Seeking Semi Truck Financing? Tips to Improve Your Credit Score

The world of financing depends heavily on your credit history and how you handled your past financial obligations. Citizens hoping to open a new credit card, procure a business loan, or buy a house will be judged by their FICO credit score to determine how risky they are for lending purposes. If you are a new driver in the trucking industry, or you have fallen on hard times for a variety of reasons, then your credit score may negatively impact your ability to finance a semi truck.

10-4 Financing, LLC is proud to provide high-quality results for those with bad credit seeking out commercial truck financing to hit the road and build their careers. Our exclusive subprime program provides ideal lending rates for drivers with checkered pasts, low credit scores, and more.

Before you make the decision to purchase your semi truck, it can prove very beneficial to check your credit score and make improvements to your financial profile. Catch up on our starting tips to boost your credit score, and be sure to apply now for your soft credit pull to get started!

Focus on Making Timely Payments

Your payment history holds the biggest influence over your credit score, and it can do much to help or hurt your chances of financing a quality semi truck. Bear in mind that one late payment may hurt your score by as much as 100 points! Borrowers with higher credit scores can face bigger penalties, so be sure you focus on making any and all payments in a timely fashion.

Dealing with a late payment? Reach out to your creditor and work with them to achieve an ideal outcome that benefits their bottom line and your credit score!

Stay Away From Collections

Derogatory accounts can seriously impact your credit score, making it essential to make payments before a collection agency is hired. People are known to receive late payment notices in the mail, only to put off paying that debt because it doesn’t feel important. Collections can heavily impact your FICO score, making it essential to avoid this problem at all costs!

If you cannot get your debt collector to remove the delinquent status, then it can help to know that this negative factor will be less damaging over time. Collections qualify as a severe delinquency, and will show up on your report for seven years!

Increase Your Credit Limit

Lenders will take a look at how much available credit you have to help determine how established you are as a reliable borrower. While we do not recommend signing up for a plethora of credit lines, it’s important to remember that higher credit limits provide better results for your FICO score.

Drivers can increase their credit to provide more cushion in case of emergencies, allow for larger purchases, and lower their overall credit utilization. If you are hoping to finance a commercial truck in the future, but are dealing with bad credit, initiate conversations with your lenders to see if you can increase your credit lines. Doing so can provide an immediate boost to your credit history, improving your score in the process.

Keep Watch on Your Credit Ratios

Financial institutions will pay attention to your revolving balance ratio (the ongoing balance of your debt divided by your total credit limits) to determine how financially stable you are. If you have a credit card with a $500 limit, and owe $50, then your ratio is 10 percent. FICO will look at your individual cards as well as your total revolving debt to get a clear picture of your financial sustainability.

One simple way to improve your credit score is to improve your credit ratio, relying on both payments to lessen your owings and credit increases to lower the ratio percentage.

Diversify Your Credit Lines

While it is important to keep in mind that opening a new line of credit can negatively affect your credit score, the long-term benefits can prove to be well worth the effort. Drivers have improved their FICO scores by diversifying their credit portfolio, balancing revolving credit accounts such as credit cards with charge cards, services, auto loans, and home mortgages.

Looking for Truck Financing With Bad Credit? We Can Help!

10-4 Financing is here to provide affordable results for drivers with all types of financial backgrounds. Our truck financing pros have helped customers with bad credit, no CDL experience, and more, providing an ideal outcome through one of our 20 lending programs. We are proud of how successful our process has become, and we can help you to achieve the right purchase to boost your career.

Drivers dealing with bad credit can finance their commercial trucks with FICOs as low as 500. If you’re hoping to boost your credit score, then be sure to follow a few of our basic tips. However, if now is the time for you to make a purchase, 10-4 Financing is here and happy to help. Contact us today to learn more about our bad credit financing program, and be sure to browse our nationwide inventory to find the perfect truck!