The U.S. Labor Department says a large West Coast trucking company based in Oakland has restored nearly $2 million in 401k pension benefits it improperly withheld from 515 drivers and has been barred from federal government contracts for three years.
Investigators found that Lange Trucking Inc. failed to fully fund the drivers' pension plan, the Labor Department said Tuesday. It said the company responded by paying $500,000 into the plan, and Hoovestol Inc. of Eagan, Minn., which acquired Lange Trucking after the violations, agreed to pay the remaining $1.48 million.
Hoovestol has overhauled the drivers' 401k plan to make sure that future payments are timely, the Labor Department said.
The three-year bar on government service contracts also applies to Lange Trucking executives, including its president, William Langenhuizen, the department said.
Lange Trucking's website says the company, with a fleet of more than 170 tractors and 200 trailers, has been one of the largest carriers for the U.S. Postal Service.
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