Material Handling & Distribution

Distribution centers and material handling operations are asset-dense by design. The lift equipment, conveyance systems, racking-compatible vehicles, and specialized handling tools that keep product moving represent years of capital investment. Some of that capital has been paid down and sits as equity. Cash-out refinancing extracts it and puts it back to work before the next lease renewal or the next operational expansion.

We work with third-party logistics operators, distribution center owner-operators, fulfillment companies, cold chain distributors, and industrial material handling businesses. The equipment profile covers everything from warehouse forklifts and reach trucks to specialized automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems and heavy-duty order picker fleets.

Minimum transaction is $50,000. Material handling companies often run multi-unit transactions costing on the order of $150k to $500k, and larger fleet refinancings above that are common given the scale of equipment investment in this industry. Funding from a complete application takes one to two weeks.

Material handling and distribution operations run a broad equipment spectrum. The key asset categories we lend against:

• Forklifts and counterbalance lift trucks. Forklift refinancing covers sit-down counterbalance units from Toyota, Crown, Hyster, Yale, and Raymond. Both propane IC and electric units qualify. For electric fleets, battery age and condition factor into the valuation.
• Reach trucks and order pickers. Narrow-aisle reach trucks and order picker lifts used in high-bay racking environments carry lendable value. These are specialized units with active secondary markets among other distribution operations.
• Reach stackers and container handlers. Reach stacker refinancing applies to intermodal-capable and warehouse-scale reach stackers used in larger distribution operations.
• Conveyor and sortation systems. Installed conveyor systems, tilt-tray sorters, and cross-belt sorters represent significant capital investment. These are evaluated on a case-by-case basis as their value depends heavily on installation complexity and secondary market depth for the specific configuration.
• Box trucks and last-mile vehicles. Box truck refinancing applies to the delivery fleet component of distribution operations.

Fleet age, utilization documentation, and maintenance records all affect the collateral assessment. Well-maintained, documented fleets typically support stronger loan-to-value positions.

Fulfillment and distribution have been in a multi-year investment cycle driven by e-commerce growth and the shift to faster delivery expectations. Distribution centers that were built or equipped several years ago face pressure to expand throughput or open additional locations. The equipment in those facilities, now partially paid down, is a capital source for that next expansion.

The timing works in favor of material handling operators. Equipment bought at the peak of the build-out cycle several years ago has had time to accumulate equity. Market values for material handling equipment have remained solid because demand for proven equipment is high. The combination of paydown equity and stable values creates real refinancing opportunities.

Distribution operations concentrated around major fulfillment hubs like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle have both the equipment density and the ongoing capital demands that make equipment refinancing a regular planning tool rather than an occasional one.

Material handling companies that have paid off their forklift fleet or their reach truck pool are well-positioned for equipment sale-leaseback. The structure allows a company to sell the fleet to a lender, receive the full market value in cash at closing, and continue operating the equipment under a monthly lease payment.

For distribution operations that already manage their facility under a real estate lease, the concept of leasing equipment rather than owning it outright is not foreign. Many 3PL operators and large distribution companies run primarily on leased assets because it improves capital efficiency. A sale-leaseback takes an owned fleet and transitions it to the same structure while releasing the capital that was locked in the ownership position.

Both standard cash-out refinancing and sale-leaseback are available through us. We present both with real numbers for your specific situation at the time of application.

Material handling and distribution companies that get the most from this program share a few characteristics. They have lift equipment or handling assets that are two or more years into the original note. They have a capital need, expanding a facility, adding a shift, adding a location, or simply smoothing out a cash-flow gap between billing cycles. And they want to access that capital without adding equity partners or triggering a facility-level refinancing process.

Operators who are considering an equipment upgrade also use this structure: pull equity from the existing fleet to fund the down payment on the new automated system or the next generation of reach trucks. The old equipment pays for part of the new equipment.

For operators who want to understand how equipment refinancing compares to an equipment line of credit for ongoing capital access, see the equipment line of credit page. For those evaluating the right structure against other debt instruments, the page on working capital versus equipment financing provides useful context.

Give us the fleet details, payoffs, and what you need the capital for. We come back with a real structure the same day you apply. No commitment required to see what your equipment is worth.

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