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Last updated: General Minnesota freight broker bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
One Federal Bond, Two Freight Calendars

Minnesota Freight Broker Bond$75,000 BMC-84 for Duluth & Twin Cities Brokers

Every Minnesota freight broker needs a $75,000 surety bond filed on FMCSA Form BMC-84, as required by 49 U.S.C. § 13906 and 49 CFR § 387.307. Minnesota doesn't add a second state-level bond on top of it — the requirement is entirely federal. What makes this state different isn't the bond math, it's that Minnesota brokers work two freight calendars that don't match: the Port of Duluth-Superior, which freezes shut every winter, and the Twin Cities rail interchange, which runs year-round. See our broker authority guide for the full FMCSA process.

$75,000
Federal BMC-84
49 CFR § 387.307
None
Minnesota State Bond
No ch. 221 broker layer
25.3M tons
Duluth-Superior 2025
Highest-tonnage Great Lakes port
Jan 15–Mar 25
Soo Locks Closed
~10-week winter maintenance
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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 Minnesota or arranges loads through the state. Minnesota 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.
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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 • 49 CFR § 387.307
Why Minnesota, Specifically

Minnesota Is the Only State Spoke Where Freight Runs on a Freeze/Thaw Calendar

Every state requires the same $75,000 BMC-84. What's unusual about Minnesota is that the same broker can be arranging freight through two networks that don't share a calendar: a freshwater Great Lakes port that physically closes for ten weeks every winter, and a year-round, four-railroad rail interchange 150 miles south that never stops.

Duluth-Superior — Highest Tonnage on the Lakes

  • 25.3 million short tons moved in the 2025 navigation season — the most of any port on the Great Lakes
  • Taconite (iron ore) fell from 19.4 million tons (2024) to 16.5 million tons (2025), per the Duluth Seaway Port Authority
  • Grain, coal, limestone, cement, and salt tonnage all trailed the five-season average in 2025
  • The 2025 season ran roughly 301 days, bounded by the Soo Locks' open and close dates

Twin Cities — Four-Railroad Interchange

  • Multiple Class I railroads interchange in the Twin Cities, with an intermodal terminal serving the metro
  • Gateway for grain from the upper Midwest, iron ore from the Mesabi Range, and potash imported from Canada
  • Runs year-round — no lock-driven shutdown window the way lake-vessel freight does
  • Feeds I-94 and I-35 truckload lanes east-west and north-south out of the metro

Producer Insight: The Pre-Freeze Rush Is a Real Booking Window

Grain elevators along the Iron Range and Red River Valley race to move harvested corn and soybeans to processors, rail ramps, and the Duluth docks before the Soo Locks close on January 15 — anything still waiting on a lake vessel after that date has to shift to rail or truck for ten weeks, or sit. That creates a genuine fall booking surge for brokers who work ag freight, distinct from the steady, non-seasonal volume a Twin Cities intermodal broker sees year-round. A broker quoting a Duluth-area shipper in November is working a different risk and timing profile than the same broker quoting a Twin Cities warehouse client in July — and a surety underwriting a book heavy in seasonal lake-freight brokerage will ask more about cash-flow timing across the winter gap than one underwriting a steady rail-intermodal book.

Ready to get bonded and start booking Duluth or Twin Cities freight? We file your BMC-84 directly with the FMCSA.

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The Minnesota Freight Calendar: What Changes by Season

A broker booking loads out of a warm-water port state works one calendar all year. Minnesota brokers work against two — the lake-freight season bounded by the Soo Locks, and the harvest surge that races to beat the winter closure.

Minnesota Freight Seasonality — Duluth-Superior vs. Statewide Ag

How lake access and harvest timing shift brokerable freight through the year

PeriodDuluth-Superior Port StatusStatewide Freight Condition
Late March – AugustOpen; peak taconite, grain, and coal vessel loadingSteady truckload and Twin Cities intermodal volume
September – early JanuaryOpen; last-call vessel bookings ahead of closureHarvest surge — corn/soybean freight to elevators, rail ramps, and docks
January 15 – March 25Closed to all vessel traffic (~10 weeks, 33 CFR § 207.440)Ag and lake-freight volume shifts entirely to rail/truck; Twin Cities intermodal runs unaffected

Twin Cities rail intermodal operates year-round and is not affected by the Soo Locks closure — the seasonality is specific to Duluth-Superior lake-vessel freight and the harvest cycle feeding it.

Sources: Duluth Seaway Port Authority 2025 season report; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Soo Locks schedule (33 CFR § 207.440); MnDOT harvest safety advisory.

The Filing Step That Is Easy to Miss: Unified Carrier Registration Through MnDOT

Minnesota doesn't add a second surety bond, but it does have one filing step that's easy to miss: the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR), required for brokers under 49 U.S.C. § 14504a and administered in Minnesota by the MnDOT Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations.

What UCR Requires of Brokers

  • Annual registration, separate from the BMC-84 bond and FMCSA authority
  • Brokers pay the smallest fee bracket: $46 for the 2026 registration year — unchanged from 2025
  • Filed online at ucr.gov, with Minnesota as the base-state administrator for MN-domiciled brokers
  • Runs on a separate annual clock from your BMC-84 filing date

Why It Trips Up New Brokers

A new broker can have a perfectly filed BMC-84 and still get flagged if UCR lapses, because the two filings run on independent renewal clocks and neither system automatically reminds you about the other. Since UCR is federally mandated but state-administered, Minnesota brokers file through MnDOT specifically as their base-state UCR contact — even though the bond itself goes straight to the FMCSA. Track both renewal dates separately.

