Before you go truck shopping it’s recommended to get pre-approved for financing first. At Sharp Financial Services we have a quick and easy pre-approval process. One of our finance specialists will ask you a few questions about your credit and business history.

We will then do a soft pull on your credit, not a hard inquiry. The majority of our competitors do a hard credit inquiry. That’s not good for your credit score. 

The more hard inquiries you have the lower your score goes. Our pre-approval process is guaranteed not to harm your business or personal credit score.

Once we get your credit results back we’ll get you pre-approved with the amount you’re allowed to finance.

Factors That Determine Eligibility

• Credit Score – NO minimum credit score required
• Time in Business with a CDL License – NO minimum. Start ups are ok !
• Down Payment Amount – How Much Can You Afford to Put Down on Your Semi-Truck.
• Age of the Truck – Less than 10 years old
• Truck Mileage – Less than 700k miles

Making smart choices with commercial vehicle financing is critical to any trucking company. Having up-to-date equipment to maximize efficiency and stay in compliance with the ever-changing regulations is important to a company’s growth and sustainability. We’ve made the funding process quick and easy so you can get funded fast and on the road with your new rig.

Get Pre-Approved: Click this link “Get Pre-Approved Today” to get the process started. Fill out the contact form and one of our finance specialists will contact you ASAP! Or for immediate assistance give us a call at 916.885.4041

When it comes to getting your new truck, credit can play a big role. When shopping for financing for a commercial truck, you need to keep your credit health in mind. A lot of drivers actually harm their credit by applying willy nilly to any and every company that promises they can get them the truck of their dreams.

What actually happens is a LOT of hard inquiries on your report. Remember, each hard inquiry can ding you about 10 points. If you even apply to 4 places, that’s enough to drop your score a whole credit grade.

Dealers are another avenue you want to be wary of in regards to credit. When you “apply” or see if you can get financed for a truck you like at a dealership, what that dealers often do is send your information around to any bank or company they think you can get approved at. Again, this leads to many unnecessary and damaging hard inquiries.

At Sharp Financial Services we do things differently!  When you do a no-obligation quote with us, it is 100% guaranteed a soft credit check. We never do hard credit injuries.

BREAKDOWN OF FICO SCORE RANGES

• 300-579: A score in this range is considered Very Poor. Credit applicants with a score in this range will often be required to pay larger fees and deposits, or sometimes may not be approved for credit at all. 16% of people have a score in this range.
• 580-669: Scores between the 580 mark to the higher 600s are called Fair credit scores. Often, people with scores in this range will be referred to as subprime borrowers. A total of 17% of people have a credit score in this range.
• 670-739: This range is referred to as Good. Individuals with scores this high have a much lower rate of default. Statistically, about 8% of applicants with a Good range credit score will become seriously delinquent. Around 21% of people have a score in this range.
• 740-799: People with scores in the mid to top 700s are in the range of Very Good. Borrowers with scores in this range will receive better than average interest rates from banks and lenders. 25% of people have a score in this range.
• 800-850: The top of the scale is considered an Exceptional credit score. Individuals with a credit score above 800 receive the best rates from lenders. Around 21% of people have scores between 800-850.

Statistically speaking, most people’s credit scores fall between the range of 600 to 720.

Here are a few factors that affect your credit score and may prevent you from getting approved for commercial truck financing.

• Payment history – This shows if you’ve made your payments on time or at all.
• Credit utilization rate – How much of your credit you are using on your credit cards.
• Type, amount, and age of credit accounts – Lenders do want to see diversity on your credit report. Having a good mix of credit cards, a car loan, maybe a mortgage on their helps your score.
• Total Debt Owed – This is the amount you owe in loans and how much is on your cards.
• Bankruptcies, Child Support Due, Public Records – Filing for bankruptcy or having a large amount of delinquent child support will hurt your score.
• New Credit Accounts – Opening a lot of accounts in a short period of time can hurt your score. If you have gotten too many loans or credit cards in a 2-year period, it can ding you.
• Hard Inquiries – The number of times a lender has requested your credit information will affect your score. These searches stay on your report for 2 years.

Here’s the fun part of the truck finance process. Shopping for your new rig! When shopping for your new 18 wheeler, dump, or box truck you need to keep in mind some requirements the lenders have. 

We always recommend buying your new or used truck from a reputable commercial vehicle dealership.  If you’re not sure which truck dealership in your area is reputable, give us a call and we’ll have some suggestions 916.885.4041. We have a list of great dealers throughout the US.

• Make, Model, Year (Less than 10+ years)
• Mileage (Less than 700k)
• The vehicle needs to be for your intended use.
• Condition Report
• Any past major repairs.
• Preferably sold by a commercial dealership.
• Serial Number of the vehicle.
• Is the vehicle new or used
• Minimum of 3 pictures

Lenders want to make sure the vehicle you’re trying to buy is a good investment for you and will last the duration of the financing term. Also, the vehicle is collateral for the financing. If something were to happen and you can no longer afford to pay the loan or lease, the lender will need to repossess the truck and recoup their capital.

