How to Get Freight Broker Authority (MC-B)

Getting freight broker authority comes down to four things: file the right FMCSA application, pay the $300 government fee, post a $75,000 broker bond, and designate a BOC-3process agent. The single most common source of confusion is the application itself — brokers do not file a special broker-only form. They file the same Form OP-1 that property carriers use, and there is no separate OP-2 broker form. This guide walks the whole path and gets the form names and regulation numbers right.

What Freight Broker Authority Is

Freight broker authority — the FMCSA calls it property broker authority, and the MC number carries a “MC-B”designation — is the federal license to arrangetransportation of property for compensation without ever taking possession of the freight. A broker matches a shipper's load to a motor carrier that will actually haul it, and earns a margin for making the match. Under 49 U.S.C. §13902and the rules in 49 CFR Part 365, anyone brokering interstate freight for compensation needs this authority — including a motor carrier that wants to broker the overflow loads it cannot cover with its own trucks.

The defining line is possession. A broker never takes the freight; a freight forwarder does and issues its own bill of lading. That difference is why broker, carrier, and forwarder are three separate authority types. For the full side-by-side, see broker authority vs. motor carrier authority.

There Is No Separate OP-2 Broker Form — You File OP-1

This is the misconception worth clearing up before anything else. Brokers register on FMCSA Form OP-1, whose official title is the “Application for Motor Property Carrier and Broker Authority.”One form covers two roles — property carriers and property brokers both start from OP-1, and the applicant simply selects the broker authority type. There is no separate OP-2 broker form.

The reason this needs spelling out is that Form OP-2 is real— it is just not a broker form. On FMCSA's own document library, OP-2 is the “Application for Mexican Certificate of Registration for Foreign Motor Carriers and Foreign Motor Private Carriers”under 49 U.S.C. §13902. It lets Mexico-domiciled carriers operate within United States commercial zones along the border. It has nothing to do with U.S. freight brokers. So if a blog post or filing service tells you to “file the OP-2 to become a broker,” it has the form wrong.

Form check: Brokers file OP-1 (Application for Motor Property Carrier and Broker Authority). OP-2exists, but it is the Mexican Certificate of Registration for foreign carriers — not a broker form. There is no separate OP-2 broker application.

One more caveat, the same one that applies to every OP-series form: since December 12, 2015, the paper OP-1 can only be used to add authority to a company that already holds an FMCSA registration. A brand-new broker registers online through Motus: USDOT Registration Systemat motus.dot.gov, which replaced the Unified Registration System (URS) front door on May 14, 2026. Motus collects the same information the OP-1 asked for, so the industry still calls it “filing the OP-1.” For the deep dive on the form itself, see what the FMCSA OP-1 form is.

Step 1: Register Through Motus (or File OP-1 to Add Broker Authority)

A first-time broker creates a Login.gov-verified profile in Motus, opens a company account, and applies for the Broker USDOT number and the property broker operating authority in one session. The application collects the legal business name (which must match the state business registry exactly), the EIN, a physical business address (a P.O. box alone will not clear), and the operation classification.

An existing motor carrier that wants to start brokering is the one case where the paper OP-1 route still applies: it already holds a registration, so it files an OP-1 selecting the broker authority type, and ends up holding two separate authorities — MC and MC-B, each with its own MC number. Brokering loads under motor-carrier-only authority, without the separate MC-B and its bond, is a federal violation FMCSA actively pursues.

Step 2: Pay the $300 FMCSA Filing Fee

The FMCSA government filing fee for broker authority is $300, set in the fee schedule at 49 CFR §360.3T(f)(1) — which lists “an application for motor carrier operating authority…property broker authority, or freight forwarder authority” at $300. The fee is charged per authority type, not per application: §360.3T(d)(1) is explicit that a separate filing fee is required for each type of authority sought on an OP-series form. A company seeking both carrier and broker authority therefore pays $600.

That $300 is non-refundable. Under §360.3T(c), once FMCSA accepts the application for filing, the fee is not returned “regardless of whether the application…is granted or approved, denied, rejected…or withdrawn.”

