---
title: "Double brokering"
url: https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/double-brokering
description: "Double brokering is accepting a load, then secretly handing it to another carrier without the shipper's or broker's consent, often without ever paying the carrier that hauls it."
---

# Double brokering

**Definition:** Double brokering is accepting a load, then secretly handing it to another carrier without the shipper's or broker's consent, often without ever paying the carrier that hauls it.

Also called: Re-brokering, Illegal double brokering. Category: Fraud.

FMCSA has noted that double brokering is not a term defined by statute or regulation, and that most people who use it mean entities acting as brokers without proper authority. The fraud version adds deception: a fake or borrowed carrier identity takes the load, re-posts it at a lower rate, collects from the original broker, and never pays the carrier who actually hauled it.

For a factor it cuts both ways. If your client is the double broker, the invoice you bought is for a load your client never hauled, and the real carrier's claim against the broker can freeze payment. If your client is the victim, it hauled for someone posing as a broker, and the debtor you are relying on may owe nothing. [Non-recourse](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/non-recourse-factoring) terms typically exclude both cases.

> **Red flag: Red flags** A bill of lading or POD showing a carrier name or USDOT different from your client's. A client with one power unit running several loads at once. A broker who says a different carrier is on file for the load. A client that suddenly invoices brokers it has never used.

A broker is a person who, for compensation, arranges transportation by an authorized motor carrier (49 CFR 371.2). FMCSA has said it can pursue penalties for unauthorized brokerage only through the Department of Justice. See [double brokering from the factor's side](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/double-brokering-factor-guide).

## Related

- [Double brokering from the factor's side: who gets paid, who loses](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/double-brokering-factor-guide)
- [Fictitious pickup](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/fictitious-pickup)
- [Bill of lading (BOL)](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/bill-of-lading)
- [Freight broker](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/freight-broker)
- [Carrier risk check](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/carrier-check)

## Sources

- [Federal Register: Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents (final guidance)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/06/16/2023-13080/definitions-of-broker-and-bona-fide-agents) (FMCSA, 2023-06-16)
- [49 CFR 371.2: Definitions (broker)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/section-371.2) (eCFR)