Just Dispatchers

Home / Questions / For dispatchers

Do I need broker authority to be a truck dispatcher?

Not if you act as the carrier's agent under FMCSA's 2023 guidance: a written contract, paid by the carrier, no handling of broker or factoring money, you work through brokers rather than shippers, and you do not hand loads between carriers. If you cross those lines, you may need authority and a $75,000 bond.

FMCSA lists nine factors against needing broker authority (written agency contract, state rules followed, works through brokers not shippers, no payment from brokers or factors, not in the middle of broker-carrier payments, 1099 or W-2 with the carrier, discloses which carrier it works for, does not reassign loads to another carrier, serves only carriers that appointed it).

It lists seven factors for needing authority: negotiating with shippers, taking payment from a broker or factor, arranging loads with no written contract, accepting a shipment before having a truck, allocating traffic among several carriers, being a named party on the freight contract, and soliciting the open market of carriers.

The guidance is not a safe harbor. It is a set of factors, and a dispatcher need not meet all of them to be treated as a broker. Use the self-check on this site for a first look, then get a lawyer's view.

Example. You have a signed agreement with one carrier, you book that carrier's truck with brokers, and you invoice the carrier 6% each week. That matches the not-needed side. If you also take a broker's payment for the load, that is on the other list.

Run the broker-authority self-check

General information, not legal advice. Rules change. Check the sources and talk to a transportation lawyer before you sign or start.

Related questions

Last reviewed Thu, Nov 12, 2026 · Where our data comes from