Sign upFreight risk glossary
The words that decide a load. Clear, plain-language definitions of the freight broker credit and carrier vetting terms carriers, brokers, and shippers run into before they book or haul.
A 1–100 rating of how reliably a freight broker pays carriers. Higher is safer: 85+ is low risk, 70–84 moderate, 51–69 high risk, and below 51 extreme risk. It reflects freight payment behavior, not consumer credit.
Broker credit score ranges →The average number of days a broker takes to pay a carrier after receiving the invoice. Most freight terms are 30 days; 46–60 days is slow pay and past 60 is high risk for a small carrier's cash flow.
The chance a broker pays slowly, short-pays, disputes, or never pays an invoice. It is the core question a carrier answers before accepting a load.
Broker payment risk →A Motor Carrier docket number assigned by the FMCSA that identifies a broker or carrier in federal registration records. Used to confirm identity and authority.
MC number lookup →A USDOT number that identifies a motor carrier in federal records and ties to its safety, authority, and insurance data.
DOT number lookup →FMCSA permission to operate as a broker or carrier. Active authority means a company is registered — it does not by itself prove they pay well or haul safely.
The $75,000 bond a freight broker must keep on file to protect carriers and shippers against non-payment. A lapsed or exhausted bond is a red flag.
Authority & bond check →Re-brokering a load to another carrier without authorization, hiding who is actually hauling the freight. It can leave a shipper paying twice and a carrier unpaid.
Double-brokering red flags →Weighing the results of a carrier check into a decision: how the authority, insurance, safety and fraud signals combine, how much review a given load justifies, and what the finished analysis still cannot tell you.
Carrier risk analysis →The review a broker or shipper runs on a carrier's authority, insurance, safety record, and fraud signals before booking a carrier.
Carrier vetting →A shell operation that holds active authority but has no real ability to haul — often zero trucks or a hijacked identity — used to accept and re-broker or steal freight.
The FMCSA's free public system for looking up a carrier or broker's authority, bond, and basic registration. It confirms legitimacy but has no credit score or days-to-pay.
The Safety Measurement System groups a carrier's roadside data into Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) such as Unsafe Driving and Hours-of-Service. The public percentile scores were retired, but the underlying data remains public.
Safety ratings & SMS data →Bodily Injury and Property Damage (primary liability) coverage a carrier files with the FMCSA. Brokers and shippers check it, and cargo coverage, before booking a carrier.
Authority & insurance check →The share of a carrier's roadside inspections that resulted in a truck or driver being placed out of service. High OOS rates signal elevated safety risk.
An FMCSA rating — Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory — of how well a carrier meets federal safety standards, based on inspections, violations, and crashes.
Selling a freight invoice to a factoring company for fast cash. If a broker has weak credit, factors may charge more, hold reserves, or reject the invoice.
For factoring companies →A broker option to pay a carrier faster than standard terms for a fee. A mid-load switch in quick-pay or factoring instructions can be a double-brokering red flag.
The document confirming the agreed rate and load details between broker and carrier. The legal broker name on it should match who is responsible for payment.
A carrier that re-registers under a new identity to shed a poor safety or compliance history. Vetting looks for new authority that behaves like an established operator.
Ongoing alerts on the brokers or carriers you work with, so you learn the moment an authority, bond, insurance, or payment signal changes — not after a problem starts.
One broker passing a load to another broker with the shipper's knowledge and consent, under an agreement that says who pays the carrier. Legitimate when disclosed and contracted; the same handoff without consent is double brokering.
A single company holding both motor carrier and broker operating authority, which lets it haul freight and lawfully arrange freight for others. Roughly 1% of active carriers hold both, so most carriers are not licensed to hand a load on.
A fee paid when a carrier is dispatched to a load that is then cancelled before pickup. Whether it is owed and at what rate depends on the rate confirmation, which is why the cancellation terms are worth reading before accepting.
Payment for time a driver waits at a shipper or receiver beyond the free window, usually the first one or two hours. Claims generally turn on documented arrival and departure times rather than on the driver's account of the wait.
Any charge on a load beyond the line-haul rate, such as detention, layover, extra stops, tarping, or a lumper fee. Accessorials are a frequent source of short payment because they are often invoiced late or without supporting paperwork.
A charge for third-party labor loading or unloading a trailer, common in grocery and food distribution. Normally reimbursed by the broker when a receipt is submitted, so the receipt is the part that decides whether it gets paid.
The document issued at pickup that identifies the shipper, consignee, freight, and the carrier taking possession. In a payment dispute it is the primary evidence of who actually moved the load.
The signed document confirming freight was delivered and in what condition. Most payment terms start counting from receipt of a clean POD, so a delay in submitting it delays the invoice clock rather than the delivery date.
The notice a factoring company sends a broker instructing that payment for assigned invoices goes to the factor. Paying the carrier instead of the factor after an NOA generally does not discharge the debt.
The banking or address details that say where payment on an invoice should be sent. A change to remit-to details is the single most common point at which broker impersonation converts into an actual loss.
Under recourse factoring the carrier buys back an invoice the debtor does not pay. Non-recourse shifts defined credit risk to the factor, usually at a higher rate and only for specified causes, so the exclusions decide what it is worth.
A claim made against a freight broker's surety bond when the broker has not paid. The bond is a fixed pool shared across every unpaid carrier rather than a reserve set aside for one, so timing and written notice matter.
SureLoadr
SureLoadr brings broker credit and carrier vetting into one report — days-to-pay, credit band, authority, bond, insurance, safety, and double-brokering signals — so you can act on these signals, not just define them.