Several liquor stores filed a class action lawsuit against Ruan Transport in federal court last week. Ruan manages the ABC warehouse and has been the subject of much controversy after it crippled ABC customers this year.
Ruan Transport shut the warehouse down for a week in early January to take inventory. With the warehouse closed, Ruan replaced the software and conveyor belt systems. The software was not tested and did not communicate with ABC's MARS software. Ruan replaced the conveyor system with a pick a pallet system. The result was a total meltdown as shipping times skyrocketed from 48 hours to nearly a month as Ruan shipped less than 50% of cases ordered for a month, crippling casinos, restaurants, and package store owners alike.
Liquor Therapy, LLC (Biloxi), By-Pass Package (Hattiesburg), and JW Jennings Liquor (Tutwiler) sued Ruan in U.S. District Court Friday.
The complaint claims Ruan knew the conveyor belt system was at the "end of life" when it submitted a bid. The plaintiffs thus accuse Ruan of promising to use "in house integration experts" to implement its warehouse management software (Blue Yonder). Ruan amended the contract to include replacing the conveyor belt system with a "pick a pallet" system in 2025. The amendment conveniently bumped up the price ABC paid Ruan per case.
Ruan did not install the new system, delaying it until the January warehouse shutdown even though maintenance support for the conveyor belt system ended on December 31, 2024 and software support ended on June 30, 2025. The plaintiffs charge:
27. Between the execution of Amendment No. 1 on March 6, 2025, and the WMS deployment in or about January 2026, Ruan did not undertake or complete adequate compatibility testing of the new warehouse management system against the existing Bastian Solutions conveyor infrastructure, did not develop or maintain a written contingency plan governing the deployment,
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21 comments:
When the glove do fit, you can't acquit!
What would the world be without lawyers?
I hope this becomes the next asbestos. GTH Ruan!
I hope they are driven out of business by this suit.
I think that individualized issues preclude class certification. In addition to the lack of privity of contract issue. I'll be interested to see how this shakes out.
The package stores are customers of the state. They should be suing DOR and Chris for making such a poor selection of vendors.
Why do Mississippi Republicans think government should control the means of production (or provision.)
You people keep telling yourselves you’re “conservative.”
You reject free markets every day you support this failed system. You’re just socialists who hate the Democratic brand.
Better off
You know it's really bad when the fatcats at ABC get fired.
When is Tate going to step up accept responsibility and put an end to this disaster. Abolish ABC.
The fact that no politician is willing to fix this is amazing. Are there payoffs or some other reason they want to keep the system broken? I can't imagine any excuse for any Legislator or anyone running for statewide office to not be on this issue. My wife had to go to a third choice for a drink Saturday night because something wasn't available, so I know this has to be a problem for more than just the package stores.
No privity. Sued the wrong entity.
Hmmm... How did an out of state trucking company get that fat contract?
I don’t drink alcohol, and don’t have a problem with anyone who does unless it’s excessive. But, why can’t the State of Mississippi just fix this?
Macy, It could be certified as a class for the purpose of settlement, if the case ends up going that route.
8:55, It says in the complaint that the plaintiffs claim to be 3rd party beneficiaries of the Ruan contract. It's Count II on page 30.
Very few people reading this litigate class action cases so should be educational
….But, but, but I thought having a private company running the ABC warehouse was going to solve ALLLLLL the problems a government run warehouse causes. SOME FOOL at this private company thought it was a good idea to remove the conveyor system. 😂
Is the defendant's name pronounced like "ruin"? That would explain a lot.
I'm thinking that powers within the state, are FOSTERING the situation - as in deliberately letting it happen. There's some profit motive for somebody.
A bottle of Charter 8 is now 30 bucks. think.
There is one person to blame for this fiasco. Everyone is complaining about the politicians, the warehouse. The Commissioner of DOR is the boss of ABC. If you want to blame someone, there it is.
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