Cold Chain Finance for Australian Operators

We finance new, used, demonstrator, dealer and private-sale refrigerated transport across all major makes including Toyota, Hyster, Crown, Linde, Yale, Komatsu, Mitsubishi and Heli. Your specialist matches the finance to your work and the lender to your file.

Pre-approval is typically inside 24 hours once you submit the form. Settlement timing then depends on the lender and asset details, with many Australian deals settling within a week of pre-approval.

No. Many of our lenders score the deal on freight income and asset value rather than requiring property security. Non-property owners regularly settle cold chain finance through Equifund.

Not always. $0 deposit is available for prime applications, especially for established operators with active freight contracts. Other deals may require a deposit depending on the asset, the lender and the loan term.

Yes. We finance dealer purchases, private sales, auctions and end-of-lease buyouts. The cold chain just needs to meet the lender's age and condition requirements.

Yes. Many Australian operators refinance to access a better rate, restructure repayments around their income cycle, release equity from the asset, or consolidate multiple cold chain loans into one facility.

We have a panel of 80+ Australian lenders spanning major banks, specialist asset financiers and non-bank lenders that specifically understand freight income and transport assets. Your specialist matches your file to the right lender for the deal.

Yes. We regularly settle multi-cold chain deals for Australian fleets, often splitting the package across more than one lender to fit each asset's spec and your overall structure.

Yes. Cold Chains, attachments, trailers and related equipment are all on the panel. Equipment security can be structured independently of cold chain finance if that better suits the deal.

A chattel mortgage gives you immediate ownership of the cold chain while the lender holds it as security. You claim GST upfront and depreciate the refrigeration plant for tax. It is the most common structure for established Australian owner-operators. A finance lease keeps the cold chain on the lender's books with set monthly payments and an optional residual paid at the end of the term. Useful for fleet operators managing income cycle against vehicle turnover. Your Australia-based cold chain finance specialist will recommend the structure that suits your business and tax position. Read the full chattel mortgage vs finance lease comparison.

Freight income recognition is how a specialist lender reads income from freight invoices, contractor payments and BAS rather than treating only PAYG salary as income. Bank credit templates often miss this. Specialist lenders read freight income accurately, which is why established Australian operators frequently get approved on deals that mainstream banks decline.

Low-doc cold chain finance is approval on a reduced documentation set, usually a Director declaration plus business activity statements or recent bank statements, rather than full financials. It is faster to process and common for established small-fleet operators in Australia who would rather not produce two years of full tax returns for a single asset purchase.

Pre-approval is a conditional finance approval issued before you commit to a cold chain. It sets the maximum loan amount, indicative rate, term and repayment structure so you can negotiate with dealers, private sellers or auction houses on solid ground. Equifund pre-approvals are typically issued within 24 hours of form submission.

An Australian Credit Licence (ACL) is a licence issued by ASIC permitting a business to engage in credit activities under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Equifund holds Australian Credit Licence 389328. Working with an ACL holder is a baseline regulatory protection for the borrower and a baseline trust signal for any Australian finance provider.

Yes. Specialist cold-chain and refrigeration lenders on our panel recognise frozen DC operations contracts, pharmaceutical cold-chain TGA-compliant programs, chilled fulfilment shipper contracts and dairy and produce supply agreements as recurring income, and approve refrigerated forklifts, freezer racking and refrigeration plant without consumer credit scoring.

Yes. Lenders on our panel finance freezer room build-outs, refrigeration compressor packs, refrigerated forklifts, freezer racking systems and temperature-monitored storage solutions against the contract that justifies them, with chattel mortgage terms matched to the contract renewal or compliance cycle.

Yes. Cold-chain operators running multiple DC sites can set up a master facility on our panel that approves refrigeration plant, forklift and racking additions inside the limit as new shippers come on, reducing credit hits and admin per asset.