Loading…
Every licensed property broker is required to maintain a $75,000 financial-responsibility instrument on file with the federal regulator — a surety bond (form BMC-84) or a trust fund (form BMC-85). The bond is what a carrier draws against when a broker fails to pay. This guide explains how to read a broker's bond-on-file record, what the $75,000 floor does and does not protect, and the lapse signals that warn you a broker may not be able to make you whole.
A property broker must keep a $75,000 surety bond (BMC-84) or trust fund (BMC-85) on file with the federal regulator to hold active broker authority. To verify it, pull the broker's authority record and confirm three things: the bond-on-file flag is yes, the bond amount meets the $75,000 minimum, and the broker authority status is active. The bond is the pool a carrier claims against when a broker doesn't pay; a broker operating without a bond on file is operating without authority, and a bond at exactly $75,000 can be exhausted quickly across multiple claimants.
The BMC-84 is a surety bond a property broker posts as proof of financial responsibility. It is a three-party instrument: the surety company guarantees that if the broker fails to pay a carrier or shipper a valid claim, the surety will pay up to the bond amount and then pursue the broker for reimbursement. The bond exists to protect the carriers and shippers a broker transacts with — it is the recourse pool when a broker goes under or simply refuses to pay.
The federal minimum is $75,000. Every active property-broker authority must carry either a BMC-84 surety bond or a BMC-85 trust fund of at least that amount. The trust-fund alternative (BMC-85) is functionally similar from a claimant's perspective: it is a pool of money held in trust that carriers can claim against. Both satisfy the same regulatory requirement; the difference is in how the broker funds and structures the instrument.
The $75,000 minimum was set to weed out undercapitalized brokers, but it is a shared pool. If a broker fails owing money to a dozen carriers, all of them claim against the same $75,000, and the bond can be exhausted before any single claimant is made whole. A bond on file confirms the broker met the minimum — it does not guarantee you'll recover your full receivable if the broker collapses.
Both forms satisfy the broker financial-responsibility requirement, and from a carrier's claiming perspective they behave alike. The distinction matters mostly when you are assessing how a broker is capitalized.
When you pull a broker's record in Knowhaul, the broker authority status and surety-bond-on-file fields come from the federal authority feed — so you can confirm the broker holds active broker authority with a bond on file at or above the required amount.
Verifying a broker's bond is a three-field check against the federal authority record. Read them in order, and a failure on any one is a reason to stop.
When the federal record shows a bond is required but not on file, the broker is operating in a compliance gap. The regulator revokes broker authority for failure to maintain the bond. A broker in this state may have its authority pulled at any time — a strong reason to hold tender until the bond is confirmed back on file.
A bond can lapse the same way insurance can — the broker stops paying the surety premium, the surety cancels, and the bond-on-file status flips. Because the regulator's data updates on a feed cadence rather than in real time, the safest practice for a high-value relationship is to confirm the bond status close to when you transact, not just at onboarding.
Watch for the combination of a recently flipped bond-on-file status and a broker that is suddenly slow-paying or pushing for faster tender. A broker whose bond is lapsing is a broker in financial distress, and a distressed broker is exactly the counterparty most likely to leave a carrier unpaid. The bond status is a leading indicator of broker solvency in a way that a clean authority status alone is not.
The surety bond protects against a broker's failure to pay — it is not cargo insurance and it does not protect a broker against a carrier's failures. The bond is a financial-responsibility instrument for the broker's payment obligations, and the $75,000 ceiling caps total recovery across all claimants, not per claim.
The federal minimum for property brokers and freight forwarders is $75,000. Every active broker authority must carry a surety bond (BMC-84) or trust fund (BMC-85) of at least that amount. A broker may voluntarily carry more, and a higher bond is a positive signal, but $75,000 is the regulatory floor below which a broker cannot legally hold active broker authority.
A BMC-84 is a surety bond — a surety company guarantees the broker's $75,000 obligation and the broker pays a premium for that backing. A BMC-85 is a trust fund — the broker sets aside $75,000 (or more) in a trust account held by a financial institution, with no third-party underwriter. Both satisfy the same financial-responsibility requirement and behave the same way from a carrier's claiming perspective. The authority record shows which instrument the broker uses.
Not necessarily. The bond is a shared pool capped at the bond amount — typically the $75,000 minimum. If a broker collapses owing money to multiple carriers, all of them claim against the same pool, and it can be exhausted before any single carrier is made whole. The bond confirms the broker met the regulatory minimum; it does not guarantee full recovery. Size your credit exposure to any single broker with that ceiling in mind.
Pull the broker's authority record and read three fields: broker authority status (must be active), surety-bond-on-file (must be yes), and bond amount (must meet the $75,000 minimum). Knowhaul surfaces the broker authority status and surety-bond fields from the federal authority feed on the carrier/broker card, so you can confirm a broker holds active authority with a bond on file at or above the required amount without pulling the raw filing.
A lapsed bond puts the broker out of compliance with its financial-responsibility requirement, and the federal regulator revokes broker authority for failure to maintain the bond. A broker showing a 'required but not on file' bond status is at risk of losing its authority at any time. A lapsing bond is also a leading indicator of financial distress — exactly the kind of broker most likely to leave carriers unpaid — so a recently flipped bond status is a strong reason to hold tender until it is resolved.
Paste an MC, DOT, or VIN to verify a carrier in one card. Free, no signup.
Free, no signup. Paste a DOT, MC, or VIN — verify right away.
Decode the FMCSA L&I insurance register: BMC-91 liability, BMC-34 cargo, BMC-32 household-goods cargo, effective and cancellation dates, and the gotchas brokers miss.
How double brokering works in 2026, recent fraud patterns, and a prevention checklist for freight brokers and shippers who want to stop the bleed.
Authority types in plain English — Common, Contract, Broker, and Freight Forwarder. What each allows, when carriers hold more than one, and what 'revoked' actually means.
Cargo insurance verification is more than 'is it active.' Limits, deductibles, and commodity exclusions decide whether a claim actually pays. This guide walks the per-load cargo verification a broker should run before tender.
Open one of these profiles in a new tab to see how the checklist applies to a live carrier record.
Check broker authority status and surety-bond-on-file in one card — the $75,000 floor, the bond amount, and the lapse signals.