--- title: "Trucking Business Loans & Fleet Financing | FundBetter" url: "https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/transportation-logistics/" description: "Funding for transportation and logistics firms. Buy trucks and trailers, cover fuel and payroll, and turn freight invoices into cash before net-30 terms." --- # Trucking Business Loans Keep the fleet rolling and your drivers paid while freight invoices catch up. [Apply Now](https://www.fundbetter.com/apply/) [786-882-2705](tel:+17868822705) See what your fleet qualifies for in about two minutes, with no impact on your credit file. $1B+ in funding delivered to small businesses A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau 8+ years supporting entrepreneurs across the US ★4.9/5 stars from real business owners ## Business loans for trucking companies Get the working capital to keep every truck earning even when you pay for fuel, drivers, and repairs today and wait 30 to 60 days for the broker or shipper to pay the invoice. One breakdown or a stack of unpaid loads should never stall your operation, so FundBetter keeps cash moving and every truck stays on the road and every driver gets paid on time. Whether you run a single owner operator truck or a growing fleet, you get one application, a real advisor, and funds in as little as 24 hours. ## Why trucking companies need working capital ### Fuel and payroll upfront Cover diesel and driver pay the moment they come due, long before the broker settles the load, so that upfront cost never limits how many lanes you can run. ### Trucks off the road Get the rig back to hauling fast when a blown engine or transmission means a repair bill and lost revenue at the same time. Funding turns a stopped truck back into an earning one. ### Slow freight payment Turn those freight invoices into cash now instead of waiting while brokers and shippers pay on net 30 to net 60, and keep the operation moving between settlements. ## How the freight payment cycle affects trucking company cash flow In trucking the money goes out before the truck moves, and sizing that gap is the first step to funding around it. Diesel is paid at the pump. Drivers are settled weekly, often on a Friday for loads delivered the Monday before. Insurance, plates, permits, and the DOT inspection cycle keep their own calendar. Your revenue arrives on a different clock. You deliver, you scan the bill of lading, and then you wait. Brokers commonly pay on net 30, and direct shippers push to net 45 or net 60. A load hauled early in the month may not settle until the next month is nearly over. That's the payment cycle working exactly as written on the rate confirmation. The gap is easy to size. Run five trucks producing roughly $20,000 a week in gross revenue, wait 45 days to be paid, and close to $130,000 of your own money sits in unpaid invoices at any moment. That's not profit. It's working capital you already spent on fuel, driver pay, and maintenance for freight you have delivered, and it's exactly what the right funding puts back in your account. Diesel makes the gap move. Fuel is one of the largest line items on a carrier's books, and the price per gallon can climb sharply within a quarter with no matching increase in the rate per mile you agreed to weeks earlier. Deadhead miles compound it, because an empty return leg burns fuel and driver hours while producing no invoice. Maintenance turns a tight month into a stopped truck. A blown turbo, an after-treatment failure, or a set of drive tires is a bill that arrives with no notice, and the truck earns nothing in the shop. An owner operator feels it immediately, because one truck down is all of your capacity. A fleet feels it as a squeeze, where covering the repair means turning down loads. ## Freight factoring vs. a business line of credit When you need cash now, these are the two products carriers reach for most, and they solve the cash gap from opposite directions. [Invoice factoring](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/invoice-factoring/) converts freight you have already hauled into cash, while a [business line of credit](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/business-lines-of-credit/) gives you a reusable pool to draw against whenever a cost lands. | | Freight invoice factoring | Business line of credit | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is secured against | The unpaid broker or shipper invoice, plus the credit strength of whoever owes it | Your overall business revenue and payment history, not any single load | | What each funding event takes | Load paperwork submitted and verified before every invoice is funded | A draw against the open line, with no paperwork and no new application | | How the cost works | A percentage of each invoice face value, charged per load funded | Interest on the drawn balance only, over a set term, plus any draw fee | | Does it scale with loads hauled | Yes. Capacity grows as you invoice more freight, with no request for a higher limit | No. The limit is fixed at approval and raising it means a fresh review | | Who it suits | Carriers on steady broker freight who need weekly fuel and driver pay covered between settlements | Fleets with unpredictable costs such as repairs, insurance renewals, and expansion into new lanes | ## What trucking companies finance with an equipment loan Finance nearly everything that puts a truck in service rather than buying it outright, and keep your cash free for fuel and payroll. [Equipment loans](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/equipment-financing/) are usually secured by the asset itself, so the truck or trailer helps qualify for its own loan. ### Tractors and sleeper cabs Put a new or used road tractor to work without draining the account on one purchase, since these are the most commonly financed asset. Spreading the cost lets a rig earn in a lane before it's paid off. ### Trailers, reefer units, and specialized decks Raise capacity the cheapest way by financing dry vans, flatbeds, step decks, and tankers, because more trailers let you drop and hook rather than sit at a dock. Reefer units carry their own cost, needing fuel, service, and eventual replacement apart from the trailer they ride on. ### ELD, telematics, and fleet software Spread the rollout of electronic logging devices, dash cameras, and tracking subscriptions across the fleet instead of forcing a lump sum, since ELDs aren't optional and the hardware adds up fast. The same applies to dispatch and transportation management software, which is what keeps a fleet manageable past the first few trucks. ### Shop equipment and maintenance capacity Bring maintenance in house by financing lifts, jacks, tire machines, diagnostic scanners, and air compressors, and cut both the repair bill and the days a truck waits on an outside shop. Yard equipment, fuel storage, and wash bay setups fall into the same category. ## Is freight factoring right for