Spam is becoming more common in today’s transportation industry. While there are several types of spam, double brokering has become increasingly popular, especially within the past year.
What Is Double Brokering?
Double brokering is when a fraudulent carrier or fraudulent broker accepts the load and then re-brokers the load to a legitimate carrier. When a fraudulent carrier is double brokering, they will pose as a 3PL or broker to a legitimate carrier. On the other hand, when a fraudulent broker is double brokering, they will pose as a carrier by utilizing an MC#.
What Are The Consequences/Risk Of Double Brokering?
Typically occurring without the knowledge of the shipper, legitimate broker, and legitimate carrier, double brokering poses significant risks and consequences for all parties involved.
- Loss of control of goods — The shipper loses total control of their goods, which significantly increases the risk of cargo damage, loss, or delays.
- Financial issues — Legitimate carriers hauling the loads will face delayed or even no payments.
- Reputation damage — Fraudulent brokers and carriers face severe damage to their industry reputation, making it more difficult for them to secure future loads.
Overall, double brokering is illegal and will lead to costly fines, license revocation, and potential imprisonment for those engaged in fraudulent practices.
What Are The Signs Of Double Brokering?
While fraudulent brokers and carriers are getting smarter, there are still some common signs that can indicate that a load is being double brokered, like the following:
- Carrier’s name isn’t your company name or the name of the broker on the BOL
- Email address on the BOL is a personal address like @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, @outlook.com, etc.
- Rate seems too good to be true OR is unusually high
- Load is posted on another load board at a lower rate
- Broker cannot be found on SAFER, FMCSA, or even from a Google search
How To Prevent Double Brokering?
Fortunately, there are ways for you to prevent falling victim to double brokering. Before accepting a load, you should keep the following tips in mind:
- Always check the bill of lading
- Always verify the email address they are utilizing to communicate with you
- Always check in with your company name
- Make sure you know the market
- Read through the rate confirmation so you know what you are agreeing to
- Pay close attention to fonts that do not match and edits on the rate confirmation
Navigating Industry SPAM
We understand that fraudulent brokers and carriers are preying on legitimate owner-operators and fleet owners, like you, for financial gain. To help you identify double brokering, we’ve compiled a document that further breaks down each prevention tip listed above.