Commercial Vehicles You Can Finance
If maintaining a commercial fleet is essential to the success of your business, it’s important to add and replace vehicles when you need to, without interrupting or delaying your operations. Luckily, financing commercial vehicle purchases can help you keep a working fleet while realizing other benefits of financing. Keep reading to learn about all the commercial vehicles you can finance and how financing can benefit your business beyond the vehicle purchase.
Types of Fleets in Common Industries
Commercial fleets are an important part of many industries. Let’s look at the vehicles and equipment that typically make up fleets for construction, transportation and logistics, service and contracting, and towing companies.
Construction
Success in the construction industry depends on having the right equipment for the projects you want to bid on. Maintaining a complete construction fleet will keep your business competitive and help you avoid blowing deadlines or missing out on big jobs.
Pickup Trucks: Can be used for transporting materials, carrying heavy equipment, and moving workers to and from and around the job site.
Dump Trucks: Also used for hauling materials to and away from the site. Can also be used for moving soil and rocks and preparing building sites.
- Utility Trucks: This versatile piece of equipment can have specialized utility bodies or toolboxes to carry tools or supplies. They also often have crane arms, aerial lifts, and hydraulic systems.
- Cargo Vans: Provides a secure, weatherproof space for moving materials and supplies, storing tools, and more.
- Flatbed Trucks: Good for hauling heavy equipment and machinery that doesn’t fit in other vehicles. Offers flexibility and versatility, such as a temporary work staging area.
- Box Trucks: Commonly used to transport and store equipment, tools, and materials.
- Crane Trucks: Also referred to as boom trucks, this type of equipment can be used for lifting heavy materials, constructing structures, installing equipment, and more.
Transportation and Logistics
To succeed in the transportation and logistics industry, you need to be able to get people and goods where they need to be, on time and within budget. Financing the equipment you need to fill out your transportation fleet will help you maintain your reputation for reliability in a competitive industry.
- Semi-Trucks, Tractor-Trailers, and Big Rigs: These trucks are essential for every transportation and logistics business. Semi-trucks can be used for long-distance transportation, tractor-trailers maximize cargo capacity, and big rigs transport goods to every stop on the supply chain.
- Delivery Trucks: Also known as box trucks, these are often used in the last-mile delivery process such as for regional deliveries, e-commerce fulfillment, package delivery, and specialized transportation.
- Refrigerated Trucks: Used for transporting perishable goods such as food, pharmaceuticals, floral products, and more. Essential for cold chain logistics operations.
- Flatbed Trucks: Commonly used to haul construction materials, machinery, and oversized loads.
- Tanker Trucks: Designed to transport liquids, gases, or other bulk materials. Can come in different configurations to cater to different needs such as fuel, chemical, food-grade, dry bulk, and more.
Service and Contracting
This industry is very mobile–you may be going to different places everyday or throughout the day. Maintaining a well-running fleet is essential to the success of your business.
- Utility Vans: Feature interior shelving, racks, and other storage compartments for use in plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and telecommunications.
- Cargo Vans: Provide secure and weatherproof transportation of tools, merchandise, or inventory.
- Bucket Trucks: Offer an extendable boom and platform for access to overhead structures and utility lines. Bucket trucks are used for electrical repairs, tree trimming, signage installation, and building maintenance.
- Mobile Service Trucks: Equipped with specialized equipment and tools for on-site repair, maintenance, and service for automotive repair, appliance repair, equipment rental, and industrial maintenance. With a fleet of mobile service trucks, you can travel to customer locations and perform repairs, minimize downtime, and maximize productivity.
Towing
A versatile and reliable towing fleet helps you get the job done, whatever time of day or night.
- Flatbed/Rollback/Slide-Bed Trucks: The flat, level bed tilts or slides backward to create a loading ramp. Typically used to transport vehicles such as luxury cars, motorcycles, or low ground clearance vehicles.
- Heavy-Duty Wreckers: Designed to handle large and heavy vehicles such as commercial trucks and buses.
- Wheel-Lift/Hook-And-Chain: Use a hydraulic mechanism to elevate one end of a vehicle and secure it by its wheels for towing.
- Recovery Vehicles/Rotators/Heavy Recovery Trucks: Rotating crane booms and winches enable you to recover vehicles from ditches, embankments, or waterways.
Benefits of Using Financing for Your Commercial Vehicles
Financing your commercial vehicle fleet instead of paying outright can offer many benefits to your business, such as:
- Preservation of Capital: Save your cash for other investments in your business, as well as emergencies.
- Tax Benefits: When you finance your equipment purchase, you may be able to take advantage of certain tax deductions for depreciation and interest expenses, reducing your overall tax liability. Talk to your tax advisor to learn more.
- Flexible payment options: We offer customizable repayment plans, including the possibility of seasonal payment structures.
- Upgrade to the latest technology: Keep your business ahead of the competition without a significant upfront investment.
Factors to Consider When Financing Commercial Vehicles
In addition to the benefits of financing your commercial fleet, here are the other factors to consider before making a decision:
Interest Rates and Terms
Businesses with a strong credit profile will typically qualify for lower interest rates. If you have a choice between a fixed or variable interest rate, you’ll need to decide which one is best for you. This decision may be based on the length of the loan term you choose–at Blue Bridge, we offer loan terms ranging from 24-60 months. We work with you to customize an equipment financing package that meets your budget.
Credit Requirements
Applying for equipment financing requires a review of your business’s financial sheets, credit history, and credit score. It’s a good idea to get organized and make sure everything is in order before starting your application.
Insurance Considerations
Of course, you’ll need to insure new additions to your commercial fleet. Understand the minimum insurance requirements and consider purchasing comprehensive insurance for your financed commercial vehicles. Adding collision coverage also protects your assets and cargo insurance protects against losses or damages to cargo in transit. Finally, a fleet insurance policy could provide consolidated coverage for all vehicles under one policy.
About Blue Bridge Financial
Blue Bridge Financial is a specialty equipment finance firm serving the construction, transportation, service, and towing industries, as well as others. Our Equipment Finance Agreements offer flexible and affordable equipment financing for all your commercial fleet needs. Start our easy application today or contact us with questions
