Freight brokers, shippers, and a truck crash

A broker arranges transportation; a carrier provides it

Federal rules define a broker as a person who, for compensation, arranges or offers to arrange the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier. A broker is not, by that definition, the motor carrier. Many companies hold both authorities. The authority block on the federal record will show whether broker authority, carrier authority, or both are on file.

Whether a particular broker can be responsible after a crash is a state-law question that usually turns on control: who selected the carrier, what the contract said, whether the broker held itself out as the carrier, and whether it had notice of a problem with the carrier it selected. Federal preemption arguments appear in these cases. This site does not decide them.

The broker's own federal file is thin on crash facts

A broker's USDOT record will not list the crash the way a carrier's record does, because the broker was not operating the truck. What you can see is authority status and, for many brokers, a surety or trust filing related to freight charges, not public-liability coverage for highway injuries. Do not treat a BMC-84 or BMC-85 trust as liability insurance for the people in the other vehicle.

The shipper is a step further removed. A shipper can still matter if it controlled loading, set an impossible schedule, or selected the carrier in a way the facts support. Those are load-specific facts. They live in emails, the rate confirmation, and the bill of lading, not in a census table.

Preserve the load file

If a broker or shipper name appears on the load, send the preservation letter to that company as well as the carrier. Ask for the rate confirmation, carrier-selection records, communications about the load, and any contract. Use the carrier lookup on every USDOT or MC number printed on those papers. Identity first, then the file.