Dry Van Brokers: How to Get Set Up, Get Paid and Stay Safe

Dry van brokers sit between the shipper with freight and the carrier with a truck. On the spot market, they're where most van loads come from, which makes the broker relationship one of the most important parts of running a small carrier. Good brokers become repeat lanes. Bad ones become unpaid invoices.

What brokers check on you

Before a broker loads you, they run you through their carrier setup, usually in an online onboarding system. Expect them to check:

• Operating authority and age. Active MC and DOT numbers. Many brokers require your authority to be a minimum number of days old.
• Insurance. A certificate of insurance showing auto liability and cargo coverage, often with higher limits than the federal minimum, and the broker added as certificate holder.
• Safety record. Inspection and crash history and any safety rating.
• Identity. Matching contact details, W-9, and increasingly identity verification to stop fraud.
• Equipment. That you actually run a dry van of the right length.

New authorities pass fewer of these filters at first. That's normal, and it gets easier as your authority ages and your on-time record builds.

Getting set up

A carrier packet usually asks for:

1. MC and DOT numbers
2. W-9
3. Certificate of insurance
4. Signed broker-carrier agreement
5. Notice of assignment if you use a factoring company
6. Banking details for payment

Keep these as ready-to-send PDFs. Setup can take minutes with a broker whose system already knows you, or days with a strict one. Sending packets to several brokers on your lanes at once keeps you from waiting on any one of them. Our how it works page shows how our dispatchers handle this for every new broker.

Vetting brokers

Brokers check you. You should check them too. The clipboard at the top of this page has the five checks; here's why they matter:

• Active broker authority. Brokers need their own FMCSA authority. Look up the MC number on FMCSA's licensing and insurance search.
• Bond or trust fund. Property brokers must keep $75,000 of security on file, as a surety bond (Form BMC-84) or trust fund (Form BMC-85) (49 CFR 387.307). It's not much against a stack of unpaid loads, but a missing or cancelled bond is a serious warning.
• Credit and days to pay. Load boards and factoring companies publish broker credit scores and average payment times. Use them.
• Real contact details. The person on the phone should be reachable through the broker's published phone number and company email domain.
• A clean rate confirmation. Rate, pickup and delivery details, accessorials and payment terms, all in writing before you roll.

Rate confirmations

The rate confirmation is your contract for the load. Before you sign it, check:

• The rate matches what you agreed on the phone.
• Accessorials: detention (free time and hourly rate), layover, TONU, lumper reimbursement and stop pay.
• Appointments and addresses for every stop.
• Weight, commodity and pallet count match what you were told.
• Payment terms, including quick pay options and what paperwork they need.

If anything changes after you sign, get a revised rate confirmation. A verbal promise of detention pay is hard to collect.

Payment terms and quick pay

Standard broker terms commonly run 30 days or more after the broker receives your bill of lading and invoice. Many brokers offer quick pay: faster payment in exchange for a percentage fee. Factoring companies buy your invoices for an advance and collect from the broker.

Whatever you choose, get the paperwork in fast and clean: a signed, legible bill of lading, any lumper receipts and detention records. Most late payments start with missing paperwork.

Federal rules also give you a right to review the broker's record of your transaction, including what they received for the load, which brokers must keep for three years (49 CFR 371.3).

Fraud red flags

Freight fraud has grown with load board volume. Watch for:

• Double brokering: a "broker" who's actually a carrier re-posting your load to someone else, then disappearing with the payment.
• Identity theft: scammers posing as real brokers with a look-alike email domain or a different phone number.
• Pressure tactics: urgency, last-minute changes to the delivery address, or requests to move off normal channels.
• Fees to book: legitimate brokers don't charge carriers to haul a load.
• Rates far above the lane: ask why before you get excited.

When in doubt, call the broker back on the number from their official website, not the one in the email.

How dispatch fits with brokers

A broker works for the shipper. A dispatcher works for you. We negotiate with brokers on your behalf, handle setups and rate confirmations, chase detention and TONU, and stick to brokers who pay. That's how repeat broker lanes turn into dedicated dry van lanes over time. Find out more about where dry van loads come from, load boards for dry vans, and our dry van dispatch service. If you're new to the equipment, read what a dry van is. Before accepting any broker load, run the numbers in the dry van load profit calculator.

Questions owners ask

What does a dry van freight broker do?

A broker is licensed by FMCSA to arrange transportation between a shipper and a carrier. They find a truck, negotiate the rate with you, send a rate confirmation, track the load and pay you. They don't haul freight themselves and they're not your dispatcher: the broker works the shipper's side of the deal.

How long do brokers take to pay carriers?

It depends on the broker and the terms on your rate confirmation. Standard terms are commonly 30 days or more from when they receive your paperwork, and many brokers offer quick pay for a fee. Check a broker's average days to pay on your load board or with your factoring company before booking.

How do I check if a broker is legit?

Look up their MC number on FMCSA's licensing and insurance site to confirm active broker authority and a bond or trust on file. Then check that the phone number and email domain match the company's real website, look at their credit and days-to-pay data, and be wary of anything that pushes you off normal channels or asks for money.

Can I see what the broker was paid for my load?

Federal rules require brokers to keep a record of each transaction, including the compensation they received, for three years, and each party to the transaction has the right to review that record (49 CFR 371.3). Some brokers resist requests, and some contracts try to waive the right, so read your broker-carrier agreement.

Sources

1. 49 CFR 387.307, property broker surety bond or trust fund ($75,000), checked October 2026
2. 49 CFR 371.3, records to be kept by brokers, checked October 2026
3. FMCSA, licensing and insurance public search, checked October 2026

General information, not legal or financial advice. Check broker details on FMCSA's own site before every new setup.