I’m an owner-operator with a few trucks and need money for repairs and fuel — who will fund me?

Count your trucks, then your months of authority

We sort every carrier with three numbers we can verify ourselves: power units in active service, months of continuous authority, and average monthly business bank deposits over the last six months. We pull your authority age, unit count and safety rating from FMCSA before we call you. The table shows where “a few trucks” lands.

Specialized authority gets the 2-unit minimum because those segments are the most durable credits we see. Full segment detail is on Industries.

Fuel: the fuel advance or a line of credit

Fuel is paid at the pump every week, long before a broker pays you. Our Resources page puts fuel float at about $4,800 per truck per month. Two products cover it:

• Fuel advance (any carrier we factor for). Up to 50% of the linehaul at pickup, once the load is covered and the rate confirmation is in. It is netted against the factoring advance at delivery, so there is no separate payment to manage.
• Line of credit (Track 1 fleets). $50,000 to $500,000, drawn by ACH in 24 hours, repaid weekly over 12 to 52 weeks per draw. You pay only on the drawn balance, so drawing $14,000 a week through a seasonal run and settling it as loads pay out costs nothing in the weeks you don’t draw.

Repairs: where factoring stops and working capital starts

An in-frame overhaul runs $18,000 to $45,000, and the truck earns nothing while it sits. Factoring can only advance against loads you have already delivered; it cannot advance money on a load the broken truck has not hauled yet. For a one- or two-truck carrier, factoring turns every delivered invoice into same-day cash, and that cash is what pays the shop.

We are direct about the limit: we do not write an unsecured advance to a carrier with fewer than 3 units (2 on specialized authority), because there is nothing to fall back on. If you clear Track 1, working capital covers the repair as one lump with no lien on your trucks and no blanket UCC; a personal guarantee is required. A smaller recurring repair fits a line of credit better: draw $9,000 for an alternator and a week of downtime, repay it in eleven weeks, and the limit is whole again. We don’t do equipment financing; repairs on trucks you already run are a working-capital use.

Credit and cost

There is no minimum FICO on any of these products. For invoice factoring we do not run personal credit at all; we check the broker who owes the invoice. Factoring costs 1.5% to 3.5% of the invoice, month to month, with no setup fee and no termination fee. Working capital is quoted as a total cost of funding and a payment amount in dollars, on a two-page contract, with up to 30% off the remaining cost if you pay early.

What you’ll need

• For factoring: active MC/DOT, signed notice of assignment, rate confirmation, signed BOL or POD, W-9, certificate of insurance, and a voided check or ACH form.
• For working capital or a line: 6 months of business bank statements and your MC/DOT number. No tax returns under $250,000, no business plan.
• A list of any advance or loan you already have open. We will not fund behind one you have not disclosed.
• A phone you answer Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET. A funding specialist calls with the decision the same business day.

Related: Funding in your first year of authority · How much a trucking company can borrow · All five products compared