Truck manufacturers DAF, Volvo, MAN and Iveco have been accused by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) of “stringing out” legal proceedings to “deny justice” to about 11,000 trucking firms seeking compensation for price fixing by the truck manufacturers, reports The Guardian.

“When we started the claim, we had 17,500 companies that registered an interest,” said Richard Smith, managing director of the RHA. “We now have 11,400 signed up. Over the seven years we have lost 6,000 [claimants] … The manufacturers hope that we will go away. We are not going to do that.”

In 2016, DAF, Volvo, MAN and Iveco, were fined about €3 billion ($3.41 billion) by the European Union for colluding for 14 years on pricing and passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules.

In 2018, RHA launched its initial £1 billion ($1.35 billion) compensation claim against the guilty manufacturers on behalf of haulers, many of which are small family-run businesses with only a handful of vehicles in their fleets.

The RHA’s legal claim is understood to revolve around about 200,000 trucks of which 30% are thought by the trade body to have been supplied by the U.K.’s leading supplier, DAF. The RHA says it is seeking compensation of more than £6,000 per truck.

Smith alleged that manufacturers had used legal tactics to frustrate the trade body’s claim – including DAF stating in court that it would settle the case, only to then back away from the pledge.