Why we ask for your MC and not a cousin's Gmail: FMCSA's guidance on brokers and bona fide agents

What FMCSA actually said

The same call keeps coming: no MC number, a Gmail address and a Joliet load that "has to go today." Our answer is the carrier packet, not a handshake. FMCSA's final guidance on brokers and bona fide agents is the clearest federal wording we have for this murky area, and it predates the 2026 scorecard, so it still earns a spot on a working dispatch desk.

Congress told the agency to define the boundary in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and in the FY2023 appropriations. FMCSA released interim guidance in November 2022, went through more than 130 comments, ran a listening session at a trucking show and then issued the final version. Administrator Robin Hutcheson's point remains valid: a carrier should be able to tell whether the party in the middle holds broker authority and the financial responsibility that goes with it.

A dispatch service, or a shop that promises to "find you a truck," is not automatically a legal broker. A bona fide agent acts for one carrier or one defined principal. An independent freight outfit that lines up other people's trucks falls under the authority-and-bond rules. If someone offers a Royser tractor around a group chat, that does not make them our agent.

Double brokering is how loads vanish and invoices turn into archaeology, so we turn it down. That is policy, not mood. It keeps a 53-foot trailer tied to a tender you can actually collect on.

If they are booking freight for several carriers and are not your agent, ask for the MC and the bond. A Gmail account and a first name do not make a tender.

What this means for you now

Royser takes tenders from brokers who can send a W-9, a COI and proof of authority. We are asset-based under MC# {{MC}}, not a double-brokered remix. The packet is on the broker packet page. On lanes we can work, we want it sorted before the truck rolls up to the shipper, not after.

Any quote still starts with origin, destination, commodity and drop versus live, from someone we can identify. If you book through a dispatch service, it must be a licensed broker or truly your agent. We also need a real tender. We will not take freight from a stranger's inbox and hope a payer turns up later.

Shippers who want a truck rather than a mystery network can go straight to Price a lane. That is the whole idea of an asset-based carrier based in Rolling Meadows. The guidance exists because too many parties sat in the middle without the bond that is supposed to be there.

NCCDB now accepts complaints about property brokers. That is a separate tool for a separate problem. This article explains the definition so you never need the complaint form. If you are already past the handshake stage, see the complaint database.

Where we stand

We will ask for your MC, and we are not sorry about it. We run our own trucks and we do not lend our USDOT to anyone hiding behind a screen. Double brokering is a no from us, every time.

Picking up the phone does not make us your bona fide agent, and we will not let a dispatch service talk as though it were Royser. If someone represents you, put it in writing. If they are peddling loads on the open market, they need broker authority.

For the packet and freight, use the broker packet page or call +1 (224) 877-0350. Shippers who want the actual trucks should use the rate form. We are MC# {{MC}}, not an email thread.