Step 3: Post the $75,000 Broker Bond (BMC-84) or Trust Fund (BMC-85)

The broker bond is the part that trips up new brokers, because it is the broker's entire financial-responsibility requirement and it is large. Under 49 CFR §387.307, a broker “must have a surety bond or trust fund of $75,000in effect,” and FMCSA “will not register a broker until a surety bond or trust fund for the full limits” is in place. There are two ways to satisfy it:

• Form BMC-84— a $75,000 surety bond from a bonding company. You pay an annual premium (a fraction of the $75,000, scaled to your credit) rather than the full amount. This is what most brokers use.
• Form BMC-85— a $75,000 trust fund held at a financial institution. You tie up the full $75,000 (or eligible assets) rather than paying a premium. Fewer brokers choose this route because of the capital lockup.

The bond protects shippers and carriers: if the broker fails to pay a carrier or otherwise defaults, claims are paid out of the bond, and a payment that drops it below $75,000 triggers a suspension of the broker's authority under §387.307. The bond is filed with FMCSA by the surety, the same way an insurer files a carrier's coverage.

Carrier vs. broker financial responsibility:A property carrier files $750,000 in public-liability (BI&PD) coverage under 49 CFR §387.9 because it physically moves the freight. A broker does not— the $750,000 figure does not apply to brokers at all. A broker's requirement is the $75,000 bond or trust fund under §387.307, and nothing more. Filing carrier-style BMC-91 insurance will not activate broker authority.

Step 4: File the BOC-3 Process-Agent Designation

Every broker must designate a process agent — a person who can accept legal papers on the broker's behalf — through a BOC-3 filing. The operative rule is 49 CFR §366.4T(b), which states that “every broker shall make a designation for each State in which its offices are located or in which contracts will be written.” A nationwide BOC-3 service files the designation in all states at once, which is the simplest way to satisfy it.

Cite §366.4T(b), not the suspended §366.4 — the “T” section is the version in force. The BOC-3, like the bond, has to be on record before the authority activates.

How Long Broker Authority Takes

Plan on roughly 3 to 6 weeksfrom submission to an active MC-B number. FMCSA's published processing estimate for new applicants is 20 to 25 business days, and the rest of the timeline is whatever it takes to get the $75,000 bond and the BOC-3 on file. FMCSA publishes accepted applications in the FMCSA Register as a preliminary grant, but the authority stays in PENDINGstatus — and the broker cannot legally operate — until both the bond and the process-agent designation are recorded. The agency does not chase missing paperwork, so the broker controls this part: line up the bond and BOC-3 early and the authority activates near the front of the window. For the full breakdown, see the operating-authority application walkthrough.

Freight Broker Authority Checklist

• Application: Form OP-1 (property broker authority type) — no separate OP-2 broker form; first-timers file through Motus.
• FMCSA fee: $300 per authority type (49 CFR §360.3T(f)(1)), non-refundable.
• Bond: $75,000 BMC-84 surety bond or BMC-85 trust fund (49 CFR §387.307).
• Process agent: BOC-3 designation under 49 CFR §366.4T(b).
• Identifiers: Broker USDOT number + MC-B operating authority.
• Annual: Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) each year.
• Timeline: ~3–6 weeks; bond + BOC-3 on file before activation.

File Your Freight Broker Authority With FastTruckAuthority

FastTruckAuthority's Freight Broker package is $549. It covers the Broker USDOT number, the MC broker authority filing, the $300 FMCSA government fee, and your annual UCR registration — the application stack that gets you an active MC-B number. The $75,000 BMC-84 bond and the BOC-3 process-agent designation are arranged separately, since the bond premium depends on your credit and the BOC-3 is a specialized filing.

Ready to file? Start the Freight Broker application and we prepare and submit the OP-1/Motus filing, register your USDOT and UCR, and walk you through lining up the bond and BOC-3 so the authority activates without a deficiency loop. If you are still mapping the basics, start with what FMCSA operating authority is and the broker vs. carrier authority comparison.

Bottom line:Freight broker authority (MC-B) is filed on Form OP-1, the “Application for Motor Property Carrier and Broker Authority” — there is no separate OP-2 broker form (OP-2 is the unrelated Mexican Certificate of Registration). The FMCSA fee is $300 (49 CFR §360.3T(f)(1)), a $75,000 BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust fund is required under 49 CFR §387.307, and a BOC-3 designation under 49 CFR §366.4T(b) must be on file before the authority activates. The $750,000 carrier liability under §387.9 does not apply to brokers.