Freight broker

A freight broker is an intermediary between a shipper and a freight service provider. Freight brokers can specialize in certain types of freight, such as equipment hauling on lowboys, oversize, bulk tanker, auto, or other types of freight transportation.

A freight broker in the United States must be licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and be granted authority as verifiable via the FMCSA Licensing & Insurance database.^[1]

A freight broker, in freight transport (cargo), over land in the United States by truck^[2] is often used as part of the logistics. This may be part of an overall shipbroking using a cargo broker, a freight forwarder, third party logistics broker (3PL), and even a fourth-party broker,^[3] when outsourcing is needed (as opposed to in-house) for freight transportation. The brokering can be single mode or by multimodal transportation and can use specialized brokers on a permanent basis or as needed to ensure timely traffic management.

A load may be posted on a truck load board^[4] by shippers, brokers, or agents.^[5] This may occur with special orders, brokers and/or agents that do not have an established logistics base, or brokers and agents seeking a backhaul for a truck not in a high-traffic lane. Many brokers specialize in certain freight such as full truckload (FTL) or less than truckload, auto, boat or yacht, bulk tanker (liquid or dry goods), oversize, equipment hauling on lowboys, flatbed, drop deck, or any other mode of freight transportation with enough loads.^[6]