First truck, no ABN, new contract — can a new transport operator get financed?

A signed contract. An experienced driver. A $250,000 truck ready to purchase. The only thing missing: an ABN.

For most lenders, that’s the end of the conversation. For Yakka Finance, it was the start of one.

The situation
A truck driver had spent years in the industry working under someone else’s name. He’d lined up a work contract and was ready to go out on his own. The asset was a 2018 Kenworth K200 — $250,000. His instinct was right. His timing just needed the right financial structure behind it.

The challenge
No ABN registered at time of application. No trading history to present to a lender. Most operators in this position get told to wait six to twelve months, build some history, then come back. That meant losing the contract and the momentum.

What Yakka did
Yakka identified a non-bank lender with genuine appetite for start-up transport operators. The submission was built around what the client did have: a copy of the signed work contract showing confirmed income from day one, and a two-way cashflow forecast demonstrating he could service the loan.

Rather than hiding the lack of ABN, the submission addressed it directly and reframed the application around serviceability and industry experience. Yakka also referred the client to an accountant to set up the correct company structure from day one.

The outcome
– $250,000 Kenworth K200 approved with 10% deposit only
– Non-bank lender with appetite for start-up operators
– Client started trading immediately with correct business structure in place
– Referral back to accountant — the deal created a new client relationship

Why this matters for your practice
This case works in both directions. A client comes to you ready to start a transport business — you help them with structure and tax. But the finance piece often stalls because no lender will move without an ABN.

Yakka can move in parallel with you. While you’re registering the entity and setting up the books, we can be working the finance application. The client gets everything sorted at once, not sequentially over six months.

And when we work on a deal like this, we refer the client to their accountant. That’s not a transaction — it’s a working relationship that generates referrals both ways.

Got a client in a similar position? Talk to Drew.
Drew Davis — Head of Partnerships
drew@yakkafinance.com.au | 0481 002 879