Werner Enterprises has agreed to pay $18 million to settle a class action brought by roughly 100,000 current and former drivers who claimed the company failed to pay minimum wage for all hours worked. The court granted preliminary approval in 2025, and the final approval hearing is set for July 24, 2026. If you drove for Werner Enterprises or Drivers Management, LLC between June 4, 2010 and July 14, 2023, you are likely a class member, payment will be sent to you automatically, and the deadline to dispute your work weeks, opt out, or object is May 4, 2026.
Who Is Covered
The settlement class includes anyone who worked as a qualified driver for Werner Enterprises or Drivers Management, LLC at any time between June 4, 2010 and July 14, 2023. Student drivers (sometimes called placement drivers) and owner-operators are not included. Anyone who opted out when class notices went out in 2018 or 2023 is also excluded.
Within the class there are two subclasses:
- The Nebraska Settlement Class covers drivers who worked anywhere in the United States during the class period.
- The California Settlement Class covers drivers who lived in California and picked up or delivered at least one load in the state.
A separate California PAGA Group covers California class members who worked between May 19, 2013 and November 6, 2023.
How Much You Can Expect
Individual payments depend on how long you drove for Werner during the class period. Nebraska class members receive a $20 base payment. California class members receive $40. Everything left in the fund after fees and costs is then distributed proportionally, based on the number of weeks each driver worked.
The settlement website does not publish a flat per-driver figure because the amount varies with tenure. You can look up your own estimated payment by entering your unique settlement ID at truckerclassaction.com.
The $18 million fund is non-reversionary, meaning no unclaimed money goes back to Werner. Before payments to drivers, the fund covers:
- Attorney fees of up to $6 million (one-third of the fund)
- Up to $2.25 million in litigation costs
- Roughly $282,300 in administration costs paid to Atticus Administration
- $100,000 in PAGA payments, with $75,000 going to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and $25,000 split among PAGA group members
- Up to $15,000 each for seven named plaintiffs and $250 each for 21 drivers who sat for depositions, totaling around $110,250
The remainder is divided among the approximately 100,000 eligible drivers.
What You Need to Do
You do not have to file a claim form. If the settlement administrator has your address on file, a check will be mailed to you automatically after final approval.
A few things are worth checking before the deadline:
- If you want to be paid electronically instead of by check, you can set that up at truckerclassaction.com using your settlement ID.
- If your estimated payment reflects the wrong number of work weeks, you must submit a dispute to the settlement administrator by May 4, 2026.
- May 4, 2026 is also the deadline to opt out of the settlement or file an objection.
Questions can go to Atticus Administration at 800-406-7301 or truckerclassaction@atticusadmin.com.
What the Lawsuit Was About
The case, Abarca et al. v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., et al., argued that Werner and its subsidiary Drivers Management, LLC violated Nebraska and California wage laws by failing to pay qualified drivers minimum wage for all the time they actually worked. The plaintiffs said that included hours the company classified as “off duty” or “sleeper berth” time, when drivers were confined to their trucks but not driving.
The suit also challenged Werner’s practice of charging drivers a $4 transaction fee for wage advances. The plaintiffs said the company never got the written driver agreement that both states require before making that kind of deduction. In March 2025, the court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs on that fee, finding “drivers did not agree in writing to the $4 wage advance fee.” Werner denied wrongdoing throughout the case.
Two related lawsuits, Smith v. Werner Enterprises and Vester v. Werner Enterprises, were consolidated into the Abarca action. Nebraska and California classes were certified in March 2018.
Timeline and Final Approval
The lead case was originally filed in California state court in 2014 and then transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, where it was assigned to Senior Judge Joseph F. Bataillon. In July 2022, the court denied Werner’s motion for summary judgment on its trip-based pay system, ruling that Werner had “not shown that its compensation policies and practices satisfy California and Nebraska wage and hour laws.” In March 2025, the court also denied Werner’s attempt to decertify the class.
Trial had been scheduled to begin on October 14, 2025. The parties reached the $18 million settlement the day before.
The final approval hearing is set for July 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Central time at the Roman L. Hruska Federal Courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska. Payments are distributed after the court grants final approval.
Other Werner Cases This Settlement Does Not Cover
If you have read about Werner in the news, be aware that this settlement is limited to the wage claims in Abarca. It does not cover the earlier Baouch v. Werner per diem case, which the Eighth Circuit decided in Werner’s favor in November 2018. It also has nothing to do with the Texas truck crash verdict from 2018, which the Texas Supreme Court reversed and dismissed on June 27, 2025. Payments here are only for drivers in the Abarca wage class described above.