Glossary

Freight broker authority

A freight broker arranges the transportation of freight for compensation but does not haul it. To do that legally in interstate commerce, the broker needs broker operating authority from FMCSA, filed under an MC (docket) number, plus a $75,000 surety bond or trust on file (the BMC-84 or BMC-85).

Broker authority is not carrier authority

This is the distinction that trips up newcomers and enables a common fraud. Broker authority licenses a company to arrange loads. It does not license that company to put freight on a truck it operates. A legitimate hauler needs motor-carrier authority (common or contract). Some entities hold both a carrier authority and a broker authority; some hold only one. When a company you are booking as the physical carrier turns out to hold broker authority and no active carrier authority, the load may be headed for re-brokering.

The bond

The broker bond exists so carriers and shippers have a source of recovery when a broker fails to pay. It is a $75,000 minimum, satisfied by a surety bond (BMC-84) or a trust fund (BMC-85); 49 CFR 387.307 allows no third option. A broker whose bond lapses or is cancelled loses its authority. The surety must notify FMCSA before the bond ends, but since FMCSA moved filings to its new system in May 2026, far fewer of these notices appear in the public record. A record with no cancellation notice does not prove the bond is still in place.

What to check

When you check a broker, the facts on the record are whether the broker authority is active, whether the bond is on file and current, and whether the legal name on the authority matches the party you are dealing with. A broker booking freight under an authority that belongs to a different company is a classic double-brokering and identity setup. fleetfax reads a broker's authority and bond status from the same federal record it reads a carrier from, so the same lookup that vets a hauler also vets the broker arranging the freight.

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