diesel engine makers and the Environmental Protection Agency are suing the engine producers.

Two lawsuits filed on opposite sides of the country will determine whether the engine makers made the right move when they agreed to pay fines to EPA over alleged emissions cheating. The engine makers have said they gave in to the government only to avoid a long legal battle.

A lawsuit filed Sept. 24 by on behalf of the California Dump Truck Owners Association and 86 trucking interests — most of which are owner-operators in California — charges the engine makers with violating federal and state emissions laws and lying to buyers by claiming their engines met environmental standards when they did not.

A separate lawsuit is before U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, D.C., in which attorneys for trucking companies claim the engine makers knowingly sold defective engines and violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which has generally been used against organized crime.

For the full story, see the Oct. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. .