The Court overseeing this case authorized the Notice to inform Settlement Class Members about a class action settlement in a lawsuit named Express Freight International, et al., v. Hino Motors, Ltd., et al., No. 1:22-cv-22483, which was Approved by the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Plaintiffs Express Freight International, EFI Export & Trading Corp., Marders, and Redlands Office Cleaning Solutions, LLC (together, “Plaintiffs” or “Settlement Class Representatives”) allege that Defendants took part in schemes to manipulate emissions test results for certain Hino-branded trucks in the United States, which Plaintiffs allege harmed purchasers and lessees of the Settlement Class Trucks. 

Defendants deny Plaintiffs’ allegations and all alleged wrongdoing associated with Plaintiffs’ claims. The Court has not decided who is right or wrong. Instead, the Parties have agreed to the Settlement to avoid the costs, risk, and delays associated with continuing this complex and time-consuming litigation.

The Notice summarizes the Settlement and your legal rights and options under it. The deadlines listed in the Notice may be modified, so please check this website regularly for updates and further details.

The Settlement Class consists of all persons or entities that purchased or leased a Settlement Class Truck, through October 30, 2023. Settlement Class Trucks include any on-road vehicle equipped and originally sold or leased in the United States with a Hino engine from engine Model Year 2010 through and including engine Model Year 2019. 

To check whether you have a Settlement Class Truck, please enter your Vehicle Identification Number (“VIN”) on the VIN Lookup page of this website. 

Eligibility for Settlement Cash Benefits will be determined by VIN, but for illustrative purposes, the Parties expect that the Settlement Class includes most or all of the following Hino trucks: 

• Hino 155 (Model Years 2013-2020)
• Hino 195 (Model Years 2013-2020)
• Hino 238 (Model Years 2011-2020)
• Hino 258 (Model Years 2011-2020)
• Hino 268 (Model Years 2011-2020)
• Hino 338 (Model Years 2011-2020)
• Hino XL7 (Model Year 2020)
• Hino XL8 (Model Year 2020)
• Hino L6 (Model Year 2021)
• Hino L7 (Model Year 2021)

Excluded from the Settlement Class are Defendants’ officers, directors, and employees; Defendants’ affiliates and affiliates’ officers, directors, and employees; Defendants’ distributors and distributors’ officers, directors, and employees; Released Parties; judicial officers and their immediate family members and associated court staff assigned to this case; and all those otherwise in the Settlement Class who or which timely and properly exclude themselves from the Settlement Class. 

If you are not sure whether you are a Settlement Class Member, or have any other questions about the Settlement, you may email info@HinoUSASettlement.com, or call toll-free at 1-888-256-6150.

The Settlement will provide compensation and other valuable benefits to Settlement Class Members. These benefits include:

• A $237,500,000 Settlement fund to pay Settlement Class Members who submit a valid claim. The compensation available for each Settlement Class Truck is likely to range from $1,500 to $15,000 per Settlement Class Truck, depending on the volume of claims submitted and court-awarded fees and costs;
• A robust extended warranty that covers the repair or replacement of various emission control system component parts, including the cost of any diagnostic test leading to the repair; and 
• A New Parts Warranty if there is a government-mandated or government-recommended emissions system recall or repair campaign involving the Settlement Class Trucks in the next three years.

FAQs 4 through 10 describe these benefits in more detail.

On April 1, 2024, the Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement and approved Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for the Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs. You may review the documents on the Important Documents page of this website.

After deducting Settlement Class Counsel Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (see FAQ 19) and Settlement Administration Costs (estimated at approximately $620,000 to $825,000), the remaining Settlement Cash Value will be allocated evenly, on a per-capita basis, among all Settlement Class Trucks for which the Settlement Administrator has received a valid Settlement Claim. The compensation available for each Settlement Class Truck is likely to range from $1,500 to $15,000 per Settlement Class Truck, depending on the volume of claims submitted and court-awarded fees and costs.

If more than one Settlement Class Member submits a valid Settlement Claim for the same Settlement Class Truck, then 60% of the compensation for that Settlement Class Truck will be allocated to the original owner who purchased the truck new, and the remaining 40% will be allocated to or divided evenly among the other Settlement Class Member(s) that submit a valid Settlement Claim for that same truck. 

For example, if each Settlement Class Truck is allocated $2,000, and an original owner, a subsequent owner, and a lessee all submit valid claims for the same truck, the original owner would be allocated $1,200, and the lessee and subsequent owners would each be allocated $400.

The Settlement Administrator, in consultation with Settlement Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel, may adjust the allocation for Settlement Class Members, if any, that owned or leased their Settlement Class Trucks for less than six months.

You must timely submit a valid claim to receive a settlement payment. The Claim Form asks for basic information and takes just a few minutes to complete. Claim must be submitted electronically or postmarked by June 17, 2024.

