Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam has agreed to address a transportation seminar in Indianapolis next week where he will answer questions put to him in advance by trucking company executives regarding the federal investigation into claims that some of its top sales managers cheated trucking companies out of rebates they were owed on diesel fuel purchases.
The law firm of Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, whose client base includes more than 5,000 transportation-related companies, contacted Haslam last week about speaking at the 2013 Scopelitis Transportation Seminar being held next Thursday and Friday at the Hilton Indianapolis Hotel, according to a Cleveland Plain Dealer report.
The law firm said Haslam confirmed he would attend and address allegations by federal agents that Pilot Flying J defrauded some truckers of fuel rebates owed them. Over 375 trucking executives are registered for the transportation conference.
“We were invited and considered it a good opportunity to communicate with the trucking industry,” Pilot Flying J spokesman Alan Carmichael told the Plain Dealer in an email.
Haslam is on the agenda from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Thursday. He is scheduled to speak in the Victory Ballroom right after a Continental breakfast for participants. Reporters are welcome, but Haslam is not expected to take questions from the media.
Scopelitis representatives said the firm is getting calls from clients who wonder if they took a hit in the alleged scam. The law firm is collecting questions from trucking company clients, which it will assemble and forward to Haslam beforehand. Haslam is expected to spend about 20 or 25 minutes on a speech and the remainder of the time responding to submitted questions.
“We don’t want to put anyone in the position of having to answer questions off the cuff, especially when they’re under a federal investigation,” said Scopelitis President Gregory Feary.
