Growing Your Commercial Trucking Business

The commercial trucking industry keeps the country moving. Based on statistics from www.trucking.org, close to 70% of the freight tonnage are transported by trucks. This translates to some 9.2 billion tons of freight that are moved at an annual basis.

There is room for growth in this industry and those that are quick to see the opportunities should also look for ways to grow their business and address the increasing requirement for commercial truck services. You will need a commercial transportation loan to buy additional trucks, maintain an inventory of truck repair equipment and parts and hire additional truck drivers. In addition, you need to cover business expenses (i.e. your office overhead, licensing fees and taxes) and daily operating expenses (i.e. toll fees and fuel).

Getting an Additional Truck

When getting an additional unit for your fleet, you need to ask the following questions:

–          How much of a down payment is required? Can I get financing for the down payment?

–          How much are the monthly payments for the truck? For how long?

–          Is leasing another option I can explore?

–          What are the other related costs such as insurance, permits and maintenance?

–          What are the qualifications for financing?

Increasing your chances

If you have bad credit, you can proactively take a step towards improving your chances of getting financing. Even when there are more flexible financing companies, it pays to do your homework. Here are some things you can do:

–          Include references in your application. If you have a history of a successfully completed commercial vehicle financing or good relationships with past creditors, you can use these as references to show that you are not the credit risk that your credit rating may show. 

–          Contracts. Do you have a current trucking service contract? Or are you on the verge of getting one? This indicates that your truck is regularly on the road and that you have a steady flow of income that will help pay for the loan.

–          Number of units in the fleet. The more units you have, the better your chances. If you have a number of trucks on the road, you still get to earn an income even if one of the trucks break down. If you only had one truck, having a breakdown of this one unit will mean no income while it is under repairs.

–          Clarify the circumstances of your past credit issues. If you had a negative credit history, you can provide details on what happened. This provides the evaluator more insights of your credit issues and why you can still be a good credit risk. 

–          Research on business lenders. My Hard Money Lenders boasts of a lineup of business lenders that you can approach for your loan. Do ask about their requirements so that you come prepared.

If you are a businessman who has just started his trucking business and has the misfortune of having bad credit, you need not lose hope in getting funding to grow your business. Even when most traditional financing companies will say no, there are still business lenders who can extend a helping hand.

Source: http://www.trucking.org/News_and_Information_Reports_Industry_Data.aspx