Broker not paying? Here's what to do.

1. Check it's actually late

Look at the terms on the rate confirmation, not the date you delivered. Net 30 usually runs from when the broker received your complete paperwork. If the POD went in a week after delivery, so did the start of the 30 days.

2. Make sure they have everything

Most "unpaid" invoices are stuck, not refused. Email accounts payable, attach the full packet again (invoice, signed rate con, signed POD, receipts), and ask them to confirm it's in their system and when it's scheduled to pay. Put the broker's load number and your invoice number in the subject. Check the remittances from other payments, too: sometimes a load was paid with others and the remittance was missed.

3. Follow up in writing, on a schedule

Call if it helps, but always follow with an email so there's a record. Be specific: the load, the invoice number, the amount, the due date, and a date you expect payment. Keep it polite. The person in accounts payable didn't decide to pay you late.

4. Check the broker's standing

If a broker is paying everyone late, you're not special and waiting won't help. Load boards show brokers' credit scores and average days to pay, and FMCSA's registration lookup shows whether their authority and bond are still active. A bond that's been cancelled, or authority that's been revoked, means move to step six now.

5. Send a formal demand

A short letter or email: the load, the amount, what you've already done to collect it, and a deadline, often 10 days, after which you'll claim against their bond and file with FMCSA. Many brokers pay here.

6. Claim against the broker's bond

Every broker registered with FMCSA must keep $75,000 in financial security, a BMC-84 surety bond or a BMC-85 trust fund, for exactly this. To claim:

1. Look the broker up in FMCSA's registration records to find who holds their bond or trust.
2. Contact that surety or trust company and ask for their claim process.
3. Send what they ask for: your invoice, the signed rate con, the signed POD, and your record of trying to collect.

File early. If a broker has failed, every unpaid carrier is claiming against the same $75,000, and it doesn't stretch far.

7. Other routes

• FMCSA complaint. File through FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database. It won't collect for you, but it goes on the broker's record.
• See the broker's records. Under 49 CFR 371.3, each party to a brokered load has the right to review the broker's record of the transaction. It can show whether the shipper paid the broker for your load.
• Small claims court for amounts under your state's limit, or a collection agency that works freight claims, for a share of what they recover.
• An attorney for larger amounts, or several loads with the same broker.

How to not be here again

• Check before you book. Credit score, days to pay, how long they've had authority, and whether their bond is active.
• Invoice the same day. The sooner the clock starts, the sooner you notice it's stopped. How to invoice a broker.
• Watch your aging. One invoice at 45 days is a phone call. Six at 45 days with the same broker is a pattern.
• Rate your brokers. Remember who paid late last time, and don't take their next load at the same rate.