Business loans for owner-driver truckies: buying the truck, pricing the work and surviving the quiet weeks

Maybe you’ve spent a decade behind another company’s wheel, learning every route and every dock manager, and there’s a carrier willing to give you regular work if you bring your own truck. Now you need to work out how to fund the truck, and whether the work will cover the payments once fuel, tyres, rego and insurance have had their share.

Owner-drivers are a big part of Australian road freight, and lenders understand the model well. Getting the finance is often easier than people expect. Getting finance that you can comfortably carry through a quiet month takes more care.

Can you get truck finance as a new owner-driver?

Usually, yes. A truck is a well-understood asset with a strong resale market, and that gives lenders confidence even when your business is new. What they look for instead of a long trading history:

• Your licence and experience. An HR, HC or MC licence held for several years, and a history of driving the type of truck you’re buying.
• Work lined up. A written contract or a letter from a carrier stating the work and the rate makes a big difference.
• A deposit. Newer ABNs are often asked to put money in, or trade in an existing vehicle.
• Personal credit. For a sole trader, lenders read your own credit history as the business’s history.
• The truck itself. Its age, kilometres and condition, and how old it will be when the last repayment is made.

If your ABN is less than a year old, our page on business loans for new ABNs explains how lenders weigh experience against trading history. For people without full financials yet, low doc business loans cover the paperwork lenders accept instead.

Which finance structure suits an owner-driver?

Most owner-drivers use a chattel mortgage through truck finance. The truck is yours from settlement and the lender takes a charge over it as security. GST-registered drivers can generally recover the GST in the price through their next BAS. Interest and depreciation may also be deductible, which is a question for your accountant.

Other options exist. A finance lease or hire purchase can suit some situations, and our comparison of chattel mortgages and finance leases sets out the differences. Whatever you choose, run the repayments through the business loan repayment calculator with and without a balloon, and compare the total cost in dollars.

The balloon trap, and how to avoid it

A balloon payment is the chunk of principal deliberately held back until the final month. It makes monthly repayments smaller, which is tempting when you’re starting out. The risk comes later.

Say you finance a used prime mover over five years with a large balloon. At the end, the truck has done another 800,000 kilometres and is worth less than you expected. The balloon is due, and the truck won’t sell for enough to cover it. You have to find the shortfall in cash, refinance the balloon on an older truck, or trade in at a loss.

To avoid it:

1. Set the balloon no higher than a cautious guess at the truck’s resale price when the loan finishes.
2. Put money aside each month toward the balloon, even a modest amount.
3. Check the lender’s age limit for the truck at the end of the term, because it affects refinancing.

Is the rate you’re offered enough to pay the truck off?

This is where many owner-drivers come unstuck. A contract rate that sounds good per kilometre can fall short once every cost is counted.

Victoria’s rates and costs schedules. Under Victoria’s owner-driver laws, the state government publishes rates and costs schedules for common vehicle types. They aren’t minimum rates; they’re detailed models of what it costs to own and run a truck of that type, covering finance, fuel, tyres, maintenance, insurance, registration and the driver’s time. Hirers and freight brokers engaging an owner-driver for 30 days or more in a three-month period must provide the relevant schedule. Even if you work in another state, the schedules are a useful benchmark for your own costings.

The Fair Work fuel cost recovery order. In April 2026, the Fair Work Commission made its first road transport contractual chain order. From 21 April 2026 it requires businesses above you in the contracting chain to adjust rates so fuel price rises since 6 March 2026 flow through to those doing the work, with adjustments at least twice a month. It doesn’t apply to businesses with fewer than 15 employees, and it stops applying if the weekly average diesel price drops below $2 a litre. If you contract to a larger carrier, ask how they’re meeting it.

Fuel tax credits. As a business using a heavy vehicle on public roads, you can usually claim fuel tax credits on your BAS. The credit is the fuel excise less the road user charge, and both moved during 2026. Lodging your BAS on time means the credits come back promptly, which is part of your working cash.

Lenders increasingly ask owner-drivers to show their numbers stack up. A one-page budget showing your contract income against every running cost often does more to win approval than any other single document.

Ready to price your first truck or replace a tired one? Send us the basics; one person reads it and calls you, and nothing about the enquiry lands on your credit report.

Mistakes that cost owner-drivers money

• Buying more truck than the work needs. A bigger prime mover means higher repayments, fuel and tyre costs.
• No buffer for breakdowns. One major repair can mean weeks without income. A small line of credit or savings buffer matters.
• Mixing personal and business accounts. Separate accounts make bank statements easier for lenders to read.
• Falling behind on BAS. It delays fuel tax credits and can create an ATO debt that makes future finance harder.
• Relying on a single carrier without a written agreement. If the work stops, the repayments don’t.

Documents to gather before you apply

1. Driver’s licence (heavy vehicle class) and driving history
2. ABN, and GST registration if you have it
3. A contract, letter of engagement or rate agreement from the carrier
4. Recent bank statements, personal and business
5. The truck’s details: invoice or contract of sale, year, kilometres, VIN
6. BAS lodgments or an accountant’s letter if you’re low doc
7. A simple income and cost budget for the truck

Example: a driver going out on their own

An illustrative scenario; not a real person. A driver with eight years’ experience on B-doubles has been offered steady linehaul work by a Melbourne carrier, as long as they supply their own prime mover. They’ve had an ABN for four months, have $35k saved and want a used prime mover priced at $185k.

Their bank wants two years of tax returns before it will consider a truck loan. A specialist truck lender approves a chattel mortgage on a low doc basis, using the carrier’s letter of engagement, their licence and work history and their savings as a deposit. The driver keeps the balloon modest, compares the carrier’s rate against the relevant Victorian cost schedule and negotiates a fuel levy into the agreement. After a year of clean repayments and BAS lodgments, they have the trading history to talk to the bank about their second truck.

Let’s look at your truck plans

Whether you’re buying your first rig, upgrading, or need to cover a repair to get back on the road, we speak with owner-drivers about this all the time.

Filling out our form takes about a minute, and enquiring is never a credit check, so your record stays as it is. We don’t hand your phone number to a dozen lenders, so your mobile won’t light up all week. A specialist goes through what you’ve written and then calls you directly. Tell us honestly about your years driving, the truck you have in mind and the work you’ve got lined up, because a precise picture is what lets us suggest a workable loan straight off.

See what your truck finance could look like →