Freight Broker-Shipper Agreement Template (US)

Updated on August 24, 2026

A freight broker-shipper agreement is useful only if it makes the commercial promise precise enough to run a project, approve money, and resolve a dispute. The Jotform source gives users a downloadable shape, but it leaves the highest-risk points either blank or invisible: who is responsible for approvals, what changes the price, what laws affect the document, and what record each party must keep.

This US master is drafted as a practical working document rather than a decorative PDF. It adds real definitions, optional branches, statutory checkpoints, clause-by-clause guidance, and a clean fillable document that can be downloaded as DOCX or PDF without signup. The shipper-side version protects the customer and broker by separating broker duties from motor-carrier duties and by making shipment instructions, cargo insurance and tender data explicit.

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Broker notice addressShipper notice addressAuto/public liability minimumCargo insurance minimum

Freight Broker-Shipper Agreement

Effective date:
Broker:: , MC , USDOT
Shipper:: , contact
Governing state:

1. Appointment and regulatory status

Shipper appoints Broker to arrange transportation of freight with authorized motor carriers. Broker acts as a broker and logistics arranger, not as the motor carrier in possession of the freight, unless Broker separately accepts a shipment in writing as carrier.

Broker represents that it maintains required FMCSA broker authority, financial responsibility, and process-agent filings, including the broker financial responsibility required under 49 CFR 387.307 where applicable. Broker will promptly notify the other party of any suspension, revocation, cancellation, or drawdown notice affecting those filings.

2. Scope of transportation services

The covered shipments, lanes, commodity types, service levels, and operational assumptions are: . Shipment-specific rate confirmations, tenders, bills of lading, delivery receipts, and accessorial approvals supplement this agreement and control the shipment details if they are more specific.

Shipper will provide accurate tender instructions, commodity descriptions, package counts, weights, handling requirements, declared value information, pickup and delivery access details, and any hazardous-material or temperature-control instructions before tender.

3. Rates, invoices, and payment

Rates may be set in a written rate confirmation, tariff, schedule, or shipment quote accepted by the parties. A clean invoice must include the shipment reference, rate confirmation, bill of lading, proof of delivery, and approved accessorial charges. Payment is due within days after receipt of a clean invoice.

A party disputing an invoice must give written notice within days after receipt, identify the disputed amount and reason, and pay the undisputed amount on time. Late charges, if any, must comply with applicable law and the governing rate confirmation.

4. Cargo risk, insurance, and claims

Shipper is responsible for cargo insurance unless a written shipment confirmation says otherwise. Declared value is not automatically cargo insurance. Broker will use commercially reasonable efforts to arrange carriers with authority and insurance appropriate for the shipment, but Broker does not insure the freight.

Visible damage, shortage, seal discrepancies, temperature excursions, or delivery exceptions should be recorded on the delivery receipt before signature. The parties will preserve shipment records, photographs, bills of lading, rate confirmations, and claim correspondence needed to investigate a cargo claim.

5. Records and broker transparency

Broker will maintain transaction records required for brokered transportation, including the consignor, consignee, motor carrier, bill of lading or freight bill, compensation, and charges connected with the shipment, to the extent required by 49 CFR part 371 or successor rules. Broker will provide records to a legally entitled party when required by law.

6. Compliance and safety

Each party will comply with applicable federal, state, and local transport, safety, sanctions, anti-bribery, cargo-security, and tax laws.
Carrier will maintain driver qualification, hours-of-service, equipment, drug and alcohol, and safety-rating obligations for shipments it performs.
Shipper will not tender hazardous materials, regulated waste, food, pharmaceuticals, high-value goods, household goods, or temperature-controlled cargo without written instructions and required documentation.

7. Confidentiality and data

Shipment data, rates, customer names, lane information, security instructions, and operational contacts are confidential and may be used only to perform this agreement or as required by law. Personal data in shipment records may be shared only with parties that need it for pickup, carriage, delivery, payment, compliance, or claims.

8. Indemnity and liability

Each party will defend and indemnify the other against third-party claims arising from its material breach, negligence, willful misconduct, regulatory violation, or inaccurate shipment information. The indemnity does not make Broker the carrier in possession of the freight unless Broker separately accepts that role in writing.

Neither party is liable for consequential, punitive, or speculative damages except to the extent the law does not allow exclusion or the damages arise from fraud, willful misconduct, confidentiality breach, or an indemnified third-party claim.

9. Term and termination

Either party may terminate this agreement without cause on days written notice. Either party may terminate immediately if the other loses required authority, insurance, financial responsibility, or process-agent status, or materially breaches and fails to cure within a reasonable written cure period. Shipments already in transit must be completed under the shipment documents unless safety or law requires otherwise.

10. Notices, governing law, and signatures

Operational notices may be sent to . Legal notices must be sent to the notice addresses stated for the parties. This agreement is governed by the law of , except that federal transportation law controls where it preempts state law. Electronic signatures are permitted to the extent allowed by the E-SIGN Act and applicable state law.

Broker

Date:

Shipper

Date:

Broker status must be stated without overpromising

The Jotform source says the broker is FMCSA certified and will select carriers, but it does not explain what that means in the contract. A US freight broker arranges transportation by motor carriers; it does not automatically become the carrier that physically accepts and transports the goods. That distinction matters for cargo loss, delivery delay, insurance and who receives claims.

This template says Broker is arranging transportation, requires Broker to maintain authority and financial responsibility, and then requires the broker to use reasonable carrier-selection procedures. It does not promise that every loss is insured by the broker, which would be commercially false unless the broker separately sells or procures insurance.

