5 Ways To Improve Your Credit For Better Semi Truck Financing Rates

At 10-4 Financing, we provide subprime financing and programs for applicants with low FICOs and past bankruptcies. That said, even though we offer semi truck financing with bad credit histories, it can pay to improve your credit for better rates when you’re applying for a loan. Here are 7 ways to help raise your credit score before getting financing for a truck.

1. Make Your Monthly Bill Payments

Did you know that your payment history is the most important factor in determining your credit score? If you have a habit of letting payments slip your mind or falling behind on your bills, you could be doing serious harm to your credit—and late payments will show up on your credit reports for seven years.

Set up automatic bill payments whenever possible so you never have the excuse of forgetting that a bill was due. For any payments that are more than 30 days late, make arrangements to pay the balance and ask that the missed payment not be reported to credit bureaus. If the creditor reports you anyway, chalk it up to a lesson learned and do your best not to miss any payments in the future. Your most recent history is far more important in our eyes than mistakes you’ve made in the past.

2. Pay Your Creditors More Often

If you’re already paying all of your bills on time, consider making more than one payment a month on your credit cards and loans. Even if you’re paying the same amount each month, by simply paying half at the beginning of the month and half at the end, it can improve your credit score thanks to credit utilization, a metric based on the amount of credit available to you at any given time.

3. Raise Your Credit Limits

Another way to take advantage of credit utilization is to ask your credit card companies to raise your limits if they can do so without a hard credit check. This may seem counter-intuitive, but when you raise that limit, you’re automatically using a lower percentage of your available credit. Of course, the key here is that you can’t then spend up to your new limit—as soon as you do, your credit score will go down. 

4. Examine Your Credit Report and Dispute Errors

Mistakes on credit reports are more common than you might think. Every year, you can request a free credit report from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Look through your reports carefully and see if there are errors that can be disputed. If you succeed in getting them removed, this will improve your credit score.

5. Build Credit With a Secured Credit Card

Whether you have no credit history or are rebuilding after some financial missteps, a secured credit card can help you prove yourself to credit bureaus. Here’s how it works—you’ll pay the credit card issuer an upfront deposit, which is what secures your card. Use your card regularly and make payments on time every month. 

Learn More About 10-4 Financing

Are you interested in financing a semi truck? Contact us today at 888-908-7701 to speak with one of our representatives to get started.