Time is running out to comment on FMCSA’s broker transparency rule

Little time is left for truckers who would like to leave a public comment on a long-awaited Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule proposal that seeks to increase transparency in freight broker and motor carrier transactions.

January 21, 2025, is the deadline to leave a public comment on the FMCSA’s Transparency in Property Broker Transactions rule proposal, which advances four key amendments to current freight broker regulations in an effort increase transparency in transactions with motor carriers.

If you would like to leave a public comment, you can follow this link.

Four Proposed Amendments To Broker Requirements

1. Require property brokers to keep their records in an electronic format. According to FMCSA, this rule change would make it easier to “review broker records on request, and remotely, as compared to the current practice of some brokers who respond to transparency requests by making only physical records available at their principal place of business.”
2. Modernize and tailor the required contents of the records to better achieve broker transparency. The provision would eliminate the distinction between brokerage and non-brokerage services and instead require that the records contain, for each shipment in the transaction, all charges and payments connected to the shipment, including a description, amount, and date. “This amendment would ensure the parties have full visibility into the payments, fees, and charges associated with the transaction so they can resolve issues and disputes among themselves without resorting to costlier remedies,” officials say.
3. Reframe broker transparency as a regulatory duty imposed on brokers to provide records to the transacting parties. The FMCSA notes that current regulations
   frame the broker transparency requirement as a right, given to the transacting parties, to review the records. The amendment would place the regulatory burden on brokers to provide requested records.
4. Require brokers to provide the records within 48 hours when a party to the transaction requests those records. “This provision is intended to ensure that the requesting party receives the records in a timely manner, to support the resolution of issues around service or payment,” FMCSA said.

The FMCSA began accepting public comments on the rule proposal on November 20, 2024. Since then, the agency has received 3,170 comments, with 2,688 comments posted to the docket.

The Transparency in Property Broker Transactions Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in response to petitions from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC). Both the SBTC and OOIDA petitioned FMCSA for increased broker transparency in May 2020.

“Brokers often include provisions in their contracts with motor carriers that require motor carriers to waive their ability to review broker records. In addition, even without waiver clauses, motor carriers often face practical hurdles in accessing records that they should be able to review under the current regulations. As a result of the SBTC and OOIDA petitions, the Agency reviewed its property broker recordkeeping requirements and is proposing certain amendments to those requirements. The proposed amendments are intended to reinforce broker transparency for motor carriers and to better tailor the required contents of the records to the purpose of broker transparency,” FMCSA said.