One of the biggest challenges for motor carriers in the United States involves the recruitment of new truck drivers.  Many trucking companies have found great success with the job performance of underrepresented groups such as women, minorities, military veterans, etc.,  but there’s one group that is vastly under-appreciated: Immigrant truck drivers. Despite the overwhelming success of immigrant truck drivers in the United States, one of the biggest barriers to entry into trucking is the difficulty that immigrants have in obtaining truck financing.

The failure to acknowledge immigrant drivers by banks and truck finance companies is baffling as this group has proven itself to be incredibly successful. Currently, out of the 1.2 million-plus U.S. truck drivers (operating Class 8 trucks), over 224,722 or 18.6% are immigrants, according to U.S. Census data. In general, the Census shows that immigrants in the trucking industry are absolutely critical, especially due to the shortfall of available truck drivers in the United States. Despite the high demand for truckers, the number of native-born drivers has been falling dramatically over the past several years. When you compare the age distribution of native U.S. citizens to foreign-born in the trucking business, U.S.-born truck drivers tend to be older, primarily because many younger native-born citizens no longer think of truck driving as a natural career path.

Where do most of the immigrant drivers in the U.S. come from? By far, the top five are Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba, India, and Guatemala, with Eastern European countries such as Poland and Ukraine not far behind, followed by the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Bosnia, Honduras, Columbia, Russia, and China, and many others.

Why is it so difficult for immigrant truck drivers to obtain truck financing?

With over 40 years of doing nothing but providing truck financing for owner-operators, we can confidently state that the difficulty that owner-operators face when obtaining truck loans is not a new problem. Trucks are very different from non-commercial autos, and truck drivers are very different from regular car loan applicants. We have found repeatedly that while MANY owner-operators might not “look great on paper”, understanding the industry and being willing to consider those with glitches such as bankruptcy, tax issues, health/medical bill collections, start-up status, etc., most owner-operators are GREAT customers – if you just give them a chance. When you add recent entry into the United States into the mix, you can understand why it has proven to be nearly impossible for immigrants to obtain truck financing.

What is the solution for immigrant owner-operators looking for truck financing?

Given the long history of banks and truck financing company’s refusal to work with start-ups, drivers with credit issues, or those without an established credit history, we are very proud of CAG Truck Capital’s proven record of successfully working with owner-operators regardless of their circumstances. We’re particularly proud of our willingness to provide truck financing to immigrants or recent citizens of the U.S., and are honored that so many have chosen to trust us to help them get the funding they need to start their successful truck driving businesses.

What’s the process for immigrant owner-operators to get approved for truck financing?

CAG Truck Capital listens to every applicant’s story and approaches every interaction in a non-judgemental, open-minded fashion. For us, it’s simple. We know trucks, truck drivers, and the trucking business.  Our goal is to work as hard as we possibly can to find creative solutions that enable us to provide quick and simple approvals for truck financing – regardless of credit history (or lack thereof). As most of our new customers come as the result of word of mouth and referrals, we welcome the opportunity to prove ourselves to you, regardless of your history or how you might have been treated by other lenders.

If you are an immigrant in need of truck financing, or if you are helping someone who is, we’d be honored to have the opportunity to prove ourselves to you. Simply fill out a short form pre-approval or a full credit application, and we’ll get to work on getting you in that truck fast. There’s never any pressure, never a sales pitch – we love what we do and would love to help you.