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.
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.
[7] Double-brokering or rebrokering is illegal in the United States of America and occurs when a broker charges a fee then contracts the load to a second broker who will reduce the freight charge also collecting a fee that can be up to 15%.
The shipper may not be aware of this and the contracted truck[clarify] will likely not be dispatched to pick up the load.
Confusion on payment might lead to a possessory lien (as opposed to "freight charges held hostage.