How do I check a broker before taking a load?

Chapter 01

Is this broker real, and does it have broker authority?

Look the broker up by its MC or USDOT number in FMCSA’s public record, and check two things first. The legal name must match the name on the rate confirmation. And its authority to broker must be active. A company can hold carrier authority and no authority to broker at all. The law treats hauling freight and brokering freight as two separate registrations (the federal law on broker registration). And a broker may only do business in the name its registration is issued in (the rule against misrepresentation).

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you run two dry vans. On Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 10:40 at night, your second truck is empty in Dallas. On the load board you find a load to Atlanta. Pickup is at 5 in the morning, and it pays $2,900. That is about $300 more than the other loads you can see tonight. We made up these numbers, and the whole story, to show how the checks work. You call the number on the post. A man who says his name is Mike answers for a broker called Example Freight LLC. At 10:55 his rate confirmation lands in your email. He wants it signed in 20 minutes.

A rate confirmation, which most people call a rate con, is the broker’s written offer for one load. It gives the rate, the pickup and delivery, and the payment terms. A broker, in the rules, is a company paid to arrange the hauling of freight by an authorized carrier (the rule that defines a broker). So the broker does not haul the load. Your truck does.

Before you sign, open FMCSA’s lookup. One place to look is the Company Snapshot on FMCSA’s SAFER site, where you type in the MC number from the rate con. This step is what people mean by an MC authority check. The MC number is the number FMCSA gives to an authority to haul or to broker. Your company has one too. FMCSA is moving registration to a new system called Motus, and in April 2026 it said MC numbers stay for now (FMCSA’s notice on Motus).

What will you find there? We checked the registration data FMCSA publishes every day (FMCSA’s published registration data). For each company it lists the legal name and any other business name, the business address and the phone number. It lists the USDOT and MC numbers. And it lists each type of authority on its own line, with its own status. Broker authority shows as its own type, with a status such as Active, Inactive or Pending. FMCSA’s websites block our tools, so we could not look at the lookup screens themselves. Things may sit in a different place on your screen, but these are the items to look for.

In your case, the record for that MC number shows Example Freight LLC, the same name as on the rate con. Its authority to broker is Active. It holds no carrier authority, which is normal for a company that only brokers. FMCSA also keeps a history of each authority, with the date it started and any suspension (FMCSA’s authority history data). This one has been active since 2019, with no suspensions. So far, so good.

What would have made you stop right here? A legal name that differs from the rate con, with no other business name on record that explains it. Authority to broker that says Inactive or Pending. Or a company that calls itself a broker on the rate con, while FMCSA shows it with carrier authority only. Do not book that load. Our guide on how to spot and avoid double brokering explains the scheme that can sit behind it.

Chapter 02

Can this broker pay, and what does its bond cover?

Check that the broker has a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund on file, and that it is not being cancelled. Every broker must keep one, and its registration lasts only while the bond or trust is in effect (the bond rule). The bond is there to pay carriers and shippers when a broker does not keep its deals. But the $75,000 has to cover all of the broker’s unpaid bills together. So a bond on file tells you the broker may work today, not that it will pay you.

A surety bond is a promise from a surety company, a kind of insurer, to pay valid claims up to the bond amount. In FMCSA’s records a broker’s surety bond is filed on a form called BMC-84, and a trust fund on a form called BMC-85. FMCSA’s published data lists each filing with its form, the company behind it and the date it took effect (FMCSA’s filing data). The law says the bond pays a carrier’s claim for unpaid freight charges in three cases. The broker agrees to the payment. Or the broker does not answer, and the surety finds the claim valid. Or a court rules for the carrier (the federal law on broker security).

For Example Freight, the record shows a BMC-84 bond, the name of the surety company and the date it started. There is no cancellation date. That matters because a bond can be cancelled only after 30 days’ written notice to FMCSA (the bond rule). FMCSA’s filing history carries the date a filing is cancelled (FMCSA’s filing history data). If the bond shows a cancellation date and no new bond is on file, the broker’s authority may end on that date. Do not haul for it until that is settled.

Since January 16, 2026, new steps apply when a broker’s bond runs low. FMCSA adopted them in November 2023 (the 2023 rule) and later moved the start date to January 2026 (the December 2024 rule). Now, when the surety pays a claim that takes the bond below $75,000, it must tell FMCSA within 2 business days. The same goes when the surety decides the broker is failing and it will have to pay such claims. FMCSA then warns the broker. The broker has 7 business days to show that the bond is back to $75,000, or that the claims were paid another way. If it does not, FMCSA suspends its broker authority (the bond rule).

If the broker does not fix the problem, the rule treats it as a failed broker, and the surety must start cancelling the bond. FMCSA then posts a notice in the FMCSA Register, its daily list of decisions and notices about companies’ authority. From that notice, carriers and shippers have 60 calendar days to file claims on the bond (the bond rule). If a broker you already hauled for shows up there, go straight to how to collect an unpaid broker invoice. Guides written before 2026 may not include these steps.

Here is the limit of a broker bond check. When FMCSA wrote the 2023 rule, a group of owner-operators asked it to show how many claims sit on each broker’s bond. It said no, because sureties are not required to list pending claims (the 2023 rule). So nobody can tell from FMCSA’s record how much of the $75,000 is still there.

