MillerCoors Claims Railways Made Billions Jacking Fuel Fees

MillerCoors LLC says in a lawsuit that Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway Co. and other U.S. rail freight carriers made billions of dollars in illicit profits by conspiring to overcharge customers on a shipping surcharge for years.

The beer maker alleges that the rail companies artificially jacked up the price of a rate-based fuel surcharge that was added to shipping bills from 2003 to at least 2008.

Friday’s complaint by MillerCoors in Washington federal court—which also named Union Pacific Railroad Co., CSX Transportation Inc. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. as defendants—follows numerous others by various industries.

The federal appeals court in Washington last year handed the railways a victory by upholding a lower-court ruling that barred class-action status for customers alleging fuel surcharge price-fixing.

Representatives of the rail companies said Friday they’ve been fending off the claims for years.

“We believe the claims are meritless and plan to vigorously defend ourselves in court,” said Raquel Espinoza, a spokeswoman for Union Pacific.

“These allegations are not new and we have strongly denied these accusations for well over a decade,” said Amy Casas, a spokeswoman for BNSF.

“CSX has and will continue to defend these cases as its fuel surcharge practices were arrived at and applied lawfully,” CSX said in an email.