Loan Market Improves for Trucking, Bank Industry Officials Tell Execs

ALLAS — Economists and lending officials told trucking executives here that in a solidly growing economy it would be easier for trucking companies to borrow capital, as lenders accepted more risk and as more financial institutions returned to the market.

“Now that [gross domestic product] growth is in the 4% range, banks share in that optimism,” Dave Thomas, first vice president of LaSalle Bank, told members of American Trucking Associations’ National Accounting and Finance Council at its annual meeting June 27-29.

“Banks are increasingly willing to lend. More banks are reporting an easing of conditions. The supply of credit has increased and lenders increasingly compete for loans,” Thomas said during a panel discussion at the meeting.

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