How a freight broker bond claim works

Updated 2026-10-10. For carriers, dispatchers and factoring companies owed money by a broker. Not legal advice.

Every freight broker must keep $75,000 of financial security on file with FMCSA: a surety bond (form BMC-84) or a trust fund (BMC-85). When a broker stops paying and goes under, that $75,000 is often the only money carriers can reach. It is shared among everyone who claims: FreightWaves reported an owner-operator who was "claimant number 47" and received $312 (FreightWaves).

The dates that matter

• Cancellation needs 30 days' notice. A surety or trustee cancels a bond or trust with 30 days' written notice to FMCSA on form BMC-36 (49 CFR 387.307(d)). FMCSA's insurance-history file shows the cancellation date once it is filed, which is why it can appear weeks ahead.
• Sureties report payouts fast. A surety must tell FMCSA within 2 business days when a payment takes the bond below $75,000, or when it decides the broker is failing (387.307(e)). FMCSA does not publish those reports as data; what you can see publicly is the cancellation, the suspension notice and the authority status.
• 60 days to claim after a failure is announced. After FMCSA publishes a broker's financial failure or insolvency in the FMCSA Register, the surety must accept claims for 60 calendar days (387.307(f)). FMCSA posts the Register under Daily Register / Certificates / Letters.

What to do when a broker you're owed by looks shaky

1. Find the surety and bond number. They are on the broker's FMCSA insurance filings; our broker pages show them with the cancellation date, if any.
2. Keep your paperwork together: the rate confirmation, bill of lading, proof of delivery, your invoice and any messages about payment. If you factored the invoice, ask your factoring company who files the claim.
3. Ask for payment in writing now, before any cancellation takes effect.
4. Contact the surety to ask how it takes claims, and watch the FMCSA Register for a failure notice so you don't miss the 60 days.

A cancellation alone does not mean a broker is failing: some brokers switch sureties, and the new filing appears later. Check what is on file before you act.

Where Carrier Ledger fits

Carrier Ledger lists brokers with a bond or trust cancellation filed, and brokers served a suspension notice, every day: broker bond cancellations. Put the brokers you're owed by on a watchlist, with a note of your open invoices, and you get an alert the day one of them has a cancellation filed, a suspension notice or an authority change, naming the surety. It does not see sureties' payout reports, broker credit or payment history, and it does not file claims. Check your broker list free