To submit your claim online here. If you received a Postcard or Email Notice and provide your Unique ID from that notice, you will not need to provide any documentation when you submit your claim. If you do not have a Unique ID, or if the Settlement Administrator is unable to verify the information in your claim, the Settlement Administrator may request supporting documentation to show your ownership or lease of the vehicle, such as vehicle title, registration, purchase agreement, lease agreement, insurance documentation, or other documentation showing both your name and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

If you would prefer to submit your Claim Form by mail, you can download and print the necessary forms from the Important Documents page or request a hardcopy form to be mailed to you by calling 1-888-256-6150. For faster claims processing, you should submit your claim online, rather than by mail.

If you have questions about what documentation is needed for your claim, you may email the Settlement Administrator at info@HinoUSASettlement.com or call 1-888-256-6150. 

Submit claims online here.

Submit claims via mail:

Hino USA Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91473
Seattle, WA 98111

Submit claims via email: info@HinoUSASettlement.com

The deadline to file a claim is June 17, 2024.

The Settlement Administrator will calculate the payment amount for each timely and valid and complete Settlement Claim, and send out payments after the Settlement’s “Effective Date.”

The “Effective Date” will depend on the date the Court entered its order finally approving the Settlement and its Judgment, and whether there is an appeal of the Judgment. 

Please check this website after the Fairness Hearing (see FAQs 22-24) for information concerning the timing of Settlement payments. The Court held its Fairness Hearing on April 1, 2024.

On April 1, 2024, the Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement and approved Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for the Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs. You may review the documents on the Important Documents page of this website.

The Extended Warranty covers the cost of all parts and labor needed to repair or replace the components listed below for the corresponding indicated lengths.

The Extended Warranty also covers (i) the cost of any diagnostic tests or OBD Diagnostic Scan for malfunctions that trigger the OBD Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL), regardless of whether the malfunction is attributable to a part that is covered under the Extended Warranty, for the greater of 8 years from April 1, 2024. the date that the Court granted final approval of the Settlement, 8 years from the expiration of the standard Hino warranty coverage for the Settlement Class Truck, or 10 years from the date that the Class Truck was first delivered to the original purchaser or lessee and (ii) the cost of any diagnostic test leading to a repair covered under this Extended Warranty.

Under the terms of the Extended Warranty, Hino cannot impose any fees or charges (and must pay any fees or charges imposed on consumers by any authorized dealer in accordance with the applicable agreements with such authorized dealers) related to the warranty service. 

The Extended Warranty does not revoke or alter any existing warranties that apply to the Settlement Class Trucks. All existing warranty coverage for the Settlement Class Trucks remains in effect.

For further information about the Extended Warranty, please review Exhibit B to the Settlement Agreement, which is available on the Important Documents page.

On April 1, 2024, the Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement and approved Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for the Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs. You may review the documents on the Important Documents page of this website.

If, within three years of the date of the Settlement Agreement, Hino provides a government-mandated or a government-recommended emissions system recall or repair campaign, Hino must provide you with a New Parts Warranty covering any parts repaired, replaced, or modified by the recall or repair. 

The New Parts Warranty will last for five years from the date the Settlement Class Truck is repaired under an emissions system recall or repair campaign. Defendants are required to notify you and authorized dealers of the New Parts Warranty in connection with any recall or repair campaign.

Yes. The Extended Warranty and New Parts Warranty will transfer with your Settlement Class Truck for the entire duration of the warranty periods.

The Settlement is non-reversionary. This means that no amount of the Settlement Cash Value will be returned to Defendants. So, if there are any Settlement funds that remain after paying all eligible claims and other settlement costs, and if it is not feasible and/or economically reasonable to distribute the remaining funds to Settlement Class Members who submitted claims, then the remaining balance shall be distributed “cy pres,” which means they are paid to charitable causes that indirectly benefit the Class.

The cy pres recipient(s) in this case, if any, is subject to the agreement of the Parties and Court approval. Please check this website for updates about any cy pres distribution.

In a class action, one or more people called “class representatives” sue on behalf of people and/or companies who have similar claims. All these people are a “class” or “class members.” When a class action is settled, the Court resolves the issues in the lawsuit for all class members, except for those who request to be excluded from (or “opt out” of) the class. Opting out means that you will not receive benefits under the Settlement. 

