A BMC-84 is a surety bond — a three-party financial instrument between the broker, a surety company, and FMCSA — that guarantees payment to carriers or shippers if a broker fails to pay for services rendered, up to the bond's face value (a $75,000 minimum set by FMCSA, sometimes called the "broker bond"). If a broker fails to pay a carrier and the carrier successfully files a claim against the bond, the surety company pays the claim and then seeks reimbursement from the broker, meaning the broker is still ultimately on the hook for the debt, but the carrier gets protection in the meantime. This is one of two ways a broker can satisfy FMCSA's financial responsibility requirement for holding broker authority; the other is a BMC-85 trust fund. In practice, most brokers use a surety bond rather than a trust fund, since it doesn't require tying up $75,000 in cash. A lapsed or cancelled BMC-84 bond causes FMCSA to suspend the broker's operating authority until a new bond is filed, which is why bond status is one of the key things to verify before hauling for an unfamiliar broker.
If a broker goes out of business owing a carrier $8,000, the carrier can file a claim against the broker's BMC-84 bond to attempt to recover that amount.
Shown as the bond badge in the profile header and as 'Bond type' in the Broker Authority & Bond section of every broker profile.