How to Report a Freight Broker for Non-Payment and Get Paid

To report a freight broker for non-payment, file a claim against the broker’s $75,000 federal surety bond, submit a complaint through FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database, and report the unpaid invoice to freight credit agencies like TransCredit and Ansonia and to load boards like DAT and Truckstop. Each channel applies a different kind of pressure, and using them together works better than any one alone. Move quickly: bond funds are limited, and other unpaid carriers may be filing against the same broker.

Pull Your Paperwork Together Before You Report Anything

Every channel below asks for the same core documents, and incomplete submissions are the top reason claims stall. Get these in one folder before you make your first call:

The signed rate confirmation, which shows the agreed price, the broker’s name and MC number, and the load details.
The bill of lading with the receiver’s signature, proving you delivered.
Your original invoice and any records of partial payment, establishing the exact amount owed.
Emails, texts, and voicemails from your collection attempts. A record of repeated requests met with silence or excuses matters when the surety company evaluates your claim.

Make copies. You will send similar packets to multiple parties.

Send a Written Demand to the Broker First

Before you escalate, send the broker a written demand for payment. Surety companies evaluating a bond claim want to see that you gave the broker a fair chance to pay, and a demand letter starts the paper trail that strengthens everything after it.

Include your company name and MC number, the broker’s name and MC number, the load reference number, pickup and delivery dates, the exact amount owed, and a payment deadline (10 to 15 business days is standard). Send it by email and by certified mail so you have proof of delivery. State plainly that you will file a bond claim and an FMCSA complaint if payment is not received by the deadline. Brokers who are simply disorganized often respond. The ones who don’t are telling you what to do next.

Look Up the Broker’s Surety Bond on FMCSA

Every licensed freight broker must maintain a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund with FMCSA as a condition of operating authority.¹ That bond exists specifically to pay carriers and shippers when a broker fails to honor freight charges. To file against it, you have to identify who issued it.

Go to the FMCSA Licensing and Insurance website and search by the broker’s name, MC number, or USDOT number.² The results will show whether the broker holds a BMC-84 surety bond or a BMC-85 trust fund, plus the name and contact information of the surety company or financial institution backing it. That is where your claim packet goes.

While you’re there, check whether the broker’s operating authority is still active. If it shows revoked or suspended, you may be dealing with a broker who has already burned through the bond or lost their license, which changes your strategy.

File a Claim Against the Bond

The bond claim is the most direct route to recovering your money. The $75,000 bond or trust fund is there to pay carriers when a broker defaults on freight charges.³ Contact the surety and ask for their claim submission requirements. Most have a specific form or packet format.

Include the signed rate confirmation, signed bill of lading, unpaid invoice, a copy of your demand letter, and your documented delivery and communication attempts. Submit everything the surety asks for, because incomplete claims are the most common reason for delay or denial.

How the Surety Handles Your Claim

Federal law gives the surety 30 days from receiving your claim to respond, and denials must come in writing with an explanation.¹ The surety contacts the broker to see whether the debt is disputed. Three things can happen:

The broker agrees you’re owed, and the surety pays out from the bond.
The broker doesn’t respond, and the surety evaluates the claim on its own and can pay you directly.
The broker disputes the claim, in which case you’ll need a court judgment against the broker before the surety pays.

That third scenario stalls a lot of carriers. If the broker offers even a thin excuse, the surety may decline to pay until a court sorts it out. One thing that helps: if you have to sue the surety to collect, the prevailing party recovers reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.¹

The $75,000 Is Shared

The bond is a single pool split among all claimants. When a broker fails, claims routinely exceed the bond amount, and the surety may file a court action to divide the remaining funds proportionally. A carrier owed $5,000 might see only a fraction of that. File as soon as your demand deadline passes. The first claims in have the best shot at full recovery before the bond drains.

File a Complaint with FMCSA

The bond claim pursues your money. The FMCSA complaint pursues the broker’s license. Do both, because they are separate actions.

FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database accepts complaints against property brokers for violations of federal commercial regulations.⁴ Go to the NCCDB portal, select the property broker category, and enter the broker’s name, MC number, the date of the incident, the amount owed, and as much detail as you can supply about the failure to pay.⁵

You’ll get a tracking number. FMCSA won’t intervene in your individual dispute, but the agency uses complaint data to decide which brokers to investigate.⁴ A pattern of complaints against a single MC number can trigger an audit of the broker’s financial security compliance and, potentially, revocation of operating authority. Your complaint may not pay you back directly, but it feeds the regulatory consequences that protect the next carrier.

