I am looking at buying a truck and am wondering is some of you O/O can give me a heads up on what financial instutions you went to get your loans to start your O/O career

Outside of Paccar Peterbilt and KW plus any used trucks that they have, Theirs Mercedes Benz and the other OEM financing options I'd look at the Small Business Administration to help you get together with a loan financial institution. They are often over looked for information and resources. Best of all they help for free, which is my favorite word! There's, GE Capital Fleet Services and GE Capital Commercial Equipment Financing, CT Financing and a lot more that I don't know of. I've never dealt with any of these so I can't say if they are OK. I did my financing through OOIDA way back when they actually did some of that.
Just be sure that you read all the terms of the contact and make sure there isn't a prepay penalty. What ever you do, DON"T put your home up as additional collateral, some companies will try to get you to so that you can get the loan. Don't fall for that deal. The truck should be collateral enough.

Amen. We got ours from a little country bank that knows the industry. Great rate too. 8.75 percent. If you can crunch the numbers, put together a bsns plan, projected cash flow (if you know how much you will be making on the freight you will be hauling), a small private bank may finance you.

Like Nightwind said, do not finance giving anything else for collateral than the truck itself! Also, if you feel that the truck will depreciate faster than you can pay off the loan, look into a gap insurance package. Usually that runs about $175 for the life of the loan. Some banks even offer it.

__________________

Hey i want to thank you both for the advise. I hope to use a local bank but want other options if that dosent work out. I had thought i could do a small busines loan to start out. I will have my military retirement to suplement my pay and other money that i have saved. Im one to prepare for the future and not go into anything blind. My wife knows how to do books, and i will drive for a company for at least 3-4 years before i make that jump. Learn the business before i get into my own business. Again thanks for the knowledge and hope to see you out on the road soon.

Nero

nero

the SBA has a loan garentee for vetern's.....backs 85% of your loan, witch lowers you intrest rate and down payment....its called a patriot express

trust me, i just got one for my new loan, that prolly wouldnt have got if not for the SBA

a small local bank is they way to go, one with a history with you, IMO....even if they dont know much about a commercial loan they will usaully try one for a long time client

I got mine thru GE Transportation at 8.75. About the only thing i don't like is they don't put the balance or interest paid on the bill just the amount you owe and no grace period, no big deal but for some reason i like to hang on to my money till the last moment and still pay on time, human nature i guess. I went for a three year loan, payments are right at 2000. They offered to stretch it out to 8 years and get the payment down around 1000, but at three years your staying ahead of what the truck is worth. nerok9, i tried to answer your pm but can't till i get 50 posts.

Hey d-man, the question i had for you was you own your own truck(s), you lease your trucks to a company, or do you have your own authority and your own customers?

Nero

nerok9, I have 1 truck and looking into another. I drive a company truck on a dedicated run and my truck is leased thru the same company. It's a small outfit that I've worked at for years.

Does anybody have any experience with Fedex Ground and their lease with purchase option plan, is it good or bad?

I'll offer a couple of other suggestions and then hope some of you can help me with a question.

Ryder Truck Sales are often overlooked. They offer good used, low milege trucks at a decent price. We hooked up with Cobalt Finance because they don't just base their lending on a FICA score. Then we set up a program with the where our company 'guarantees' a drivers truck note for 75% of the term of the loan agreement. This has helped us grow our o/o fleet.

Now, several of you mentioned the SBA. How do you go about getting an SBA loan. I was told that you have to be turned down by a bank first. Any info you could provide about the in's and out's would be appreciated.