Why Minn. Stat. Ch. 221 Doesn't Reach Property Brokers

Minnesota Statutes Chapter 221 sets registration, insurance, and bonding rules for motor carriers operating in the state, including a state-level bond requirement for certain intrastate carriers under Minn. Stat. § 221.141. That chapter is aimed at carriers who physically operate vehicles — it does not create a separate license or bond category for property brokers, who arrange transportation but don't operate trucks themselves. If you're brokering freight that starts or ends in Minnesota, your $75,000 BMC-84 covers you whether the load crosses state lines or not; you don't layer a chapter 221 carrier bond on top of it.

What This Means in Practice

One bond, one renewal date, one filing to track. Minnesota brokers spend the administrative overhead they'd otherwise burn on a second state bond on the thing that actually matters here — tracking Duluth-Superior's shipping-season dates and the harvest calendar that drives freight volume ahead of it.

Minnesota 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; see our freight broker bond cost by state guide and surety bond cost overview for broader context.

No Minnesota Add-On Cost

Because Minnesota doesn't require a state-level broker bond, there's no second premium to budget for. The only additional line item is the $46/year UCR fee — a flat federal filing cost, not a bond premium, and unaffected by credit score or how much of your book is seasonal.

Getting Broker Authority as a Minnesota-Based Broker

Because Minnesota has no separate state track, the entire authority process runs through the FMCSA. See our full guide to getting freight broker authority for more detail on each step.

Minnesota-Specific Steps

  1. 1

    Register for UCR Through MnDOT

    $46/year for brokers; separate from your BMC-84 renewal date

Minnesota Freight Broker Bond — Frequently Asked Questions

Questions specific to Minnesota-based brokers, Great Lakes seasonality, and UCR filing

Does Minnesota require its own broker bond on top of the federal BMC-84?

No. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 221 governs motor carriers operating in the state — registration, insurance, and bond requirements for intrastate carriers under Minn. Stat. § 221.141 — but that chapter regulates carriers, not property brokers. Minnesota does not issue a separate broker license or require a state-level surety bond layered on top of the federal requirement. Your $75,000 BMC-84 bond, filed with the FMCSA under 49 U.S.C. § 13906 and 49 CFR § 387.307, is the only surety bond a Minnesota-based freight broker needs, whether the freight moves through the Port of Duluth-Superior, the Twin Cities rail yards, or stays entirely within state lines.

Why does the Soo Locks' 10-week winter closure matter to a broker who never touches a ship?

Every year the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie close to all traffic at 11:59 p.m. on January 15 and stay closed until 12:01 a.m. on March 25 for scheduled maintenance — a roughly 10-week window set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under 33 CFR § 207.440. Because the Soo Locks are the only route between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, that closure ices in the entire Duluth-Superior shipping lane, not just the locks themselves. Every ton of taconite, grain, or coal that would have moved by lake vessel during those ten weeks has to move by rail or truck instead, or wait for the March reopening. A broker who books lake-adjacent freight has to plan around that mode-shift window every single winter — something no broker in a warm-water port state ever has to think about.

What happened to Duluth-Superior freight volume in the most recent shipping season?

The Port of Duluth-Superior is the highest-tonnage port on the Great Lakes, and its 2025 navigation season — which ran from the March reopening through the January 15 winter closure — moved 25.3 million short tons, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. That was down 14.6% from 2024 and about 16% below the five-season average, driven mainly by a taconite (iron ore) drop from 19.4 million tons in 2024 to 16.5 million tons in 2025, alongside declines in grain, coal, limestone, cement, and salt. For a broker, swings of that size on the Iron Range and at the Duluth docks translate directly into how much drayage and rail-transload freight is available to book in a given season — this is a market where year-over-year tonnage data is a genuine planning input, not trivia.

How does the Twin Cities rail interchange affect brokering opportunities in Minnesota?

Minneapolis-St. Paul is served by multiple Class I railroads that interchange traffic in the Twin Cities, and the metro has an intermodal terminal. That makes the metro a gateway for grain moving out of the upper Midwest, iron ore from the Mesabi Range, and potash imported from Canada, on top of standard truckload and LTL freight. A broker working the Twin Cities corridor is arranging transportation into a rail network most states don't have — which means more mode options (rail-to-truck transloads, not just point-to-point trucking) and a different carrier relationship base than a broker working a single-mode market.

Who administers UCR for a Minnesota-based broker?

MnDOT's Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations administers the Unified Carrier Registration Plan for Minnesota. Brokers fall into UCR's smallest fee bracket — $46 for the 2026 registration year — and the filing is separate from your BMC-84, on its own renewal date. Minnesota has no additional state broker license. The federal sequence itself is identical in every state and is walked through step by step in our guide to getting freight broker authority.

Who needs a Minnesota freight broker bond?

Property brokers and freight forwarders based in Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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.

Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Official season tonnage statistics, cargo breakdowns, and shipping-season dates for Duluth-Superior.

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

BMC-84 Deep Dive

FMCSA filing mechanics, bond vs trust fund, personal guarantees

Cost by State Guide

How pricing varies by credit tier, not by state

BMC-84 vs BMC-85

When the trust fund makes sense — and when it never does

How to Get Broker Authority

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

BMC-84 Bond Cost Calculator

Estimate your annual premium by credit score tier

Minnesota Contractor License Bond

Bonding requirements for Minnesota-licensed contractors

Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
Reviewed by
Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.

Duluth & Twin Cities Freight, One Bond

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BMC-84 quotes within one business day. No second Minnesota bond to manage — just the federal $75,000 requirement. Premiums commonly run about 1%–4% of $75,000 with good credit (the carrier sets the price), all credit levels reviewed.

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Treasury-Listed Carriers
FMCSA Sets Processing Time
Est. 1%–4% of $75K (good credit)

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