Owner-operators claim Red Line hid $1M+ in freight revenue
On Sept. 17, a group of owner-operators filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, accusing Red Line Logistics and two executives of hiding freight revenue to pocket the difference. The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages, alleging Red Line understated load values to keep the difference.
Under the lease agreements cited in the complaint, owner-operators were to receive 80% of the load value while Red Line kept 20%. The complaint says Red Line would bid $10,000 for a load but tell drivers the load was worth only $7,500, pocketing the $2,500 difference before calculating the driver’s share. To execute the scheme, Red Line allegedly entered actual load data into its Apex transportation management system, then instructed a dispatcher to reduce the value before entering it into the Sylectus system drivers used. The plaintiffs allege the false values were communicated through email, text and voice-over-internet-protocol messages, potentially numbering in the thousands over several years. The complaint also says the alleged conduct involved interstate and foreign commerce across the United States, Mexico and Canada, and that the plaintiffs have brought RICO claims accusing the defendants of wire fraud. As of the filing reviewed by FreightWaves, Red Line Logistics, Zaim Bajgoric and Anel Penava had not filed a response to the allegations in the publicly accessible docket.
What we know
The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 17.
The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages.
Owner-operators were to receive 80% of load value while Red Line retained 20%.
Red Line allegedly bid $10,000 for a load but told drivers it was worth $7,500, keeping the $2,500 difference.
The case is listed as Bajgoric et al. v. Red Line Logistics Inc. et al., No. 2:26-cv-13533.