“Double Brokerage”.

It is a common situation on current market, when a broker sells a load to a carrier and the carrier double brokers or subcontracts the load to another carrier without advising the broker.

It is strongly recomended to every broker to implement a written clause into Broker-Carrier Confirmation that prohibits the carrier from brokering the load to another carrier and makes the carrier liable for any loss in event of double brokering.

Unfortunately, a broker that learned after the fact that his load was double brokered, has no means to prevent this transaction.  A suggested approach is for the broker to find out as much information as possible about the secondary carrier that actually transported the load including this carrier’s USDOT and MC numbers.

By carefully reviewing a bar-coded label on a bill of lading you may find out that PARS code assigned to the carrier crossing the board differs from the code assigned to the actual carrier you sold the load. It means that someone else is transporting your load.

In this situation, it is prudent to request proof of payment from your original carrier to the actual carrier for transportation services provided in connection with your load, to avoid further trust liability for the carrier’s portion of freight charges.

In any event, the broker needs to emphasize to the primary carrier that he remains primarily liable to the broker for the double brokered load in the event a problem arises.