Financing trailers is a big part of what an equipment financing company does, so they warrant discussion in my “why financing <equipment name> matters” series.
Trailer financing (or trailer leasing) happens two ways – either with a vehicle at the time of sale, or as an aftermarket addition to a company’s equipment. Both are popular, but we probably finance aftermarket trailers more often. This is likely due to companies needing different trailers for different needs at different times. Hey, flexibility is what it’s all about. If a company already has vehicles and needs a new trailer (or perhaps expanded services, requiring a different type of trailer), the place they bought the vehicles may be no help in financing a trailer. So that’s where an equipment financing company comes in.
The types of trailers financed are widespread – pretty much anything pulled behind a vehicle is called a “trailer” (if you think about it, it’s the literal definition of the word.) We have utility trailers, side dump, tilt, flatbed, low-boy, drop-deck, gooseneck… all kinds. Plus all manner of specialty trailers, like logging, horse, tank… all of those are financed or leased.
So yea, that’s why trailer financing matters – and it’s something more companies should be aware of, because standalone trailers are financed all the time, for virtually any use.
But there is one case where an equipment financing company doesn’t finance trailers, and that’s in the case of a transportation company / owner operator. Again, the type of trailer doesn’t matter (we finance the trailer part of a “tractor trailer” all the time), but in how it’s utilized. A transportation company financing trailers more or less falls under “fleet financing”, which we don’t handle.
Making the above clearer, we’d finance a flatbed trailer for a manufacturer who wishes to have their own delivery rig, but not for a transportation company wanting the same trailer. Make sense?
In a nutshell, that’s trailer financing. At some point in the future, I’ll probably discuss the different types of trailers, as there are so many kinds (and maybe I’ll throw you a curveball and ask if you saw the trailer for that new action film!)