This is the checklist we would hand a friend who just decided to open a brokerage: everything from the first filing to the ninetieth day, in the order it actually needs to happen. Each item is short on purpose; the linked guides carry the detail. Confirm fees and forms on FMCSA’s site before filing — they change, and this page is information, not legal advice.
Before you file
- Form the business entity; get an EIN and a business bank account.
- Decide the lane or vertical you will start on — one you can talk about credibly.
- Fund the payment gap: savings, a credit line or a factoring relationship for the weeks between paying carriers and being paid.
- Read how to become a freight broker once, end to end.
Filing and financial responsibility
- USDOT number and broker authority (MC) via FMCSA’s registration system.
- $75,000 surety bond (BMC-84) or trust (BMC-85) filed by your surety.
- BOC-3 process agents in every state.
- UCR registration; state business registrations.
- Calendar the renewals: bond premium, UCR, any state licences.
Setup week: documents and decisions
- Broker–carrier agreement, reviewed once by a transportation attorney.
- Rate confirmation template generated per load.
- Written accessorial policy: detention, layover, TONU, lumpers.
- Carrier vetting checklist: authority active, insurance in force and matched to the truck, identity matched to the FMCSA record, safety acceptable, agreement signed.
- Shipper credit policy and a starting credit limit per customer.
- Software: cover vetting, posting, tracking and paperwork with what is free; defer the TMS. See freight broker software cost.
- Create your broker account on LoadBoot: broker MC + live FMCSA check, no document packet, free for brokers.
Days 1–30: first lane, first carriers
- Prospect shippers on your one lane with a specific offer. Take the awkward first load.
- Post it where verified carriers will see it; vet every carrier that answers against the checklist.
- Paper the load, watch it move, collect proof of delivery, pay the carrier on the promised day.
- Record who ran it and whether you would use them again. Target: five to eight carriers you trust by day 30. See finding carriers as a new broker.
Days 31–60: second lane, credit discipline
- Add a second lane that your existing carriers can backhaul on.
- Review every open shipper invoice weekly; do not raise a credit limit until the first invoices are paid on time.
- Ask your best carriers for referrals after a clean load and a fast payment.
- Pay every accessorial the record supports, promptly. Reputation with carriers is built here.
Days 61–90: systems, agents, what to measure
- Decide whether volume now justifies a system of record; connect it to the board by API rather than re-keying.
- If an experienced agent wants to work under your authority, read freight agent vs freight broker first and paper the split.
- Measure four numbers monthly: loads covered, gross margin per load, days-to-pay from shippers, days-to-pay to carriers. The last two decide whether you survive; the first two decide whether it was worth it.
- Re-read where freight brokers get loads and pick the next vertical.
Post your first load free
Your broker MC and a live FMCSA authority check — no document packet, no subscription. Brokers are never billed; LoadBoot is funded by a flat 5% dispatch fee on the carrier side.
Create a free broker account →Print this page. Ninety days from now, the items you skipped will be the ones that hurt.
