Trucking: need financing, hi shan, trucking company

Question
ive been driving for 4 years, i want to break out and get my own truck but i have bad credit and no cosigner. i know there has to be someone out there willing to finance me. can you point me in the right direction

Answer
Hi Shan!

As the saying goes, sometimes bad things happen to good people.  There are a few options out there for you.

Option one, pull your credit report from all three agencies and work on fixing your credit.  You may find it's not as bad as you thought.  Or negotiate with creditors so it doesn't get any worse and slowly improves.

Option two, look for a small trucking company where the owner will sell you one of his older trucks if you pull for him.  I know many drivers that got their start this way.  He holds the title and takes the payments out of your check.  You may have to knock on a few doors, but stay at it!

Option three, find a finance company specializing in bad credit.  Type in any search engine on the web "bad credit semi truck" and you'll find a lot of them. Be careful and don't fill out credit applications with everyone, it'll show up on your credit report.  Find out your credit score then call them.  Tell them, "My credit score is 550(or whatever it is), can you get me approved?"  Even talk to dealers, the worse they can say is "NO".

I was a company driver for many years, then became an O/O and now have a few trucks.  It's a complete 180!  Now you have to pay for fuel, taxes, permits, maintenance, etc.  It adds up!  With bad credit, your interest rate is going to be very high on top of everything else.  I'm not trying to scare you, but even if you get financing, make sure you budget and have the money you'll need.  I've known numerous (and I mean numerous) guys who bought a truck, the engine blew, the turbo blew, or something happened and they didn't have the money to fix it.  Now there back being a company driver and are making payments on a broke down truck in their driveway!

Look at these links to help you out...
http://truckdrivingjobs.us/LeasePurchase.html
http://drivepro.com/Semi-Lease-Purchase.htm

Good luck and keep chasing that dream!

Bob Stephens