FedEx named in what could be one of the largest speedometer fraud schemes in US history

Speedometer fraud is big business in the US estimate says the plan costs consumers more than $1 billion a year. And while it’s largely has been relegated to sketchy resellers and private sellers on Craigslist that you probably shouldn’t buy from, obviously not only there. On Friday, auto news reports that FedEx and Holman Automotive have allegedly reversed the speedometers of old delivery trucks in a new lawsuit.

Companies like FedEx often get rid of their delivery trucks when they reach their operating limits, usually around 350,000 miles, but, In the lawsuit, the plaintiff said a old truck related program started more than a decade ago, when FedEx decided to stop scrapping the trucks and send them to auto auctions instead.

… the lawsuit states, FedEx, beginning in or about 2011 pursued another source of revenue by remarketing its fleet vehicles rather than destroying them. Holman is accused of agreeing with FedEx to commit odometer fraud as part of a remarketing business.

FedEx allegedly not only resets the speedometers of sold cars, but also did not disclose which vehicle has changed the odometer. Holman, who manages FedEx’s commercial fleet, is accused of selling the vehicle for more than its fair value due to inaccurate odometers.

One of the plaintiffs in the case is Tom Layton, a commercial truck dealer based in Henderson, Nevada. Talk to Las Vegas’ KTNVLayton said in 2017 he sold an old FedEx truck to a contractor in Washington state, who discovered and accused Layton of initial fraud.

“About a month after the sale, the FedEx contractor contacted me and said, ‘hey! What are you trying to pull here? And I said, ‘what’s the matter?’ And he said, ‘I brought this into Freightliner and connected the vehicle to the computer. And it has more than 400,000 miles. And your speedometer says 180,000 miles’.

That’s when Layton said he “discovered that the odometer had been changed by FedEx and not by any auto dealer.”

Capable suit on behalf of thousands of people across the country bought one of these cars. ONE Holman’s spokesperson tell Automotive News The company does not comment on pending litigation, while A FedEx representative said the company “will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”