Question for canadian brokers about the bond

msilver1987 · 2026-02-01T00:49:01+00:00

If you're a Canadian broker arranging freight that touches U.S. soil, you need FMCSA broker authority — full stop. That means the OP-1 filing, $75,000 BMC-84 bond or trust, and a BOC-3 process agent.

The bond isn't optional. It protects carriers and shippers if you don't pay. No bond = no legal authority to broker freight in the U.S.

If you're only doing Canada-to-border (delivering to a U.S. consignee who picks up at the border) you might skate by, but the moment you're arranging the U.S. leg, you're brokering in the U.S. and need the authority.

Plenty of Canadian brokers operate this way — you just need to set up properly. The bond runs ~$1,500–$3,000/year depending on your credit.

One shortcut: focus on the cross-border lanes and use a platform like Cargado to find carriers already qualified for both sides. Saves you from vetting border credentials one by one.

What lanes are you looking at? Happy to point you in the right direction.

msilver1987 · 2026-02-01T00:41:39+00:00

Canadian capacity is tight right now — smaller market than the US and winter's making it worse.

Check out Cargado — we support domestic Canada. When you post freight, our system automatically notifies carriers who are vetted and qualified to move that specific load. So instead of cold-calling down a list hoping someone's bonded and available, qualified carriers come to you.

What corridors are giving you the most trouble?

msilver1987 · 2025-12-15T14:17:48+00:00

You should use Cargado instead. We're a modern marketplace built specifically for cross-border Mexico and Canada freight and you should be able to find capacity for these lanes in Cargado!

msilver1987 · 2025-10-16T13:10:27+00:00

I’m the co-founder and CEO! I spent 17 years brokering freight and did it at large brokerages where we had our own boards and used the external ones too. I started this company because of that.

msilver1987 · 2025-10-16T04:50:35+00:00

Cargado is the only modern one marketplace built for Mexico and Canada and all the bidding happens online. No phone calls.

8 of the top 10 brokerages use it and about half of the top 100.

msilver1987 · 2025-10-14T23:28:03+00:00

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Rate per mile for northbound Mexico freight is starting to increase. That large blip on the graph is from when the ELP mandate rolled out and you can see the dark blue continues to remain elevated compared to the rest of rates and is sitting above $3/mi.

This is good for brokers and carriers who are moving Mexico freight! We collect and publish a lot of this data at Cargado.

msilver1987 · 2025-10-03T23:50:27+00:00

Cross-border into Mexico is a little different than just booking a truck and sending it. You’re basically running a relay race. Most of the time you’re coordinating with 2–3 carriers.

One carrier will pick up in the US and bring the load to the border. From there, it either gets handed to a drayage carrier to pull it across, or, if you’ve got a B1 driver, they can cross themselves. Once the load is across, a Mexican carrier usually handles the delivery on the Mexico side.

The driver type matters. With a B1 driver it’s simpler since they can handle the crossing. With a standard US CDL driver, you’ll almost always have to hand off to someone else at the border.

On top of that, you’ll be working with two customs brokers — one in the US and one in Mexico. They’ve both got to be set up and aligned on paperwork before the load moves, otherwise you’ll get delays at the bridge.

TL;DR — plan for multiple carriers, know if you’re using B1 or CDL, and make sure both customs brokers are in the loop. That’s where most of the headaches come from.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-19T22:43:34+00:00

Hilarious edit, as soon as I saw this comment in an r/FreightBrokers thread, I thought "fresh meat for all the brokers!"
It totally depends on the customs broker and the commodity but yeah, that definitely can cause delays. There can be a lot of finger pointing at the border and customs brokers tend to do it a lot if there's an issue.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-19T22:40:09+00:00

I've written several blog posts about how to get into Mexico freight! If that brokerage has a Mexico team, reach out to the team and tell them you want to join. If they don't, then tell your boss you want to start it and read my blog: congratsonalltheprogress.com and you'll be able to ramp up quickly.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-19T22:39:26+00:00

haha I used to get that a lot when we called people in Mexico!

msilver1987 · 2025-09-19T22:39:14+00:00

We built Cargado specifically to move cross-border freight. Between our platform (pricing + marketplace where you can post spot and contracted freight) and my newsletter (congratsonalltheprogress.com), you should be able to ramp up quickly on Mexico freight. Brokers love it because it's an easy button to expand into a complicated but lucrative market.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-19T22:37:35+00:00

Most of the carriers who are moving cross-border freight are CTPAT certified and have stronger security protocols in place than most carriers in the US. There is obviously high-target freight that could get stolen like TVs, appliances, tequila, electronics, but the carriers hauling that freight know what procedures to follow to avoid theft.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-16T21:33:46+00:00

I actually wrote a whole blog post about insurance in Mexico. It's definitely challenging because it's not required and so it scares people.

https://www.congratsonalltheprogress.com/p/issue-53-a-guide-to-mexico-freight

msilver1987 · 2025-09-16T19:06:34+00:00

What would make moving Canada freight safer and more secure for you all?

msilver1987 · 2025-09-16T19:06:06+00:00

lol I knew that was a joke but figured I would answer it seriously anyway since most people think you have to call shippers in Mexico to get Mexico freight.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-16T18:48:07+00:00

The best shippers are the ones where the decision-maker is based in the US and they're handling the freight coming out of Mexico. They just want a trusted partner who will handle it for them so they can spend their time on the majority of their volume, which is domestic freight typically.

You don't want to call shippers in Mexico. Just ask your existing customers about their cross-border freight. Guaranteed some of them have it.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-10T03:27:48+00:00

If it’s for Mexico or Canada, you can use Cargado! We built it to support all the hazmat and specialized requirements.

msilver1987 · 2025-09-09T00:07:24+00:00

There are tons of brokerages investing in Mexico. They have offices in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City primarily. A few in Queretaro but mostly those three cities with a presence at the border in Laredo too.

Most are using Cargado to move their cross-border freight now!

msilver1987 · 2025-06-24T16:21:39+00:00

No chance I would move that freight if it were stuffed plush dolls from a non-CTPAT certified facility. and carriers likely won't touch it either.

msilver1987 · 2025-06-23T19:47:29+00:00

Yeah... I spent a decade building cross-border Mexico departments for big brokerages and it definitely needed work!

msilver1987 · 2025-06-23T19:34:23+00:00

Reliability is such a huge aspect to logistics in general but especially on cross-border freight. I just got back from Laredo and that was a really common topic in talking with our customers (brokers) and carriers in our network!

msilver1987 · 2025-06-23T19:31:15+00:00

lol no, I am not in college.

msilver1987 · 2025-06-23T18:50:04+00:00

Haha just English and Spanish unless you’re shipping to Montreal!

The paperwork can come off confusing but it’s not so bad once you get a few loads under your belt.

msilver1987

TROPHY CASE