What does it mean when an MC number belongs to a broker?

What a broker is under federal rules

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 motor carrier is not acting as a broker when it arranges shipments it is authorized to transport and has accepted and legally bound itself to transport.

A broker may not offer brokerage services under any name other than the one its registration is issued in, may not present its operation as a carrier, and must show its broker status in its advertising. Before FMCSA registers a property broker, the broker must have a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund in effect, filed on Form BMC-84 or BMC-85.

How to read the authority on the record

The SAFER Company Snapshot lists every type of authority a company holds under Operating Authority Status. Carrier authority shows as, for example, Motor Carrier of Property (Except Household Goods); broker authority shows as Broker of Property (Except Household Goods).

One company can hold both. In October 2026, the Snapshot for MC-135797 (J B Hunt Transport) listed authority as a motor carrier of property, a motor carrier of household goods, a broker of property and a broker of household goods, all under that single MC number. Broker authority on a record is therefore not a problem in itself. What matters is whether the company also holds carrier authority, and whether it is the company that will haul your load.

The Snapshot also notes that NOT AUTHORIZED does not apply to private or intrastate operations. For a company offering to haul interstate freight for hire, though, you need to see active carrier authority.

Why it matters to you

When a broker takes your load while presenting itself as the carrier, you lose control over who actually hauls it and whose insurance covers it. The FBI describes criminals who, posing as a compromised carrier, accept real shipments and double-broker them to drivers who do not know the whole story.

Brokering without FMCSA registration and the required financial security is unlawful, and anyone who knowingly authorizes or permits it is liable for a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation and to the injured party for all valid claims. That liability applies jointly and severally to the company and to its individual officers, directors and principals.

Dispatchers and “agents”

FMCSA’s 2023 guidance says a dispatch service may be either a broker or a bona fide agent of a carrier, depending on what it actually does. Signs of brokerage listed in that guidance include accepting a shipment without a truck and then looking for one, being a named party on the shipping contract, and soliciting the open market of carriers for a shipment.

A dispatch service acting as a carrier’s agent typically has a written contract in which the carrier appoints it as its agent, and it goes through a broker rather than soliciting shippers for freight. Ask which carrier a dispatcher represents, then confirm that with the carrier itself on the phone number on its record.

Changes coming to registration numbers

FMCSA is moving registration to a new system called Motus, and its April 2026 notice said every company will keep being identified by its USDOT number. SAFER still shows each company’s MC, MX or FF numbers today, so keep asking for both numbers. How to check an MC number explains the Motus suffixes.

What to do, step by step

1. Ask for the MC number of the company that will haul the load. If you are talking to a broker or a dispatcher, that will be a different number from theirs.
2. Look it up on SAFER and read the Operating Authority Status line.
3. If it lists broker authority only, the company cannot haul your load as a carrier. Ask who the carrier is and check that carrier separately.
4. If it lists both carrier and broker authority, confirm in writing that this company will haul the load itself, and that the truck at pickup will show its name and USDOT number.
5. If a dispatcher is involved, confirm with the carrier, on the phone number on its record, that the dispatcher works for it.
6. Put the carrier’s legal name and MC number on the rate confirmation. Brokers must keep the carrier’s name, address and registration number in the record of each transaction.

What to watch out for

• A broker MC number on a “carrier” email signature, carrier packet or rate confirmation.
• Look-alike company names. Compare the exact legal name on the record, not just the first word.
• Authority for the wrong kind of freight. The Snapshot lists household goods authority separately from general property authority.
• A load that moves on without you. What double brokering is and how to prevent it.