Mablevale Company Sues Roadrunner Transportation for $37M Following ‘Personal Animus’

Those miles can really add up, especially when you are counting 350,000 every week.

A Mabelvale truck leasing company filed a $37 million-plus breach of contract lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court earlier this month against Illinois’ Roadrunner Transportation Systems and its Arkansas subsidiary, Rich Logistics of Little Rock. PKE Western Trucking Leasing, led by owner Paul Keith Everett, said “personal animus” on the part of Roadrunner COO Mike Gettle was behind it all.

According to the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Dick Buzbee and John Buzbee of Little Rock, PKE and Rich/Roadrunner signed a two-year leasing agreement in January stipulating PKE would supply trucks for a minimum of 350,000 miles a week of capacity; PKE would also receive $1.41 a mile. On Aug. 3, Everett said, he received a letter from Roadrunner’s general counsel, Robert Milane, terminating the agreement because PKE failed to deliver the minimum trucking capacity, which PKE said was false.

The lawsuit alleged that the dispute was because of Gettle’s desire to “financially ruin” Everett — the lawsuit does not state the basis of the grudge — and put both him and his company out of business. The lawsuit said Gettle reduced the workload so much that PKE drivers left the company to find work elsewhere.

At this point Whispers should mention Milane couldn’t be reached for comment but told transportation news outlet FreightWaves on Aug. 9 that the allegation was being investigated and the company wouldn’t comment further.

Everett’s lawsuit said a noncompete provision in the agreement prevented PKE from using its trucks with any company but Roadrunner/Rich and the “abuse of economic power” caused a financial hardship.

PKE is asking for compensatory damages of more than $37 million, which represents the $83,333 monthly leasing fee and the $493,500 monthly mileage fee that PKE said it was owed until the agreement’s end in December 2020. PKE is also asking for punitive damages because of “outrageous conduct” by the defendants.