Skip to main content
BuySuretyBonds.com
Last updated: General Delaware freight broker bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
Incorporation State ≠ Bonding State

Delaware Freight Broker Bond$75,000 BMC-84 — Filed With FMCSA, Not the State of Delaware

If your brokerage is a Delaware LLC or corporation but you're searching for where to actually file a bond, here's the direct answer: your $75,000 BMC-84 is filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) and 49 CFR § 387.307 — it has nothing to do with your Delaware certificate of formation or registered agent. Delaware itself issues no broker license and requires no second bond. See our broker authority guide for the full FMCSA process.

$75,000
Federal BMC-84
49 CFR § 387.307
None
Delaware State Broker Bond
No DE agency licenses property brokers
2.1M+
DE Registered Business Entities
vs. under 1M DE residents
~1M tons/yr
Port of Wilmington Bananas
Largest banana port in N. America
Get Delaware Bond QuoteEstimate Premium

BMC-84 quote — 2-minute form, quote within one business day

Quick answer
A BMC-84 freight broker bond is the $75,000 federal surety bond FMCSA requires before it will grant or keep a property broker's operating authority, whether your brokerage is based in Delaware or arranges loads through the state. Delaware does not add a separate state freight broker bond. You pay a yearly premium that is a small percentage of $75,000 (an estimate; the carrier sets the final price), not the full amount.
  • Who requires it: FMCSA, for every property broker and freight forwarder in interstate commerce (49 U.S.C. 13906; 49 CFR 387.307).
  • Amount: $75,000, set by federal law. A BMC-85 trust fund of $75,000 is the alternative.
  • Typical cost (estimate): about 1%–4% of $75,000 per year with good credit, roughly $750–$3,000. The carrier sets the final price.
  • Timing: We submit complete applications to the carrier promptly; most quotes within one business day.
Get a Delaware BMC-84 quote

Official Federal (FMCSA) Requirements

"A broker shall provide a surety bond, trust fund agreement, or other financial security in the amount of $75,000 in a form, manner, and amount as the Secretary may prescribe."
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — 49 CFR § 387.307, implementing 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) • 49 CFR § 387.307
Why This Question Even Comes Up in Delaware

2.1 Million Business Entities, Under 1 Million Residents — Delaware Is Built for This Exact Confusion

No other state produces this question as often. The Delaware Division of Corporations' own 2024 annual report counts more than 2.1 million active business entities registered in the state, against a resident population under one million — and Delaware-incorporated companies made up 66.7% of the Fortune 500 and 81.4% of every U.S.-based IPO in 2024. The vast majority of those entities exist on paper only: a certificate of formation under 6 Del. C. § 18-101 (the Delaware LLC Act) or Title 8 of the Delaware Code (the General Corporation Law), plus a registered agent required under 6 Del. C. § 18-104 to maintain a Delaware office for service of process. None of that creates a transportation nexus. Your freight broker bond isn't filed against your entity's home state — it's filed against your FMCSA broker authority, which exists independently of where you incorporated.

What Your Delaware Filing Covers

  • Legal existence of your LLC or corporation under Title 6 or Title 8
  • A Delaware registered agent for service of process — nothing transportation-related
  • Annual franchise tax and registered-agent renewal, separate from anything freight-related

What It Doesn't Touch

  • Your right to broker freight in any state — that's federal MC authority
  • Your bond amount or filing process — set entirely by 49 CFR § 387.307
  • Delaware's DMV/Office of Public Carrier — scoped to taxis, limos, buses and TNCs only

Where Delaware DOES Regulate Transportation — and Why It Still Isn't You

Delaware isn't transportation-blind — it just regulates a different category. The state's Office of Public Carrier, now administered through the Delaware Transit Corporation (DART), licenses and oversees passenger for-hire vehicles: taxis, limousines, charter buses, non-emergency ambulances, and transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. Its published scope is entirely passenger-focused; it does not mention freight, cargo, or property brokers anywhere in its regulatory description. If you're brokering truckload, LTL, or reefer freight — property, not people — the Office of Public Carrier has no jurisdiction over you at all.

Filing Your BMC-84 as a Delaware-Formed Brokerage

The federal steps are identical for every state of incorporation — Delaware doesn't add or remove anything. See our full guide to getting freight broker authority for more detail on each step.

  1. 1

    Form Your Entity (Delaware or Otherwise)

    Certificate of formation with the Delaware Division of Corporations, plus a registered agent under 6 Del. C. § 18-104

  2. 2

    File Form OP-1 Through FMCSA’s Motus Registration System

    $300 fee; Motus replaced the old Motus registration system in May 2026 — establishes your operating address, which can be anywhere, not just Delaware

  3. 3

    File Form BOC-3 (Process Agents)

    Designate process agents in every state you plan to operate in — separate from your Delaware registered agent

  4. 4

    Register for UCR

    $46/year for brokers in 2026; a federal filing, not a Delaware one

Timeline: 4–6 weeks total, whether your entity is Delaware-formed or not.

One federal bond, filed once — it doesn't matter whether your brokerage runs out of Wilmington or your Delaware entity is purely a registered-agent address.