Shipper instructions are part of the risk allocation

A shipper cannot simply hand goods to a broker and assume every operational fact is obvious. Commodity description, weight, pallet count, value, pickup access, appointment windows, temperature requirements, hazardous-material status, food or pharmaceutical requirements and delivery restrictions all affect which carrier should be selected and what rate is valid.

This template adds a shipper tender duty. If the shipper gives incomplete or inaccurate information, the shipper bears the resulting reconsignment, accessorial, regulatory or cargo-risk consequences to the extent allowed by law. That is not harsh drafting; it is the only way the broker can quote and dispatch freight honestly.

Insurance and declared value need plain language

The source PDF says the shipper maintains its own insurance and the broker will make sure carriers have adequate insurance. The stronger version explains the difference between carrier liability, declared value and cargo insurance. Declared value may affect liability. Cargo insurance is a separate policy or shipment-specific arrangement. A broker should not be treated as the cargo insurer unless it has expressly accepted that role.

The agreement also gives the shipper a place to state high-value, fragile, temperature-sensitive, perishable, hazardous or theft-attractive cargo before dispatch. If those details are absent, carrier selection and rate confirmation are built on the wrong facts.

Payment, records and claims should line up

The Jotform form has an invoice-dispute process but no complete record spine. This template lines up rate confirmations, bills of lading, delivery receipts, carrier invoices, accessorial approvals, shipper invoices and claims notices. The result is a document that can be used operationally, not just signed and forgotten.

Broker-transparency issues have become a live regulatory and commercial point. The template therefore states that broker records will be maintained and provided where required by law, while also protecting confidential rates and customer data from general disclosure beyond lawful record rights.

Clause-by-clause guide

Appointment of broker: Makes Broker a transportation arranger, not the carrier in possession of freight.
Broker authority and financial responsibility: Ties the broker promise to FMCSA authority, surety/trust and process-agent filings.
Shipper tender duties: Requires accurate cargo, value, access, timing, hazmat and special-handling information.
Carrier selection: Requires commercially reasonable selection of authorized carriers without guaranteeing every carrier act.
Rates and payment: Uses written rate confirmations and clean invoices rather than vague price promises.
Cargo risk and insurance: Separates carrier liability, declared value and cargo insurance.
Claims and exceptions: Requires delivery exceptions and preserves claim documents.
Records and transparency: Acknowledges broker record duties and protects confidential rate information.
Restricted cargo: Prevents hidden hazmat, household goods or regulated cargo from being tendered casually.
Termination: Allows either side to end the relationship while protecting freight already in transit.

US broker-shipper checklist

Use this before arranging freight through a broker.

Confirm the broker is registered and financially responsible
FMCSA says property brokers must complete operating-authority, bond or trust, process-agent and fee steps before registration is complete.
FMCSA broker registration FAQ
Understand financial responsibility limits
Broker financial security is not cargo insurance. It is financial responsibility for broker obligations and does not replace a shipper cargo policy.
FMCSA insurance filing requirements
Give full cargo instructions before tender
Hazardous, household-goods, high-value, temperature-controlled, food, pharmaceutical, oversized or export cargo should never be hidden in a general commodity line.
Document delivery exceptions immediately
Shortage, damage, broken seals, temperature exceptions and refused delivery should be written on delivery documents before signature.
Preserve broker and shipment records
Brokered-transaction records, bills of lading, rate confirmations and claim files are the evidence for payment, charge disputes and cargo claims.
FMCSA broker transparency docket
Keep personal and customer data limited
Pickup contacts, customer names and delivery addresses should be used only for transportation, payment, compliance and claim purposes.

How to complete this agreement

Add party and authority details. Enter broker legal name, MC/USDOT numbers, shipper details and notice addresses.
Describe covered freight. State commodity types, excluded cargo, lanes, service levels and tender method.
Set rate and payment rules. Choose payment timing, invoice documents and dispute procedure.
Choose insurance approach. Decide whether the shipper maintains cargo insurance or a shipment-specific insurance arrangement is required.
Keep claims and records clauses. Do not delete delivery-exception, broker-record or confidentiality language.
Review before dispatch. Check all restricted-cargo and high-value instructions before the first shipment moves.

Frequently asked questions

Is the freight broker liable like a carrier?

Not automatically. A freight broker arranges transportation; the carrier in possession generally transports the goods. The contract can change risk allocation, but it should do so expressly. This template keeps those roles clear.

Does the broker provide cargo insurance?

Only if the broker expressly agrees to procure or provide it. A broker checking carrier insurance is not the same thing as giving the shipper a cargo policy. Shippers should arrange separate cargo insurance for shipments that need it.

What information must the shipper provide?

The shipper should provide accurate cargo description, weight, package count, value, access limits, pickup and delivery instructions, hazardous-material status and any special handling needs before tender.

Can the broker use any carrier?

The broker should select authorized carriers using commercially reasonable procedures and any shipment-specific requirements stated by the shipper. If the shipper requires a particular insurance level, equipment type or lane restriction, it should be written in the tender.

Why does this include broker transparency language?

Broker records affect payment disputes and access to transaction information. The template recognizes lawful record rights while protecting confidential rate and customer information from broader disclosure.

What if cargo is damaged on delivery?

Write the exception on the delivery receipt before signing, preserve photos and packaging where possible, and notify the broker promptly with shipment references and claim documents.

Can this be used for household goods moves?

Use caution. Household-goods broker and mover rules include consumer-protection requirements beyond an ordinary commercial freight agreement. Keep the restricted-cargo branch and check the applicable FMCSA household-goods rules.

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Disclaimer

This template and guide are for general information only and do not constitute legal, tax, privacy, insurance, construction, transport, or health-care compliance advice. Check the current law, regulator guidance, solicitation terms, and contract facts before signing.