On April 1, 2024, the Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement and approved Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for the Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs. You may review the documents on the Important Documents page of this website. If you did not exclude yourself by February 22, 2024, you released Defendants and the Released Parties from liability for all Released Claims and will not be able to sue them about the issues in the lawsuit. Under the Settlement, "Released Claims" are defined as follows: 

 [A]ny and all Claims based in any way on conduct that occurred prior to the date of the execution of this Agreement that the Settlement Class Representatives or any member of the Settlement Class ever had, now have, or may have in the future, arising out of or in any way relating to the purchase, lease, use, service, repair, or maintenance of any of the Settlement Class Trucks, and also, relating in any way to (a) certification testing, fuel economy, emissions, or OBD monitors; (b) any of the alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, federal regulations, or state laws or regulations cited in the Complaint in this Action; (c) any of the marketing representations identified in the Complaint filed in this Action, including but not limited to the failure to disclose any information about certification testing, fuel economy, emissions, and OBD monitors; (d) any acts or omissions that were raised or could have been raised within the scope of the facts asserted in the Complaint filed in the Action; or (e) any event, matter, dispute, or thing that in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, relates to or arises out of said events specified in (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this paragraph.

Under the Settlement, you are not releasing your rights or ability to participate in or pursue remedies in relation to any future buyback or repurchase of any Settlement Class Truck that the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board or any other federal or state government entity recommends or orders Defendant(s) to buyback or repurchase for reasons relating to the Released Claims. 

The Settlement Agreement at Section 11 describes the Released Claims in necessary legal terminology, so read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available on the Important Documents page. 

You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in FAQ 18 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense.

If you do nothing, you will not get a payment from the Settlement, but your Settlement Class Truck will still receive the Extended Warranty and be eligible for the New Parts Warranty. See FAQ 5 for information on how to get a cash payment from the Settlement. 

You will also be bound by all terms of the Settlement, which means you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendants about the legal issues in this case.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement passed on February 22, 2024

No. If you did not timely submit your request for exclusion or failed to include the required information in your request for exclusion, you will remain a Settlement Class Member and will not be able to sue the Defendants about the claims that the Settlement resolves. If you did not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will be bound like all other Settlement Class Members by the Court’s orders and judgments in this class action lawsuit, even if you do not file a claim.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement passed on February 22, 2024.

No. You will not get money from the Settlement if you excluded yourself. If you excluded yourself from the Settlement, do not send in a Claim Form asking for benefits from the Settlement.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement passed on February 22, 2024.

No. You will not get the Extended Warranty, or the New Parts Warranty offered through this Settlement. 

Yes. The Court has appointed the law firms of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Baron & Budd P.C., and Podhurst Orseck, P.A. to represent Settlement Class Members as Settlement Class Counsel. Their contact information is as follows:

If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

On January 22, 2024, Settlement Class Counsel asked the Court to award up to 33.33% of the Settlement Cash Value (i.e. up to $79,158,750) in attorneys’ fees, plus reasonable costs, for litigating this case and securing this nationwide Settlement for the Settlement Class. The Motion is available on the Important Documents page. On April 1, 2024, the Court awarded Settlement Class Counsel $78,766,666.67 in fees and $392,092.33 in reasonable costs. 

Settlement Class Members had an opportunity to comment on and/or object to the request for attorneys’ fees and costs, as explained further in FAQ 20. The deadline to comment and/or object passed on February 22, 2024. 

The Final Approval Order and approval of Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs are available on the Important Documents page of this website.

The deadline to comment on and/or object to the Settlement passed on February 22, 2024.

Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class and do not want to receive any benefits under the Settlement or release any of the claims resolved by the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the Settlement no longer affects you. 

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement, the requested fees, and/or costs. You may object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. You do not need to submit a claim to object, but if you make an objection, you must still submit a claim to receive compensation under the Settlement.

The deadline to exclude yourself from or object to the Settlement passed on February 22, 2024. 

The Court held a Fairness Hearing on April 1, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EST, in Courtroom 11-2 of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, 400 North Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128. At the hearing, the Court considered whether to give final approval to the Settlement and grant Settlement Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as reimbursement for Settlement Administration Costs. 

On April 1, 2024, the Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement and approved Settlement Class Counsel's Motion for the Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs. You may review the documents on the Important Documents page of this website.

No, you did not need to attend the Fairness Hearing. Settlement Class Counsel answered any questions the Court may have had. If you wished to attend the hearing, you were welcome to come at your own expense. If you submitted an objection to the Settlement, you did not have to come to Court to talk about it, but you had the option to do so if you provided advance notice of your intention to appear (see FAQ 24). As long as you submitted a written objection with all of the required information on time with the Court, the Court considered it. You may have had your own lawyer attend at your expense, but it was not required.

Yes. You may have asked the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must have filed with the Court, on or before March 11, 2024, a written notice of intent to appear at the Fairness Hearing. The address for the Court is provided in FAQ 20,

If you did not provide a Notice of Intention to Appear in complete accordance with the deadline and specifications, you may not have been allowed to speak or otherwise present any views at the Fairness Hearing.

The Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. You may contact the Settlement Administrator for more information by emailing info@HinoUSASettlement.com, calling toll-free at 1-888-256-6150, or writing Hino USA Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91473, Seattle, WA 98111. 

For definitions of any capitalized terms used in the Notice, please see the Class Action Agreement, available on the Important Documents page of this website.