Get Delaware QuoteBMC-84 Complete Guide
The Actual Delaware Freight Market

For Brokers Who Really Do Operate in Delaware: the Port of Wilmington Reefer Niche

Not every Delaware LLC is a shell — some brokerages genuinely run their desk out of Wilmington, and the freight underneath them is unusually specialized. The Port of Wilmington is a major import gateway for bananas, other tropical fruit and juice concentrate, per the port's own published cargo information. None of that changes your BMC-84 filing, but it changes what kind of broker succeeds there.

Cold-Chain Capacity Is the Whole Game

The port operates an 800,000-square-foot on-site cold-storage complex to support reefer and break-bulk produce moving through its berths. A broker building carrier relationships around Wilmington reefer freight needs dependable temperature-controlled trailer capacity — a narrower carrier pool than dry-van brokering, and one where relationships with specialized reefer fleets matter more than spot-market rate shopping.

Fixed Vessel Schedules Drive the Calendar

Banana and produce vessels call the port on fixed weekly rotations, not on-demand — which means outbound reefer freight arrives in predictable waves rather than trickling in continuously. Brokers who track vessel schedules and pre-book reefer capacity ahead of each call win repeat produce-distributor business that a broker treating Wilmington like generic dry-van freight will miss.

None of this is unique to Delaware in the legal sense — the bond, the statute, and the filing process are identical to a broker working out of New Jersey's Port Newark-Elizabeth, Maryland's Port of Baltimore, or Pennsylvania's Philadelphia freight market just up the I-95 corridor. What's different is the cargo mix underneath the bond — and that shapes which carriers you need on speed-dial, not which forms you file.

Delaware Freight Broker Bond Cost

The $75,000 BMC-84 is priced as a percentage of face value — you never pay $75,000, only the annual premium. Pricing is driven by credit, not geography or entity domicile; see our freight broker bond cost by state guide and surety bond cost overview for broader context.

No Second Premium to Budget For

Because no Delaware agency licenses or bonds property freight brokers, there's no second premium line item — your annual Delaware franchise tax and registered-agent fee (typically well under $500/year combined for a small LLC) are the only other recurring Delaware-specific costs, and they're entity-maintenance costs, not bonding costs.

New Brokerages: Expect a Startup Surcharge

A newly formed Delaware LLC with no operating history reads as a new brokerage to a surety, regardless of how established the underlying business plan is. Expect the same startup surcharge any first-time BMC-84 applicant sees nationwide — it phases out after 12–18 months of clean claims history, not based on your entity's state of formation.

Delaware Freight Broker Bond — Frequently Asked Questions

Questions specific to Delaware entity formation, the Port of Wilmington, and the 2023 FMCSA financial responsibility rule

My LLC is registered in Delaware but my brokerage actually operates out of another state — where do I file my freight broker bond?

With the FMCSA, not with Delaware — and it doesn't matter which state you physically operate from either. Your $75,000 BMC-84 is filed under 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) and 49 CFR § 387.307 against your federal broker authority (your MC number), not against your state of incorporation. Delaware is the most common state in the country for exactly this pattern: the Delaware Division of Corporations reports more than 2.1 million active business entities registered in the state against a resident population under one million, and 66.7% of Fortune 500 companies are Delaware-incorporated. Almost none of them run day-to-day operations from a Delaware address — their registered agent is in Delaware; their business is somewhere else. Your bond follows the second thing, not the first.

Does the Delaware Division of Corporations, the Public Service Commission, or the DMV license or bond freight brokers?

No — none of Delaware's regulatory bodies touch property freight brokering. The Delaware Division of Corporations only handles entity formation (your certificate of formation and registered agent), not transportation authority. The Delaware DMV's carrier-facing office — the Office of Public Carrier, now administered through the Delaware Transit Corporation (DART) — regulates passenger for-hire vehicles: taxis, limousines, charter buses, and transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. Its published scope makes no mention of freight, cargo, or property brokers. There is no Delaware agency issuing a broker license or requiring a state-level broker bond on top of your BMC-84.

I broker reefer and produce freight out of the Port of Wilmington — does that change my bond requirement or amount?

No. The BMC-84 amount and filing process are set entirely by federal law and don't vary by cargo type, port, or trade lane — brokering banana and produce reefer loads out of the Port of Wilmington requires the same $75,000 bond as brokering dry van freight anywhere else in the country. What changes is your operating reality, not your paperwork: the Port of Wilmington is a major banana and fruit import port, backed by an 800,000-square-foot on-site cold-storage complex. A broker building a book around that volume needs reefer-qualified carrier capacity and familiarity with temperature-controlled scheduling — but the bond itself is identical to any other BMC-84 filing.

What did the FMCSA's 2023 Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility rule (88 FR 78656) change, and does it apply to Delaware-formed brokerages?

