Service truck financing

A service truck is a shop on wheels: a service body with a telescopic crane, an air compressor, a welder and a generator on a medium-duty chassis, so a mechanic can fix a machine where it sits instead of hauling it in. iFinancial Group finances them new or used, chassis and body on one approval, on a one-page application. No tax returns and no audited financial statements to apply, no minimum and up to $1,000,000.

Who you're dealing with

iFinancial Group has funded equipment since 1997, roughly $600 million of it, in all 50 states. We're a direct lender, not a broker, so the file is underwritten in house and not shopped around. Our customers have ranged from independent manufacturers to global technology companies. We've barely advertised in almost three decades. The business came from repeat customers, referrals, and vendors sending us their customers.

What you're financing

A mechanics truck on a Class 5 to 7 chassis with a service body, a 3,000 to 14,000 pound telescopic crane, an air compressor and a welder typically lists new from about $120,000 to $220,000. A lube truck with product tanks, pumps and reels for servicing equipment in the field runs roughly $150,000 to $300,000. A utility service body without a crane on a Class 4 or 5 chassis, the truck a plumber or an HVAC contractor runs, is $60,000 to $100,000.

Those are market ranges. Crane capacity, the compressor, the body material and the chassis move the number.

What goes on the same approval

The chassis and the service body are two invoices and one truck, financed on one approval. The crane, the compressor, the welder, the generator, the drawer systems and the lighting are the equipment, not accessories, and they go on the same deal.

Freight from the body builder, setup and crane operator training are soft costs and can ride on the same deal, on many deals up to 30% of the total.

Who buys them and how the payment gets covered

Heavy equipment dealers and rental companies running field service, independent field mechanics, construction and mining fleets, oilfield service companies, and trade contractors who need a service body without the crane. Field service is billed by the hour at a rate that reflects the truck, and an independent mechanic with a crane truck has a business a mechanic with a pickup doesn't.

Independent field mechanics are often leaving a dealer to go out on their own. It starts with the one-page application, and a newer business will typically need a little more up front.

New or used

Used mechanics trucks five to ten years old typically trade from about $50,000 to $120,000, and the supply is steady because dealers and rental fleets cycle them. Dealer, auction and private party sales are all financeable here.

On a used service truck, the crane's inspection history, the compressor hours, and the body's drawer slides and door seals matter as much as the chassis miles. A crane carries an annual inspection requirement, and a truck with the records is an easier file.

What slows a service truck deal down

Build time. Service bodies with cranes are built to order and the builder's queue can run months. An approval here holds up to 60 days, and we can often pay the builder at order so the deposit is part of the financing. How much is prefunded at order depends on the builder's terms and the file.

Mechanics trucks often end up with a tool inventory worth more than the crane. Tools bought with the truck can ride on the same deal; tools bought over the years can't be financed after the fact except through a sale-leaseback on recent purchases.

How it works with iFinancial Group

It's the same one-page application whether the equipment is small or the deal runs to $1,000,000: no tax returns and no audited financial statements to apply, no minimum and up to $1,000,000. Decisions typically come back within 24 hours, and an approval holds up to 60 days. New and used equipment, terms up to 84 months, and soft costs up to 30% so freight, setup and training can go in the same deal. Payment structures beyond level payments are there when the equipment earns unevenly. We've been doing this since 1997, in all 50 states.

Other vocational trucks: vacuum excavator, vacuum truck, bin cleaning truck, dump truck, bucket truck, tow truck, street sweeper, water truck, roll-off truck, box truck, refuse truck, concrete mixer truck. Or start with vocational truck financing.