financing a commercial truck

no it is not the same as financing another car, motorcycle or pick up truck.

the bank will need a business plan, for starters.

some owner operators will chime in soonly if not sooner.

best of luck to you.

 

Business plan,letter of intent if leasing on to someone, insurance proof, 20% down (this amount is lost with IRS) if you have good credit.
If not leasing onto someone, dot #, ifta, 2290,. Can get it after but they will probably want some additional money in reserve.

They will want to see some extra resources for repairs.

Man you better have your #### together, it is not easy owning a truck. Better have at least 30K in reserves in case you blow an engine. If you buy new that's at least 28K down payment, plus tags, insurance, hwy tax.

And you might as well forget about any home time on that note!

Wait, forgot sometime in here you have to pull a trailer, oh lets say 1200.00 month, maybe less if van or reefer.

 

Oh forgot, fuel will be over 5.00 by 2020. EPA forcing plans, trains, and ships to go to low sulphur. This will put a stress on refineries which will cause them to upgrade passing to cost onto you/me.

 

You have to run the numbers, but I would say if your young and have a good company your at, think it over 9 ways to Sunday. No worries if it is someone else's truck (will maybe worry about lot lizards).

 

What you need?

You need at least three months operating expenses including the truck payment. With this you need to also have six months of money for your personal bills.

You also need $25k in reserve capital for Maintaince.

You also need about $1500 to check out the truck you are going to buy.

Down payment of 20%.

You also need to have an idea of what you are doing, four or five years as a steering wheel holder or two years as a driver. This leads you to a plan to tell the lenders.

 

Save your pennies and find a good old used truck, something pre emission and learn how to repair and maintain it. Worst case, take out a small loan, and pay it off quickly. Have some monies in reserve, as Ridgeline stated.

I would also hunt around for a good carrier to lease on with, talk to drivers, not recruiters. Smaller carriers in my experience are much better than large or medium sized carriers. Than we have Landstar, you better know what you are doing if you sign on there, or a company that operates on a similar program that you alone dispatch yourself. As far as getting your own authority, if you are thinking of doing that, DON'T. Not until you get some experience under your belt as an owner. That is just my opinion, take it for what it is worth.

Then the equipment, you can easily spend $50,000 on a nice looking used truck, only to discover it needs an in frame 6 months down the road or the emissions take a dump on you, which can be just as costly as that in frame.

If you are thinking of purchasing new, without a huge down payment, you are being foolish, and will more than likely wind up a slave to the lien holder. Be wise.

 

NO, stay a company driver, get regular pay raises, a 401 k plan, health benefits, and maybe a new truck every few years, and NO headaches.

let someone else take those hits, and just cruise down the highway..

been doing this crap going 40 years, never had any regrets.....

 

With some of the wages I am seeing out here, buying a truck would be the last thing to do on my list if I was new to this racket. Myself, the only reason I still own a truck is for the freedom it affords me. I would not make a good company driver. And to add, ownership is very expensive, especially with these new EPA trucks. Repairs can easily reach into the tens of thousands of dollars, and trust me, I have first hand experience with that. If I had a truck payment, I would have been bankrupted by now.

You are giving sound advice.