Beware of Hirschbach

They lied to me from the recruitment process. I asked for a new Freightliner and they said sure. Get up to orientation in Mableton GA., and all they are trying to do is get you to sign the papers. Then they throw me in an International Pro Star with 197 weekly payments with a $38K balloon payment. Grand total? $200K. I quit after 5 weeks and turned my truck in and still haven't been paid. That was December 14. They claimed that in the contract that I signed that they can hold my last check 45 days. The contract states 15 days. They didn't care about my family's Christmas or nothing.

 

Sorry that happened to you, sounds like a pretty raw deal. I hope things work out better at your next job.
Having said that, I think you'll find most companies don't care about people's Christmas.

 

Another satisfied L/P....

 

That's crazy.

 

Their trucks are everywhere... That's a lot of drivers taking it

 

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Same thing happened to me with A & A Express. I leased one of their company trucks but it was a walk-away lease. I had a few good weeks then all of a sudden they'd stop taking my calls or let me sit for days. I requested time off for Christmas weeks in advance and had an approval, then had to babysit a broken-down reefer trailer during the time I requested off since they completed closed up for the entire week. I put in a 2-week notice and returned it, then they held my last check and claimed a $1000+ cleaning fee.

I was looking at going with Hirschbach but I am glad I read this. I haven't found a successful lease company yet but the tax advantaged situation is more favorable than being a w-2 employee. I think it'd work out fine if I could actually find a company that offers a truck that's still under warranty. Every truck I've been in so far somehow didn't have one or it expired already.

 

Does that tell ya anything?

 

Well I've been in 3 leases with 2 companies so far. I have found out never lease from Quality Companies and that mega carriers are really the better option due to the trailer pool and number of contracts they have.

I went back to Celadon and did an internal lease before they started going through TEL for new trucks. It was ok for a company truck with no warranty and being contracted to the same carrier. It just went into the shop last week and I lost it because they wouldn't finance the repair bill. I consecutively stayed negative in my escrow but averaged about $1000 a week. I could see it working had I had a dealer warranty as repairs was my downfall. The truck was a 3 year lease but had 425,000 on it. I made it 22 months before I lost it.

Even at $1 a mile + fsc it could work if the truck had warranty coverage. I paid almost $1000 in insurance and lease payments per week and was averaging higher in cheap fuel areas like Texas. I used the cheapest fuel stations as Celadon just offers a $.05 discount at Pilot, so any deeper discounts would make it even better. A&A had a great discount rate with Loves (almost 50 cents) and I was making over $1500 a week doing just reefer until they did what they did. I'm also light on the pedal and don't usually drive over 60 mph unless I'm passing. My last lease was an automatic and it made a world of difference in mpg and comfort.

I'm looking at doing yet another lease and am considering Prime, PAM, ATS, or even a TEL lease and going with one of their carriers.

I don't plan on ever owning the truck. The point to me is the tax advantages and building credit. I can literally write off every penny with per diem and a retirement account if I wanted to. Wages can't be garnished and the company tends to give you more leeway and less write-ups, and don't really care if you go joyriding in it after work since you're buying the fuel.

 

Good luck to you!