Double Brokering
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Definition
Double brokering is when a party accepts a load as a carrier and then re-brokers it to another carrier without the shipper’s or original broker’s authorization.
The carrier who actually hauls the freight often ends up unpaid, because the entity that hired them was never authorized to do so.
How the carrier gets hurt
You book what looks like a normal load. You haul it, deliver it and invoice, then discover the company that hired you has vanished, was never entitled to broker freight, or has already been paid by the original broker and disappeared with the money.
The original broker's position is that they paid the carrier they contracted with. Yours is that you moved the freight. There is often no legal relationship between you and anyone still solvent.
The common version is impersonation
Most current cases are not a genuine broker quietly re-brokering. They are someone posing as a legitimate broker, usually a well known one, using their name, their MC number and paperwork that looks correct.
What almost always does not hold up is the email domain. It will be a near match: a hyphen added, a letter swapped, a different top level domain. Easy to miss at eleven at night when a driver needs a load.
What to check
- Email domain, across the whole conversation. Does the rate confirmation come from the same domain as the negotiation, and does that domain match the broker's public one?
- Authority against FMCSA. Verify the MC number is active and belongs to who you think. Look up a carrier.
- Phone numbers. Call the number listed publicly for the broker, not the one on the email.
- A rate that is too good. Unusually high rates on ordinary freight are a recruitment tactic.
- Pressure to move quickly. Urgency exists to prevent verification.
If you think you have been double brokered
Document everything immediately: the ratecon, the email thread, the phone numbers, the BOL and the POD. Contact the original broker or shipper directly using publicly listed contact details. Report it to the FMCSA. And if you factor, tell your factoring company early rather than after the invoice ages.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Re-brokering a load to another carrier without authorization from the shipper or original broker. It frequently leaves the hauling carrier unpaid.
Unauthorized re-brokering violates FMCSA regulations and contract terms. The impersonation version is straightforwardly fraud.
Email domains that do not match across the conversation, authority that does not verify against FMCSA, phone numbers that differ from public listings, and rates well above market on ordinary freight.
You may not be paid. The original broker will generally maintain they paid the party they contracted with, and you may have no contractual relationship with anyone recoverable.
Hey Bubba! verifies carrier and broker authority against FMCSA records.
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