Home → Freight Broker Bond (BMC-84)
What the bond is
A freight broker is a licensed transportation intermediary that pairs shippers with motor carriers without taking possession of the cargo. Because the broker sits in the middle of the money, federal law conditions the license on financial security: 49 U.S.C. § 13906 requires every property broker to maintain either a surety bond on Form BMC-84 or a trust fund agreement on Form BMC-85, each in the penal sum of $75,000.
The bond is a three-party instrument. The broker is the principal. The FMCSA is the obligee. The surety guarantees that if the broker fails to pay a motor carrier or shipper for services performed under its arrangements, the injured party may recover against the bond up to the penal sum. The bond protects the parties the broker deals with, not the broker itself, and the principal remains liable to the surety for every dollar paid on a valid claim.
The requirement dates to 1930s Interstate Commerce Commission regulation, which is why the instrument is still sometimes called an ICC broker bond or property broker bond. The penal sum stood at $10,000 for four decades until MAP-21 raised it to $75,000, effective October 1, 2013.
Who must file it
- New applicants for property broker authority, before the FMCSA will activate the MC number.
- Existing brokers at every annual renewal, without lapse; a cancelled or expired bond triggers revocation of authority after the statutory notice period.
- Brokers changing legal entity, name, or structure, who must refile with updated information.
- Brokers of household goods, who carry the same $75,000 obligation with additional consumer-protection duties.
- Surface freight forwarders, whose parallel obligation is addressed separately because their operational exposure differs.
Ocean freight forwarders and NVOCCs are outside the FMCSA's jurisdiction entirely; their bond is the FMC-48, filed with the Federal Maritime Commission.
What it costs
You do not post $75,000. You pay an annual premium, which starts at 1% of the penal sum and is set by underwriting review of creditworthiness and financial statement strength. Industry tenure, prior claims history, and the financial condition of the operating entity and its owners all move the rate. Our cost analysis explains the pricing mechanics; applicants with impaired credit should read our non-standard program page before assuming a declination.
What we need to quote
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Completed application | Owner and entity information; an MC number is not required to apply, only to file |
| Personal credit authorization | All owners of the brokerage |
| Business financial statement | Requested for established operations and for non-standard files; strengthens pricing |
| Industry experience summary | Prior brokerage, carrier, or dispatch experience improves terms |
Once approved and paid, the bond is filed electronically with the FMCSA, generally the same business day. There is no paper original to mail.
What the bond covers, and what it does not
The BMC-84 answers a specific obligation: the broker's failure to pay for transportation services performed under its arrangements. A motor carrier holding a rate confirmation and a signed bill of lading for a delivered load, unpaid past terms, states a textbook claim. A shipper that paid the broker for transportation never provided states another. The instrument is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 13906 and implemented at 49 C.F.R. Part 387, Subpart C, and its coverage stops where those provisions stop.
What the bond does not do is equally important to understand before a dispute arises. It is not cargo insurance; loss and damage claims run against the carrier and its BMC-34 filing, not against the broker's bond. It does not cover the broker's own commissions or fee disputes, does not answer regulatory fines assessed against the broker, and does not extend to loads the broker did not arrange, which is precisely why documentation of each brokered movement under 49 C.F.R. § 371.3 decides contested claims. And the penal sum is aggregate: $75,000 is the ceiling across all claimants for the life of the bond term, not a per-claim limit, which is why a failing broker's bond is frequently interpleaded and distributed pro rata.
Filing, cancellation, and the public record
The bond is filed electronically against the MC number and appears in the FMCSA's public Licensing and Insurance record, which any carrier, shipper, or factoring company can and does check before extending credit. Cancellation runs on thirty days' written notice to the FMCSA; the notice itself becomes part of the public record the day it is filed, and the agency initiates revocation of authority if replacement security is not on file when the notice runs. Three disciplines follow. Renew ahead of the anniversary rather than at it. When changing sureties, have the replacement filing accepted before the outgoing bond's cancellation effective date, so the record never shows a gap. And keep the entity name, address, and structure in the FMCSA record synchronized with the bond; a name mismatch between the registration and the filing is treated as a defect and is the most common self-inflicted filing failure in the class.
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