Report the Broker to Credit Agencies and Load Boards

Industry credit reporting hits brokers where they feel it: their ability to book future loads. TransCredit and Ansonia are the two dominant credit agencies in freight, and factoring companies and carriers routinely check a broker’s score before agreeing to haul. Reporting an unpaid invoice creates a negative mark that pulls the broker’s payment scores down and makes reputable carriers reluctant to work with them.

Load boards like DAT and Truckstop maintain their own carrier-facing rating and review systems for flagging payment problems. They generally require documentation of the debt and evidence of collection attempts before publishing a report. Once verified, the non-payment record shows up for every subscriber who looks up that MC number. For brokers who depend on load board capacity to run their business, a string of non-payment reports can bite harder than the bond claim itself. Brokers who want to keep operating often settle quickly once their scores start to fall.

Go After the Shipper Under the Bill of Lading

Many carriers don’t realize they may have a claim against the shipper too. Under the standard uniform bill of lading, the shipper is liable for freight charges unless they signed the Section 7 nonrecourse provision on the face of the BOL.⁶ If Section 7 was not signed, the shipper remains responsible for the freight charges even if they already paid the broker.

Shippers find this unfair because they paid the broker in good faith, but it is how the law works. Their recourse is against the broker who took their money without paying you. Check your bill of lading for the Section 7 signature. If it’s blank, send the shipper a written demand citing the BOL terms and the outstanding freight charges. Many shippers will pay rather than risk litigation, especially larger companies with legal departments that understand the exposure.

Federal law also gives a carrier 180 days to issue a bill for additional charges beyond the original invoice.⁷ If you originally billed only the broker, sending a separate invoice to the shipper within that 180-day window preserves your right to collect from them.

Escalate to a Collection Agency or Small Claims Court

When the bond claim stalls, the broker keeps ignoring you, and the shipper won’t pay, professional collection or a lawsuit are what’s left.

Collection Agencies

Transportation-specialized collection agencies work on contingency, taking a percentage of what they recover and charging nothing upfront if they fail. Rates for commercial claims run roughly 10% to 50%, driven mainly by size and age of the debt. Claims of $3,000 to $10,000 typically fall in the 25% to 35% range; smaller debts under $3,000 command higher percentages because they take the same effort for a smaller payoff. Rates can climb to 50% if the agency has to file suit. The math has to work for you: on a $1,500 invoice a 35% fee leaves under $1,000, but on a $10,000 invoice a 25% fee still nets $7,500.

Small Claims Court

If you’d rather not share your recovery, small claims court is realistic for most freight invoices. Jurisdictional limits range from $2,500 to $25,000 depending on the state, with most states capping claims at $10,000 or less. Filing fees run from about $15 to $300, and you can represent yourself. You’ll need to serve the broker with a summons and then present the rate confirmation, signed BOL, and unpaid invoice to a judge.

A judgment gives you a court order for the amount owed. Collecting on it is a separate fight, but a judgment opens the door to wage garnishment, bank levies, and asset seizure through your state’s enforcement procedures. You have to file in a court with jurisdiction over the broker, usually the state where they’re located or where the contract was performed. For an out-of-state broker, travel and logistics may push you back toward a collection agency despite the fee.

Deadlines That Can Kill Your Claim

Timing runs through every step here, and missing a deadline can permanently close a recovery path.

Federal regulations set a default credit period of 15 days from when the freight bill is presented, with a maximum of 30 days if the carrier’s tariff allows a longer window. Once that window closes without payment, the broker is in default.⁸
There is no single federal deadline for filing a surety bond claim during normal operations, but individual surety companies impose their own deadlines in their policy terms. File early. If the broker becomes financially insolvent, the surety must accept claims for 60 calendar days after FMCSA publishes notice of the insolvency.³
You have 180 days from the original bill to issue additional charges to the shipper or consignee.⁷
The statute of limitations on a breach of contract lawsuit varies by state but typically runs three to six years. Don’t let that generous window fool you. Evidence degrades, brokers close shop, and bond funds deplete long before the statute runs.

The carriers who recover the most money start the process within days of a missed payment, not months. Every week you wait is a week another carrier may be draining the same $75,000 bond you need to collect from.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 13906 – Security of Motor Carriers, Brokers, and Freight Forwarders
2
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How Can I Check the Status of My Operating Authority
3
eCFR. 49 CFR 387.307 – Property Broker Surety Bond or Trust Fund
4
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. National Consumer Complaint Database
5
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. National Consumer Complaint Database FAQs
6
eCFR. 49 CFR Part 1035 – Bills of Lading
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 13710 – Additional Billing and Collecting Practices
8
eCFR. 49 CFR 377.203 – Extension of Credit to Shippers