your trucking company? Factoring is the default answer for many carriers because it frees cash the same week, but it isn't free and it doesn't suit every operation. ### When freight factoring fits a carrier - You haul steady broker freight on net 30 to net 60 and the wait, not the rate, is what limits you - Fuel and driver settlements fall due weekly while customers pay monthly - You are an owner operator or small fleet with no staff to chase broker payments - You want capacity that grows with loads hauled rather than a fixed limit to renegotiate - Your authority is newer than six months, which rules out many loans but not factoring - You would rather hand off credit checks on unfamiliar brokers than carry that risk ### When factoring is the wrong call for a fleet - Your brokers already offer quick pay or settle within a week, so the fee buys little time - Your margin per mile is thin enough that a cut of every invoice erases the profit - You haul for one or two shippers who object to invoices being assigned elsewhere - The need is a one-time truck purchase or engine rebuild, which equipment financing covers more cheaply - You want one predictable payment, which [long-term business loans](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/long-term-business-loans/) give you, rather than a cost that varies with every load - You are asked to factor the whole book when a few slow accounts are the real problem ## Best ways to use trucking business loans Freight capital rarely goes to one big purchase. It goes to the costs that hit between settlements and the assets that put another truck in a lane. 01 Buying trucks and trailers 02 Fuel and maintenance costs 03 Driver payroll and hiring 04 Turning freight invoices into cash 05 Emergency engine repairs 06 Expanding into new lanes ## Funding options for trucking companies Different freight problems call for different products. A repair bill, a truck purchase, and a stack of net-45 broker invoices are not solved the same way. [### Equipment Financing Finance tractors, trailers, and reefers with the unit itself securing the note. Learn more](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/equipment-financing/)[### Invoice Factoring Turn net-45 broker invoices into cash so fuel and drivers do not wait. Learn more](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/invoice-factoring/)[### Business Lines of Credit Draw for fuel, tolls, and maintenance between settlements, then repay as loads pay out. Learn more](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/business-lines-of-credit/)[### Short-Term Business Loans Cover an emergency engine rebuild and repay while the truck is earning again. Learn more](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/short-term-business-loans/) ## Who qualifies for trucking business loans? Approval leans on the revenue your trucks are already producing, not on perfect credit. Most funded carriers look close to this. [Check if you qualify](https://www.fundbetter.com/apply/) 6+ mo Time in business $15K+ Monthly revenue 500+ Personal credit score ## Frequently Asked Questions How much can a trucking company borrow? Funding runs up to $5M, though most carriers take far less. An owner operator covering fuel and a repair might need $25,000, while a fleet adding trucks and trailers could need several hundred thousand. The amount you qualify for is driven mainly by monthly revenue and, for equipment loans, by the value of the truck being financed. Carriers borrowing at the top of that range often look at [SBA loans](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/sba-loans/), which trade a slower close for longer terms and a smaller payment. Can I get funding with a new trucking authority? It depends on the product. Most loans and lines of credit look for at least 6 months in business, which a brand new authority won't have yet. Freight factoring is the usual starting point for new carriers, because approval rests largely on the credit of the brokers and shippers who owe you rather than on your own operating history. What happens if a broker never pays a factored invoice? That depends on whether the agreement is recourse or non-recourse. Under recourse factoring, an unpaid invoice comes back to you and you repay the advance or replace it with another load. Non-recourse shifts some of that risk to the factor and costs more. Read which one you're signing, and ask how long the broker has before the invoice is charged back. Can I finance a used truck with high mileage? Yes, used tractors are financed routinely, and many carriers prefer them because the purchase price is lower. Expect age and odometer reading to affect the term and the down payment you're asked for, since the truck is usually the collateral for its own loan. A well documented maintenance record helps the case considerably. How do carriers cover fuel between broker settlements? Factoring turns each delivered load into cash within roughly a day, which lines the money up with the weekly fuel and driver pay cycle. A line of credit works differently, letting you draw when diesel prices spike or when a stretch of deadhead miles cuts into revenue, then repay as settlements arrive. Carriers with steady settlement history sometimes use [revenue-based financing](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/revenue-based-financing/) instead, where the payment rises and falls with what the fleet collects. Can funding cover DOT compliance and maintenance costs? Yes. Working capital isn't tied to a single purpose, so you can put it toward annual inspections, preventive maintenance, tires, plates, permits, and insurance renewals. For larger items such as a shop lift or an ELD rollout across your fleet, equipment financing usually costs you less than a short-term loan, because the equipment itself secures the deal. ## Other industries we fund We know the cash-flow realities of 22 industries. If yours is not Transportation & Logistics, chances are we fund it too. [Accounting & Tax](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/accounting-tax/)[Agriculture](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/agriculture/)[Auto Repair](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/auto-repair/)[Beauty](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/beauty/)[Construction](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/construction/)[Consulting](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/consulting/)[Ecommerce](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/ecommerce/)[Gas & Oil](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/gas-oil/) [See all industries we fund](https://www.fundbetter.com/industries/) ## Accelerate growth with trucking business loans Tell us how many trucks you run and what you need the capital for. Approved carriers often see their first advance the next business day. [Apply Now](https://www.fundbetter.com/apply/) [786-882-2705](tel:+17868822705)