How to vet a freight broker in 10 minutes
Seven checks before you book a load: authority, bond, contact details, credit and days to pay, other carriers' reports and the rate confirmation, in plain words.
Look the broker up in FMCSA's own records, confirm its broker authority is active and its $75,000 bond or trust fund is on file, and make sure the phone and email you are dealing with match that record. Then check its credit and days to pay with a broker credit tool or your factoring company, and read the rate confirmation's terms before the truck moves.
The seven checks, in order
- 01Look it up yourself. Get the MC or USDOT number from the broker, then search FMCSA's public records. Never rely on a link or a screenshot someone sends you.
- 02Broker authority active. Broker authority is separate from carrier authority. In FMCSA's record, the broker authority should show as active, not pending, inactive or revoked.
- 03Bond or trust fund on file. A property broker must keep $75,000 of security with FMCSA, a surety bond or a trust fund. If it shows as canceled or pending cancellation, stop there.
- 04Contact details match. Compare the phone, email domain and address you are dealing with against the FMCSA record and the broker's own website. Call back on a number you found yourself, not one given in the email.
- 05Credit and days to pay. Check them in a broker credit tool, or ask your factoring company whether it will buy this broker's invoices. A no from your factor is an answer.
- 06What other carriers report. Read recent reports from carriers who hauled for this broker and look for a pattern, not a single complaint.
- 07The rate confirmation. Before you sign: rate, stops, times, detention, TONU, lumper, tracking terms, payment terms and the cargo liability limit, as agreed on the phone.
Red flags that end the call
- An email address on a domain that is not the company's own
- A rate far above the going rate, with pressure to move now
- After booking, a new delivery address, or a different company named as the one paying you
- Anyone who calls or texts asking for a login or a one-time code
- Authority or bond pending cancellation, or a name, address or phone changed very recently
The short checklist
- Looked it up myself, on FMCSA's site
- Broker authority: active
- Bond or trust fund: on file, not being canceled
- Phone, email and address: match the record
- Credit and days to pay: acceptable to me or my factoring company
- Rate confirmation: matches what we agreed
If a broker does not pay
- Resend the invoice and paperwork with a written request for payment and the date it was due.
- Ask for the broker's record of the transaction. Federal rules give each party to a brokered load the right to review it. Some broker-carrier agreements ask you to waive that right, so read yours before you sign.
- Claim against the broker's bond or trust fund through the surety or trustee named in its FMCSA record.
- File a complaint in FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database, and talk to a transportation attorney when the amount is large.
Or have us do it
Checking brokers is part of the work we do for owner-operators: credit, average days to pay and communication history are checked before a rate is treated as attractive, and every rate confirmation is read line by line. The checks lower the risk. No one can promise that a broker pays, and we do not. If you want to see how we work first, ask us a question on WhatsApp, by call or by email.
