Escrow vs Deposit vs Maintenance Fund

I have heard of Escrow being confused with maintenance accounts and their description is not even close. If a company has a maintenance account, the contractor adds funds to the account, and then those funds are used to pay for maintenance to the truck when needed. Personally, I would rather keep my own maintenance fund, get the interest on the account, and use where and when we need it. Having a maintenance fund is not a suggestion it is vital to run a good business. Trucks will break down and having a maintenance fund will keep your business on the road. Even new trucks need a maintenance fund. Labor and parts might be covered by warranty, but while the truck is down, the expenses still march on.

Personally, I wish our Escrow was a little higher as it is not enough to cover what we could be charged if in the worst-case scenario our truck was totaled while under a load. When all of the chips are down, getting hit with an astronomical bill to cover freight damage, OmniTraks damage, as well as no truck could be worse than a kick in the stomach.

Escrow can be looked at as another account to be used in an emergency to handle some of the expenses that will occur if there is any damage. When we left our last company, our escrow was returned to us once we returned the OmniTraks, took pictures of our truck with signs removed, and they were sure there were no freight claims. This took about thirty days. When we have changed trucks, we start a new escrow account and the money is returned to us from the previous escrow. The money is always ours unless there is damage to something the company is responsible for.

Fleet Owners also usually require an escrow from their drivers that they hold in case of damage done to the owner’s truck. How much Escrow is required can be many thousands of dollars’ difference depending on the company or the fleet owner. Some return the interest earned as it is earned, and others return interest at the end. We consider an Escrow account to be like an emergency savings account we home we never have to use.

Linda Caffee

Bob and Linda started their driver careers after their children left home for college in 2000. Bob started as a driver for a large motor carrier with Linda as a rider. They decided to enter the Expedite industry as team drivers in 2005 and purchased their first Freightliner. Both, Bob and Linda have had their Class A licenses since the early 80's starting out driving in the oil field and hauling grain as fill in drivers where Bob worked as a diesel mechanic. Linda worked at the local country courthouse in data processing.