Getting stiffed by a broker is one of the more preventable disasters in trucking — almost everything you need to check is public, and it takes less time than reading this guide. Here's the actual process, not just a list of things to "be careful about."
Every legitimate broker needs Broker Authority from FMCSA, tied to an MC-prefixed docket number. Look the broker up by its MC Number and confirm the authority status shows Active, not Inactive or Revoked. A broker operating on lapsed authority isn't just a bad sign — it means they may not be legally allowed to arrange the shipment in the first place, which complicates your recourse if something goes wrong.
Broker authority requires a $75,000 financial security instrument — almost always a BMC-84 surety bond, occasionally a BMC-85 trust fund. This is your backstop if the broker doesn't pay: you can file a claim against the bond. But bonds lapse — brokers get dropped by their surety company for making too many claims, or simply stop paying premiums when the business is struggling. A broker whose bond lapsed last month can still look completely normal from the outside, which is exactly why checking authority status directly — not just assuming a company you've worked with before is still fine — matters every time, not just the first time.
For more on how the bond mechanism actually works — what it does and doesn't cover — see what a BMC-84 bond is and why brokers need one.
Active authority and a current bond mean a broker is legally operating — they don't mean the broker pays on time. A broker can be fully compliant on paper and still take 60, 90, or more days to pay carriers, or dispute invoices aggressively to delay payment further. Ask other carriers who've hauled for that broker, check a factoring company's internal records if you work with one, and treat a broker who's cagey about payment terms or average days-to-pay as a real signal, not just an inconvenience.
A few patterns come up repeatedly in broker fraud: a broker contacting you from a phone number or email that doesn't match what's on file with FMCSA; pressure to accept a load with unusually little detail on pickup/delivery specifics; a rate that's noticeably above market for the lane (often a sign the load was double-brokered from a legitimate broker without their knowledge); and requests to bypass normal invoicing or send payment somewhere other than the company's usual channel. None of these alone is proof of a problem, but two or more together are worth pausing over.
Don't rely on information the broker gives you directly — cross-check its MC number, company name, and physical address against FMCSA's own public record and against our broker directory independently. If the broker's authority is active, its bond is current, and its business details match what's publicly on file, you've cleared the basic checks. From there it's a normal business judgment call, same as evaluating any new customer or partner.
If you've hauled a load and the broker isn't paying, start by documenting everything — the rate confirmation, proof of delivery, and all communication — before it becomes a dispute. Send a formal demand for payment referencing the agreed terms, and if that goes nowhere within a reasonable window, file a claim against the broker's BMC-84 bond directly with the surety company listed on its FMCSA record. For larger unpaid amounts, small claims court or a collections attorney who specializes in freight payment disputes are the next real options. The earlier you act, the better — a broker already sliding toward insolvency often accumulates claims from multiple carriers at once, and bond funds are finite.