A truck is the easiest thing a haulage business owns to finance, because there is a deep and liquid secondhand market for it and a lender can therefore say with some confidence what it would fetch. That is why the published minimums on equipment pages sit below the same lenders' unsecured bars, and why a carrier who cannot borrow cash can often still borrow a tractor unit.
Why used trucks finance differently from new ones
A new truck has a manufacturer's warranty, a known service history and a predictable depreciation curve, so a lender can advance a high percentage over a long term. A used truck has none of those with the same certainty, and the response is a shorter term, a lower advance and a closer look at the specific unit: year, mileage, engine, and whether it has been on long-haul or vocational work. Expect a lender to ask for the VIN and a dealer invoice rather than a general figure, and expect the offer to change once it has them.
What the published bars actually say
Of the lenders in this record that keep a live equipment page, three publish a minimum. The lowest is a five hundred FICO score against a hundred and fifty thousand dollars of annual revenue, which is the most accessible equipment bar here; the strictest published requirement on any equipment programme is two years in business. None publishes a rate. That combination is the shape of the market: the entry bar is knowable in advance and the price is not, so the useful work before applying is checking whether you clear the bar, not shopping quotes.
Financing the truck and funding the freight are two jobs
The truck is a capital purchase with a five to seven year life and it should be financed over something close to that. The gap between delivering a load and being paid for it is thirty to sixty days and it should be funded against the freight bill, not with a loan. Carriers who fund both from one facility end up either paying equipment rates for working capital or, far worse, paying advance rates for a truck. Keep them apart, and price freight factoring beside a line of credit for the second job.
Questions people ask about truck financing
Can I finance a used truck with bad credit?
Sometimes. The lowest published credit floors on equipment pages in this record are five hundred, against a revenue requirement, and the asset is doing most of the work in that decision. Expect a larger deposit, a shorter term and a close look at the specific truck rather than a general approval.
How long a term will a lender give on a truck?
Terms usually track the working life of the asset, so a newer unit gets longer than an old one. No lender in this record publishes its terms, which means the number you are quoted is specific to your file and the truck, and should be in writing before you compare it with anything.
Is it better to finance a truck or lease it?
A lease usually costs less each month and ends with you owning nothing. A loan costs more and leaves you an asset with residual life. For a unit you intend to run into the ground the loan is usually the cheaper total cost; for one you will cycle every three years the lease often wins.