Fleet Financing
What is Fleet Financing?
Fleet financing covers the vehicles your business runs on — and because those vehicles are titled assets, they qualify for structures that other equipment doesn’t. United Leasing & Finance has financed titled fleet assets for 60+ years, and we’ve operated a fleet ourselves: a vehicle rental business spanning 32 locations in five states with over 2,200 vehicles. We know fleet economics from both sides of the deal.
How Fleet Financing Works
Simple, transparent, and built for how fleets actually buy.
Vehicle Selection
You identify the vehicles your operation needs — new, used, or factory-ordered, with upfit and modifications included in scope. We can even assist in finding the right vehicle for you through our automotive dealership group, or fleet dealership network.
Structure Selection
United helps you choose the right structure for how long you keep vehicles and what you expect at resale: a TRAC lease for lower payments with resale upside, a $1 buyout or EFA for vehicles you'll run well past the term, or an FMV lease if you qualify.
Creative Structuring
We design a payment plan around your business — level payments, seasonal schedules, step-ups, or a residual set to match your replacement timeline.
Fleet Acquisition
We provide the capital for your fleet purchases, so you can keep your business rolling in the right direction.
The Benefits of Fleet Financing
Structures built around your fleet
We have multiple structures at our disposal, and the right one depends on how you actually run your fleet — replacement cycles, vehicle age at turnover, vehicle class and expected resale, utilization, and how you want the asset treated on your books. We'll walk through how you manage your fleet and build the structure around it.
Financing that keep pace with acquisition
Companies operating fleets don't buy once a year — they buy units when they need them. United can provide you with pre-approved funding capacity so allocation windows and auction opportunities don't come down to how fast a lender can approve you.
The complete vehicle, not just the chassis
As the owner, you may be able to take advantage of Section 179 expensing and depreciation, along with interest deductions. Consult your tax professional to understand what applies to your situation.
Equity in existing units
Have equity in vehicles you already own? We can refinance them or structure a sale-leaseback to free up capital for the next phase of growth.
A team that knows your replacement cycles
A dedicated team who knows your fleet age and replacement schedule — so adding or cycling units is a phone call, not a new application.
Fleet Financing FAQs
There's no fixed unit count. Practically, if you operate multiple titled vehicles as revenue-producing assets and replace them on a cycle, you're a fleet operator as far as structuring goes. What matters more than size is that your assets are titled — that's what determines which structures are available to you.
A TRAC (Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause) lease is available specifically for titled motor vehicles. You set the residual value at inception, which lowers your monthly payment compared to a full-payout structure. At end of term you can purchase the vehicle at that residual or sell it — if it sells above, you keep the difference; if below, you cover the gap. For fleet operators with predictable resale values, it can meaningfully reduce carrying cost.
In select cases, yes — primarily for established fleet operators. FMV isn't a standard offering for us, but if you're running a fleet and think an FMV structure fits your situation, reach out and we'll let you know whether it's something we can do.
With a TRAC lease you set the residual upfront and take both the resale risk and the resale upside at end of term. With an FMV lease the residual is set at market, and you return, renew, or purchase at fair market value with no gain or shortfall obligation. TRAC gives you upside participation; FMV gives you a cleaner exit.
In most cases, yes. Lifts, medical interiors, shelving and racking, partitions, cranes, boxes, and livery packages can typically be financed alongside the chassis as a single transaction. Talk to a financing representative about your specific build and we'll confirm what's coverable.
Both. We can finance a multi-unit purchase, and for operators adding vehicles throughout the year we can provide pre-approved capacity so you can acquire units as they become available without a new approval each time.
No. We finance local, regional, last-mile, vocational, and specialty fleet operations, but not OTR long-haul. If that's your operation, we'd rather tell you now than after an application.