What are the different types of commercial trucks and vehicles? This article will cover the most popular and common commercial vehicles on the road today in the USA.

SEMI-TRAILER TRUCK

A semi-trailer truck more commonly known as a semi-truck or simply “semi” is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a fifth-wheel coupling (hitch), with much of its weight borne by the tractor. The result is that both the tractor and semi-trailer will have a design distinctly different from that of a rigid truck and trailer.

4 STYLES OF SEMI TRUCKS

1. Flat Roof Sleeper
2. Mid-roof Sleeper
3. Raised Roof Sleeper
4. Day Cab

BOX TRUCK

Box trucks are typically 10 to 26 feet in length and can range from Class 3 to Class 7 (12,500 lb. to 33,000 lb. gross vehicle weight rating). They often have a garage door-like rear door that rolls up. Box trucks often used by companies transporting home appliances, furniture, or used as moving trucks.

DUMP TRUCK

In the United States, most standard dump trucks have one front steering axle and one 4×2 4-wheeler or two 6×4 6-wheeler rear axles which typically have dual wheels on each side. Tandem rear axles are almost always powered, front steering axles are also sometimes powered 4×4, or 6×6. 

GARBAGE TRUCK

A garbage truck or trash truck refers to a truck specially designed to collect municipal solid waste and haul the collected waste to a solid waste treatment facility such as a landfill. Other common names for this type of vehicle include trash trucks in the United States. 

7 STYLES OF GARBAGE TRUCKS

1. Front Loaders
2. Rear Loaders
3. Side Loaders
4. Manual Side Loaders
5. Automated Side Loaders
6. Manual/Automatic Side Loaders
7. Semi-automatic Side Loaders

FLATBED TRUCK

A flatbed has a solid bed, usually of wooden planks. There is no roof and no fixed sides. To retain the load there are often low sides that may be hinged down for loading, as a ‘drop-side’ truck. A ‘stake truck’ has no sides but has steel upright pillars, which may be removable, again used to retain the load.

BUCKET TRUCK

A bucket truck or also known as a boom truck is equipped with an extendable, hydraulic boom carrying a large bucket for raising workers to elevated, inaccessible areas.

Bucket trucks are used by utility companies, tree trimmers, construction workers, and other workers that need to reach high hard to get to areas.

GRAPPLE TRUCK

A grapple truck is a truck that has a grapple loader mounted to its frame which is used for loading and sometimes hauling bulky waste. 

Grapple trucks are commonly used by municipal sanitation or public works departments, and by waste collection companies. Grapple trucks can also sometimes be used in road construction and repair. 

There are six types of bulky waste collection systems in which grapple trucks are used: loader and body systems, rear steer system, roll-off systems, rear-mounted loader, haul truck systems, rear-mounted loader, trailer systems, and transfer systems.

REFRIGERATOR TRUCK

A refrigerator truck is a vehicle designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Like refrigerator cars, refrigerated trucks differ from simple insulated and ventilated vans (commonly used for transporting fruit), neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus. 

HEAVY HAULER

A heavy hauler is a very large transporter for moving oversize loads too large for road travel without an escort and special permit.

A heavy hauler typically consists of a heavy tractor unit and a multi-axle lowboy flatbed trailer. Some trailers may have independently steerable wheels, and several might be towed by one or more tractor units on a train.

Self-propelled modular transporters, some featuring a dozen and more self-steering axles with scores of rubber tires to spread out a load, are increasingly being manufactured. The ability of combination and self-propelled heavy haulers to carry loads of 100 tons is not unusual.

TOW TRUCK

A tow truck also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged in an accident, returning one to a drivable surface in a mishap or inclement weather, or towing or transporting one via flatbed to a repair shop or other location.

5 STYLES OF TOW TRUCKS

1. Boom
2. Wheel-lift
3. Integrated
4. Flatbed
5. Lift Flatbed

Commercial Truck Brands

• Freightliner
• Peterbilt
• Kenworth
• Volvo
• International
• Mack Trucks
• Western Star

Before you get approved and financialize your financing, you’ll need to have commercial vehicle insurance. Lenders will make sure you have good insurance.

Just like anything else in life you get what you pay for. Your vehicle and business are valuable assets and you don’t want to be underinsured and liable for the potentially massive repair and legal bills.

Lenders Require You To Have The Following Coverages

• Liability coverage
• Physical damage coverage
• Bobtail coverage for non-commercial use
• Cargo and storage coverage that covers what you’re hauling

If you own a fleet of commercial vehicles and have employees driving for you, you’re going to need worker’s compensation. Contact your local business insurance agent for more details.

Lenders will not allow you to finalize the deal without the correct type of insurance. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your finance specialist. 916.885.4041

Once you’ve picked out your vehicle that meets all the requirements and you have the proper insurance in place, it’s time to finalize your funding. Contact your finance specialist to finalize your application. 

Documents will be generated and then emailed for review and signature. An electronic signature is acceptable on most documents.

After the signed contract is returned, we’ll process your documents. Most transactions get approved in 1-3 days. Fast turn around to get you the vehicle you want up and running.