KATRINA UPDATE: OEMs cut financing customers a break

Heavy-duty truck OEMs are offering existing customers directly affected by the hurricane some flexibility with their truck finance payments

Terrence Nguyen

Sept. 13, 2005

2 min read

Heavy-duty truck OEMs are offering existing customers directly affected by the hurricane some flexibility with their truck finance payments.

DaimlerChrysler Services Truck Finance, a provider of wholesale financing and credit lines to customers of Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star, is offering “special circumstance” extensions and deferrals.

Schaumburg, IL-based Navistar Financial Corp., a wholly owned finance subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corp., will offer customers residing in the FEMA federal disaster areas established after Hurricane Katrina a two-month deferral of loan or lease payments. The deferred payments will be moved to the end of the contract, and all normal processing fees and deferral interest will be waived, said Navistar Financial.

According to Navistar Financial, it “hopes the additional payment flexibility will assist customers with prioritizing other important issues.” The firm said customers should contact their regional finance office to see if they qualify for this deferred payment option.

Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks, which are wholly owned by Gothenberg, Sweden-based Volvo Group, are offering a payment assistance program through Volvo Commercial Finance and Mack Commercial Finance, respectively, to skip payments until Jan. 1, 2006.

Customers residing in counties designated as Hurricane Katrina disaster areas by FEMA have been automatically entered into the program. The skipped payments will be added to the end of the contract without additional interest or penalty, the OEMs said.

Although Paccar Inc. has no official comment on Katrina-related financing programs, it is believed to be making similar arrangements.

DaimlerChrysler Services Truck Finance customer service can be reached at 800-222-4221.

Volvo or Mack Commercial Finance customers affected by the hurricane should call 877-865-8623 ext. 4026.

To discuss the Katrina disaster and its effect on the trucking industry or to share your personal experiences, please visit FleetOwner's Katrina Blog at blog.fleetowner.com/katrina.

To view the archive of FleetOwner’s ongoing Katrina news coverage, go to www.fleetowner.com/katrina.