To see how a broker pays, some load boards sell credit scores and days to pay. Days to pay means how long a broker takes to pay carriers. On September 22, 2026, 123Loadboard’s pricing page listed “Credit Scores & Days-to-Pay” on its $59 and $79 monthly plans. Its $39 plan did not have it (123Loadboard’s pricing page). We did not test how good those scores are. And do you sell your invoices to a factoring company for quicker cash? Then ask it before you book whether it will buy invoices on this broker.

At 11:02, Example Freight has passed the first two checks. Now you need to know that Mike really works for it.

Chapter 03

Am I really talking to that broker, and where will my money come from?

Call the broker at the phone number in FMCSA’s record, not the number in the email. Ask them to confirm the load and that the person contacting you works for them. A real MC number on a rate con proves little on its own, because anyone can copy it. FMCSA itself reports identity theft, hijacked accounts and sold MC numbers “resulting in cargo and monetary theft” (FMCSA’s notice on Motus). Then read the payment part of the rate con: who pays you, how many days it takes, and where your invoice goes.

Back to your rate con. Mike’s email signature gives a phone number with a Florida area code. The number in FMCSA’s record has a Texas area code. His email address uses the broker’s name with one letter missing. The website printed on the rate con spells the name right. Neither difference proves fraud on its own. Brokers change phone systems, and big brokers have many offices. But each one is a reason to call the number FMCSA has.

At 11:10 you call the Texas number. A night line answers. You leave a message with the load, the rate con and Mike’s name. Five minutes later Mike texts you. He says the load will go to another truck in 10 minutes if you do not sign.

While you wait, read how you would be paid. The rate con should name the company that pays you, and normally that is the broker itself. If a dispatch service books your loads and wants brokers to pay it instead of you, read is your dispatcher acting as an unauthorized broker. It should say how many days until you are paid, and what quick pay costs. Quick pay means the broker pays you sooner and keeps a small part of the rate. It should also say where to send your invoice and delivery papers. On Mike’s rate con, invoices go to an email address with the same letter missing. And the load board post promised faster payment than the rate con now offers.

Your carrier packet deserves the same care. That is the set of papers a broker asks for before your first load. It holds your authority, your insurance certificate, your tax form and sometimes your bank details. Send it only to an address you have checked against FMCSA’s record. Later, someone may ask you to send invoices somewhere new, or say a different company will pay you. Call the broker at FMCSA’s number before you change anything.

One more right is worth knowing before you sign a broker’s carrier agreement. A broker must keep a record of each load for 3 years, including what it was paid and when it paid the carrier. Each side of the deal has the right to see that record (the rule on broker records). But FMCSA says broker contracts “frequently contain waivers of this right”, meaning clauses where you give it up (FMCSA’s 2024 proposal). In November 2024 FMCSA proposed making brokers send the record within 48 hours when asked. As of September 22, 2026, we found no final rule. So read the agreement, and know what you sign away.

Chapter 04

What on the rate confirmation should make me walk away?

Walk away when the paper does not match the record, or when someone rushes you past your checks. The first warning sign is a broker name or MC number that differs from FMCSA’s record. Others are a pickup so soon that you cannot check anything, and an order not to contact the shipper or the receiver. Payment terms that change between the post, the call and the rate con are one more. So is a request that you pay a fee before you haul. One sign can have an innocent reason. Two or three together are a reason to pass.

Now read Mike’s rate con line by line, the way you read it at 11:15. The broker name and MC number match FMCSA’s record, and that is the good part. Pickup is at 5 in the morning, less than six hours away. One line in capital letters says the carrier must not contact the shipper or the receiver, and all contact goes through the broker. The payment terms changed from the post. And the invoice address is one letter off from the broker’s real name.

Why does “do not contact the shipper” matter? A real broker may want to protect its customer, and some rate cons limit what you may discuss. But your driver still meets the shipper at pickup and gets the bill of lading. That is the paper the shipper hands over with the freight, and it names who is hauling. If it shows a different carrier or broker than your rate con, stop and call the broker at FMCSA’s number before you load. That is one of the signs our double brokering guide explains.

A broker also must not present itself as a carrier (the rule against misrepresentation). So if a broker wants your driver to tell the shipper that the truck belongs to the broker’s company, treat it as a warning sign.

So at 11:20 you pass on the load and let the truck rest. The next morning, at 8:10, someone from Example Freight’s Texas office calls you back. They have no load from Dallas to Atlanta, and nobody named Mike works there. Someone has been using their name, their MC number and an email address one letter off. Your record checks passed because the broker is real. Only the phone call showed that Mike did not work for that broker.

What has changed lately? The tighter bond rules took effect on January 16, 2026 (the bond rule). And since May 14, 2026, FMCSA has been moving registration from its old systems to Motus (FMCSA’s registration page). FMCSA said it will retire the old Licensing and Insurance system, which older checklists send you to. It also said the public will still be able to search a company’s record and read the FMCSA Register (FMCSA’s notice on Motus). We could not open the lookup screens ourselves. So if a screen looks different from an older checklist, look for the same items: name, numbers, broker authority status, bond and phone number. We also could not check how many claims sit on any broker’s bond, because sureties do not have to publish that.

If you would rather have every broker checked before a load reaches you, day or night, here is what we offer.