Who this covers: owner-drivers and small fleet operators in general freight, tippers, couriers and specialised transport, contracted to larger carriers or working direct.
What lenders do differently
The home loan: how the income is read
Returns for two years with add-backs for truck depreciation and the interest on truck finance, which together are often the largest items; a driver who moved from employed to owner-driver with the same carrier is read on both. Subcontracted income from one carrier is usually accepted with the contract.
Prime movers and rigids
Truck finance over three to seven years, chattel mortgage or equipment loan, with a balloon on newer vehicles. Lenders look at the age at the end of the term, usually a limit of 15 to 20 years, so a used prime mover is financed over a shorter term. A deposit of 10 to 20 per cent is common for a first truck; established operators often get full finance.
Trailers and bodies
Trailers, tipper bodies and refrigeration units are financed with the truck or separately; low-doc approvals to about $150,000 per item for an established ABN with a clean credit file.
Fuel, tyres and the gap to payment
Carriers pay on 30 to 45 day terms and fuel is paid weekly. Invoice finance against the carrier's statements, or an overdraft, covers the gap; both are assessed on the contract and the turnover.
Worth knowing before applying
A driver's home loan is assessed with the truck finance as a business liability already in the return, not as a personal loan; a carrier's contract term is asked about; and the chattel mortgage calculator shows the repayment and balloon on a vehicle.
The tools that fit
- Chattel mortgage calculator
- Business and asset finance
- Borrowing capacity calculator
- Working capital and overdraft calculator
- Equipment finance calculator
- What lenders ask for: checklists
Not sure whether the business needs an overdraft, or how big: the working capital calculator works it out from sales, payment terms and stock, with presets for a typical business like yours.
Policies on all of the above differ lender to lender and change without notice; the value of the conversation is knowing which lender's policy reads your payslip best on the day. Understanding how your income is read before you apply is what makes the application calm.