
Simplifying Semi Truck Financing
Purchasing a semi-truck or trailer is a major investment for any trucking business, and navigating the financing process can feel daunting, especially for first-time buyers. Finding the right equipment may seem like the easy part once you’re faced with banking terms, credit scores, and financial paperwork.
At TEC Equipment, we aim to be your trusted partner throughout the entire process—whether it’s helping you choose the right truck or trailer, providing maintenance and service, or guiding you through financing. With our in-house finance team’s decades of experience, we make it our mission to simplify financing, so you can focus on getting your business on the road.
Ensure Your Business is Bankable
The first step to obtaining financing for your commercial equipment is to ensure your company is bankable. But what does that really mean? A trucking company is considered bankable when it is financially stable and poses low risk to lenders. Here are the key factors lenders evaluate to determine bankability:
- Credit score: Both your business’s and personal credit scores will be reviewed.
- Monthly revenue: Lenders look at your revenue to ensure you can comfortably make loan payments.
- Bank statements: Expect to provide at least three months of bank statements to verify income and expenses.
- Time in business: Lenders often favor companies with an established track record.
What is commercial credit?
Commercial credit refers to any loan used for business purposes. Depending on where you obtain the loan, it can impact the loan’s terms and where the credit is reported. For instance, commercial lenders typically report to PayNet rather than the traditional credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). This can be a benefit, as it keeps your personal debt-to-income ratio unaffected.
For large purchases, commercial credit is often essential. However, it can be difficult to secure because it’s considered high-risk for lenders. Here are some factors that can improve your chances of getting favorable terms:
- Strong payment history: Demonstrating reliable payments boosts lender confidence.
- Larger down payment: The more you can put down, the less risk for the lender.
- Industry experience: The longer you’ve been in business, the better.
- Business ownership: More experience as a business owner can work in your favor.

Your Biggest Commercial Financing Questions, Answered!
To make the financing process easier, we’ve answered some of the most common questions our finance team gets from buyers.
How much is the down payment?
The short answer is however much you’re willing and able to put down. Down payments go a long way towards lowering the risk to a lender. When you invest in your own business with a larger down payment, lenders feel better about investing too. So if you have anything iffy in your credit history, a larger down payment can help. For first time buyers, you’ll likely need a larger down payment, in the 10s of thousands, depending on the final price of the truck or trailer itself.
What is the interest rate?
Again, the short answer is it depends. Interest rates vary quite a bit depending on several factors, including:
- Price of the equipment
- Your credit history
- Your business’ history
- Your annual revenue
- Where and how you’ll use the equipment
- Length of the loan, and tons of other factors.
If you’re new to trucking, your rate will be higher. If you have a great cosigner, your rate could be lower. Interest rates for commercial truck or trailer purchases tend to range anywhere from single digits up into the 20s. But again, the rate you receive depends entirely on your individual situation.
How long is a semi truck loan?
As with interest rates, the length of the loan depends on your individual situation, the equipment you’re purchasing, and the bank or lender. Typically loans run from six to 72 months (that’s six years).
What paperwork do you need for a commercial loan?
When you work with TEC Finance, all we need is a commercial credit application and a purchase order to start shopping for loans. In some cases, that may be enough, but we’ll ask for the documentation we need to build you up as an attractive applicant to a lender. That other documentation might include:
- Tax returns
- Financial statements
- Bank statements
- Haul reference letters
- Debt schedule
- Accounts receivable schedule
Getting a Good Loan
Understanding the loan process is only part of the equation, securing favorable terms is the goal. That’s where our financing team steps in. With access to over 40 lenders, we’ve already done the legwork to ensure our customers receive the best terms possible.
Before you sign anything, we’ll thoroughly review your contract to eliminate overly restrictive policies. We’ve even had major banks rewrite financing agreements to better serve our customers. With TEC Finance, we make sure you fully understand the contract terms and avoid any pitfalls in the fine print.
Here are some contract terms we always keep an eye on for you:
- Pre-payment penalties: While standard in many contracts, we make sure these penalties are reasonable or better than industry norms.
- Non-cancelable clauses: You’ll be responsible for the full loan payments, including unearned interest if you pay off early.
- UCC statements: These give the lender rights to personal property in case of default. We ensure these are limited to only the equipment being financed.
Partnering for Success
Whether this is your first semi-truck purchase or you’re expanding a growing fleet, finding a lender with favorable terms is just as important as choosing the right truck. At TEC Equipment, our finance team is dedicated to helping you secure financing that works for your business, today and for years to come.