In a dramatic turn just hours before opening statements were set to begin, a Nebraska-based trucking giant agreed to pay $18 million to nearly 100,000 current and former drivers, closing the curtain on an 11-year wage battle that had been idling in federal court.
The Werner Enterprises $18M settlement, detailed in papers filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, resolves three consolidated wage-and-hour lawsuits accusing Werner Enterprises Inc. and its subsidiary, Drivers Management LLC, of failing to pay minimum wages under Nebraska and California law.
A Decade-Long Dispute Comes to a Halt
The drivers told the court the agreement represents a balanced resolution after years of litigation risk for both sides.
“The $18,000,000 settlement represents a fair resolution of claims that carried meaningful risk for both sides,” the drivers said in their motion for preliminary approval. They noted that the deal delivers “immediate, certain relief” to class members who have already waited more than a decade and might otherwise face years more of litigation and appeals.
The agreement, reached in October but filed ahead of trial, ends allegations that Werner failed to compensate drivers for non-driving tasks — including time spent in sleeper berths, waiting for loads, conducting pre-trip and post-trip inspections, and safeguarding cargo.
Werner denied the claims in full, according to the motion.
