What Is a BMC-84 Bond — and Why $75,000 Matters

The BMC-84 is the $75,000 surety bond every freight broker must carry. Here's what it protects, how to file a claim, and why a missing or low bond is a major red flag.

The BMC-84 is a $75,000 surety bondthat every licensed freight broker in the United States is federally required to carry. For an owner-operator, it's the single most important financial safety net standing between you and an unpaid load — which is exactly why checking it should be part of vetting any broker.

What the BMC-84 actually protects

A surety bond is a three-party guarantee: the broker (principal), a surety company that backs the bond, and you (the carrier or shipper who might need to claim against it). If a broker fails to pay you for freight you legitimately moved, you can file a claim against their BMC-84 bond, and the surety pays valid claims up to the $75,000 limit. It doesn't make you whole automatically, and a busy broker's bond can be exhausted by many claimants — but a broker with an active, funded bond has real accountability. A broker with none has almost none.

Why $75,000 is the number

The $75,000 minimum was set to raise the bar for entry and give carriers a meaningful pool to recover from. When you check a broker, you're confirming two things: that a bond is on file at all, and that it meets the $75,000 minimum. Anything less means the broker either isn't properly bonded or is operating on the edge of compliance — both are reasons to slow down.

How to file a BMC-84 claim

If a broker won't pay, identify their surety company (listed with their FMCSA record), send a written demand, and file a claim with the surety before the bond is exhausted — speed matters, because bonds are paid against competing claims. Keep your rate confirmation, bills of lading, proof of delivery, and invoices; documentation is what gets claims paid.

Checking the bond before you haul

Verifying the bond takes seconds and is part of the standard broker verification checklist. A missing or below-minimum bond frequently travels with the other fraud signals covered in the complete guide to freight broker fraud — so if the bond looks wrong, scrutinize everything else too. Run a broker below and the bond status is right there in the verdict.