Double brokering
"Double brokering" is the trucking name for a load that gets passed on again: a carrier, or someone posing as one, takes a load and hands it to another carrier without the authority or the shipper's or broker's consent. The truck that hauls it often doesn't get paid.
Why it is a problem
In the usual scheme, a party books a load from a real broker, re-posts it to a load board at a lower rate, and books a second carrier, sometimes using another company's name and MC number. The real broker pays the first party, who disappears. The carrier that actually hauled the freight is left with a signed rate con from a company that has no money and may not exist.
What the federal definition says
Federal rules define a broker as a person who, for compensation, arranges or offers to arrange transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier. Motor carriers are not brokers when they arrange transportation of shipments they are authorized to transport and have accepted and legally bound themselves to transport (49 CFR 371.2). A broker may not offer brokerage service in any name other than the one its registration is issued in, and may not represent its operation as a carrier (49 CFR 371.7).
A registered property broker must also have a $75,000 surety bond (Form BMC-84) or trust fund (Form BMC-85) in effect; FMCSA won't register a broker until it is, and it exists to pay shippers or motor carriers if the broker fails to carry out its contracts (49 CFR 387.307). A party without broker authority has no such bond behind it.
Warning signs on a rate con
- The company name, MC number, phone or email on the rate con don't match the public FMCSA record for that MC.
- Contact uses a free email domain (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook) while claiming to be an established brokerage.
- The "broker" is listed as a carrier, or the rate con has a carrier's MC but asks you to haul under its name.
- Pressure to sign within minutes, no load number from the shipper, or instructions not to contact the shipper or receiver.
- A rate well above the lane's going rate with fast-pay promises.
What the Rate Con Checker flags
The checker's broker identity rule pulls the MC and DOT numbers from the text and gives you one-click links to the FMCSA SAFER record. A free email domain in the rate con is a red flag; no MC or DOT number at all is a flag. Its sign-by rule flags demands to sign within a set number of minutes or hours. None of this proves fraud; it tells you what to verify.
How to protect yourself
Call the broker on the phone number in the FMCSA record, not the one on the email, and confirm the load number. Check that the authority is active and a bond or trust is on file. If anything doesn't match, don't haul it until it does. If you've already delivered and aren't paid, the broker's bond or trust fund is one avenue; claims rules and deadlines are in 49 CFR 387.307.