It applies the same way to every broker nationwide, Delaware entities included — there's no state carve-out. Published November 16, 2023 and effective January 16, 2024, the rule amended 49 CFR Parts 386-387 to require immediate suspension of a broker's operating authority the moment its available financial security — its BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust fund — falls below the full $75,000, and it tightened the rules around what counts as "readily available" security and which entities can provide trust funds. Phased compliance dates pushed full enforcement of every provision to January 16, 2026, which means the entire rule is now in force. Whether your entity is a Delaware LLC, a Delaware corporation, or formed anywhere else, letting your bond lapse or your surety withdraw now triggers suspension faster than it did before 2024.

If I change my Delaware registered agent, convert entity types, or dissolve and re-form my LLC, does that affect my existing BMC-84 bond?

Not automatically, but you do need to keep two separate records in sync. Your BMC-84 bond is tied to your FMCSA broker authority — your MC number and USDOT registration — not to your Delaware entity filing. Swapping registered agents under 6 Del. C. § 18-104 or amending your certificate of formation with the Delaware Division of Corporations doesn't by itself touch your bond. But if you change your legal business name, restructure from an LLC to a corporation, or dissolve and re-form as a new entity, you must update your FMCSA registration (and typically your surety) to match — a bond issued to "Old Name LLC" doesn't automatically cover "New Name LLC," even if the underlying business and its Delaware registered agent stayed exactly the same.

Who needs a Delaware freight broker bond?

Property brokers and freight forwarders based in Delaware that arrange interstate freight. It is required by FMCSA, under 49 U.S.C. 13906 and 49 CFR 387.307. The bond amount is $75,000, set by federal law (BMC-84 surety bond; a BMC-85 trust fund is the alternative).

How do I get a Delaware freight broker bond?

Request a quote with the form on this page. A licensed agent submits your application to a Treasury-listed surety carrier; once the carrier issues your bond, file it as the requiring agency directs.

What happens after I apply?

We submit complete applications to the carrier promptly; most quotes come back within one business day. The carrier decides approval and the final premium, and you pay only when your bond is issued.

FMCSA Broker Registration

Official FMCSA portal for broker authority applications, BMC-84 filing status, and SAFER system lookups.

Delaware Division of Corporations

Official state site for entity formation, registered agent rules, and annual franchise tax — not applicable to property broker BMC-84 filings.

Treasury-Listed Carriers
FMCSA Sets Processing Time
Direct FMCSA Filing
All Credit Reviewed

Freight Broker Bond Resources

Freight Broker Bond Hub

Complete BMC-84 guide — requirements, costs, claims, 2026 changes

Freight Broker Bond Cost

Annual premiums by credit tier, national breakdown

BMC-84 Deep Dive

FMCSA filing mechanics, bond vs trust fund, personal guarantees

How to Get Broker Authority

Step-by-step FMCSA authority process from MC# to ACTIVE status

New Jersey Freight Broker Bond

Port Newark-Elizabeth & Exit 8A drayage

Maryland Freight Broker Bond

Port of Baltimore drayage & post-Key-Bridge I-95 routing

Pennsylvania Freight Broker Bond

Northeast freight broker BMC-84 filing

Delaware Contractor License Bond

Another Delaware bond type entirely unrelated to freight brokering

BMC-84 Bond Cost Calculator

Estimate your annual premium by credit score tier

Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
Reviewed by
Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
Verify credentials →

All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.

Read our editorial standards & corrections policy →
Your Bond Follows Your Authority, Not Your Registered Agent

Get Your Delaware Freight Broker Bond

BMC-84 quotes within one business day. No Delaware add-on to manage — just the federal $75,000 requirement, wherever your brokerage actually operates. Premiums commonly run about 1%–4% of $75,000 with good credit (the carrier sets the price), all credit levels accepted.

Get Your Delaware Bond NowBack to Freight Broker Bonds
Treasury-Listed Carriers
FMCSA Sets Processing Time
Est. 1%–4% of $75K (good credit)

Freight Broker Bonds by State

State-specific guidance for filing your $75,000 BMC-84 and securing FMCSA property broker authority.

Alaska Freight Broker Bond

BMC-84 cost & barge/AlCan rules

California Freight Broker Bond

BMC-84 filing for California property brokers

Texas Freight Broker Bond

Laredo & Gulf-corridor brokerage bonding

Washington Freight Broker Surety Bond

Pacific Northwest broker authority

Pennsylvania Broker Bond

Northeast freight broker BMC-84 filing

Arizona Freight Broker Bond

Southwest property broker bonding

Georgia Freight Broker Bond

Atlanta & Savannah-corridor BMC-84 filing

Montana Freight Broker Bond

BMC-84 requirements & cost for Montana brokers

Wyoming Freight Broker Bond

Fast BMC-84 filing for Wyoming-registered brokers

Freight Broker Bond Resources

Freight Broker Bond GuideNational $75,000 BMC-84 overviewFreight Broker Bond CostAnnual premiums by credit tierHow to Get Broker AuthorityStep-by-step FMCSA registrationBMC-84 vs BMC-85Surety bond vs. trust fund comparedAuto Transport Broker BondVehicle-shipping broker requirementsFreight Forwarder BondForwarder BMC-84 filing guidanceFreight Broker Excess BondCoverage above the $75,000 BMC-84

Other bonds in Delaware

Freight broker bonds in other states

More about freight broker bonds

Related Surety Bonds

CallGet Free Quote