CARB offers lease-to-own truck financing

The California Air Resources Board is offering lease-to-own financing designed to encourage small business owners to replace their older diesel trucks with new equipment.

The objective of the program is to encourage early compliance with CARB’s on-road diesel vehicle and tractor-trailer greenhouse gas regulations.

“This is a program that benefits small fleets and owner-operators,” said Mary Nichols, CARB chairman. “It provides them with an additional way to pay for a cleaner truck, even if their credit isn’t stellar.”

Leases, which are used widely in trucking for managing cash flow, combine the tax advantages of leasing while retaining the option to purchase the leased equipment in the future, CARB said. The agency said that is an attractive alternative for smaller owner-operators who may not meet stringent borrowing standards to comply with diesel truck and bus regulations.

Financing is available under the California Capital Access Program, which encourages banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small businesses that might not fit their conventional underwriting standards. CalCAP insures loans made to small companies that do a majority of their business in the state.

The maximum loan amount is $5 million. Lenders set the terms and conditions of the loans and decide which loans to enroll into CalCAP. Loans can vary from short- to long-term, carry fixed or variable rates, be secured or unsecured, and bear any type of amortization schedule.

For more information, go to www.treasurer.ca.gov/cpcfa/calcap.asp, call 866-634-3735 or e-mail [email protected].