ITAG offers one finance company to help our customers obtain financing for semi trucks, semi-trailers, or any yellow iron needs. Our finance provider can work deals up for all types of credit applicants. Your rate, terms, down payment amount, and other stipulations depend on your credit profile, score, history, and time in business. You work hand in hand with the finance company. Once approved, you can buy from any dealer across the country. On each listing, we have a link to the finance application with the name and number of the finance company you can call to ask any questions before filling out the credit application. Some of our customers will fill out the credit application and leave out sensitive information to ask questions and speak to the finance representative before checking their credit. To get fully approved, you must provide sensitive information like your social and date of birth. You can ask the finance company if the credit pull is a soft pull and if it harms your credit for them to check on an approval.
Typically we see most applicants that get approved having a 650 or higher credit score. Items on your credit report that could hinder your ability to get approved are bankruptcy, repossessions, child support, late payments, charge-offs, not enough credit, low credit limits, low loan amounts compared to the loan amount you are trying to obtain, and more. Taycor is also a commercial lender. Other areas that matter are time in business verifiable with your EIN (employer identification number), bank statements, cash flow, experience, current fleet size, previous commercial loan history, and more. Usually, two years or more of time in business verifiable by your EIN or a tax document is what they want to see. Other items the finance and underwriters might consider are:
- Are you a homeowner?
- Length of credit history.
- Available cosigners.
- The down payment amount you are willing to put down for the loan.
- Collateral that has a healthy equity position and is within their wheelhouse of acceptable collateral.
- Do you have a current and valid CDL?
- Do you already own a truck? Are you the driver and owner-operator, or just the business owner?
- Business credit history and business credit scores with places like Dunn and Bradstreet.
- FMCSA data, safety reports, and trucking databases could help verify your active authority, safety rating, fleet size, and more.
- Are you a serious buyer? Are you willing to jump through the hoops of sending bank statements, notarizing documents, signing a Power of Attorney, getting insurance in place how they need it, and providing a copy of a voided business check?
Why does the bank want to see my last 3-6 months of bank statements to approve me for a loan?
We aren't bankers, nor do we make credit decisions or approvals. However, this request is for a few different reasons. Underwriters want to verify your income, how many deposits you're averaging, and how much each deposit indicates your revenue stream. It could be concerning if you have only one source of deposits and only one customer. If you lose that one customer, you are out of your only revenue stream and might be unable to make your monthly payments if you can't recover fast enough. Bank statements verify that you have an active business checking account to do the loan. Another reason is to verify your reserves if a sizeable down payment is required. They want to see that you have sufficient funds to make the down payment for the loan. They want to know that you have the funds and that your plan isn't to borrow the money from someone else for the down. If you obtained loan money from an outside source, that external source could have a claim on that equipment if you don't pay back the loan. The outside source you borrowed the down payment money could say this guy took a 20K loan from me to buy this equipment, and I have a claim on it. Another reason could be that the financier wants to see your average daily bank balances. If, on average, you have a low amount in the bank at the end of each day, it doesn't make them feel very comfortable that you'll have enough in your account to make your loan payment if, historically, the data shows otherwise. Would you want to loan someone whose monthly payment to you was $500 a month, but you look at their bank statements, and their average daily bank balance was $300? It would give you little confidence in loaning the money. Well, this is likely exactly how an underwriter sees it as well. There are several reasons why providing bank statements is essential, and any one of the above reasons might only be crucial if other areas are strong. For instance, if you have sizable cash reserves, it could make up for some of the other areas that aren't as strong.
Why do my previous loan amounts matter?
It might not matter, but previous loan amounts can show your ability to pay a loan of that size. It showcases your on-time payments, consistency of payments, ability to service the loan, and proof that another financier deemed you an acceptable risk for that amount. If you are hauling for a new shipper and you don't know their days to pay or how easy they are to work with, but you know another carrier that has done it with no problems, wouldn't it make you more inclined to take the load? Not saying you wouldn't be capable of making your assessment and taking the chance, but it would give you more confidence if you knew of someone else that had taken the load before and not experienced any issues. This is likely the same way a bank looks at previous loans and the size of prior loans.
Why do we only offer one finance company as an option? We have been at this for 12+ years and have worked with almost every finance company and bank across the country. We know the good and bad companies, who are challenging to work with, and who are the easy-to-work-with companies. We see the character of the folks we partner with, and it matters how our customers are treated.Taycor Financial is one of the country's best, if not the best, in our view. We aren't saying there aren't other good finance providers, but Taycor is the best suited for our deal volume and customer base. They have the staffing and experience to cater to our high volume of applicants. We are confident that Taycor will do its best to get you a competitive rate and terms and hold your hand if needed. At ITAG, we aren't bankers, financial advisors, or certified accountants, nor do we sell loans for a living. It matters that you work directly with a third-party finance company that you like, get along with, and feel like they are working hard for you. There are many finance company options to pick from, but we have whittled the list down to the company we feel is best suited to help our customer base.