Nebraska Freight Broker Bond$75,000 BMC-84, Filed in 24 Hours
Every Nebraska freight broker needs a $75,000 surety bond filed on FMCSA Form BMC-84, as required by 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) and 49 CFR § 387.307. Omaha is home to Union Pacific — the Class I railroad that anchors a rail-to-truck transload brokerage niche found almost nowhere else — plus truckload carriers Werner Enterprises and Crete Carrier Corporation. Run south down I-80 and the freight profile shifts to beef and grain reefer/ag freight. The Nebraska Public Service Commission licenses in-state carriers and household goods movers, but it doesn't bond brokers. See our broker authority guide for the full FMCSA process.
BMC-84 quote — 2-minute form, 24-hr turnaround
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
A 2023 FMCSA rulemaking — 88 FR 78656, "Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility" — reached full compliance on January 16, 2026. It requires immediate suspension of a broker's operating authority if available BMC-84 security drops below $75,000, and tightened which assets a BMC-85 trust fund may hold. It didn't change the bond amount itself.
The PSC Regulates Nebraska's Trucks and Movers. FMCSA Regulates the Broker.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission's motor carrier authority runs from Neb. Rev. Stat. § 75-301 through § 75-322, and the statute is explicit about who it covers: intrastate motor carriers and household goods movers operating physical vehicles within Nebraska. Since July 1, 2021, every household goods mover has needed a PSC-issued license to operate. None of that reaches a property broker — a business that arranges transportation for compensation but never dispatches a truck of its own. If your brokerage also runs a small in-state fleet under the same USDOT number, that trucking side needs its own PSC intrastate authority separate from your BMC-84; the pure brokerage side never does.
Nebraska PSC (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 75-301–75-322)
- Covers intrastate carriers physically operating trucks in Nebraska
- Household goods movers need a PSC license (required since July 1, 2021)
- No property broker bond or license track exists at the PSC
FMCSA (49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) / 49 CFR § 387.307)
- Covers property brokers who arrange freight, regardless of freight type or lane
- $75,000 BMC-84 surety bond (or BMC-85 trust) is the entire requirement
- Same bond whether you broker rail transload, reefer/ag, or general freight
Ready to get bonded and start booking Omaha rail transload or I-80 reefer/ag freight? We file your BMC-84 directly with the FMCSA.
Brokering I-80's Reefer/Ag Corridor: Beef and Grain Run on a Different Clock
Nebraska is consistently one of the country's top cattle-on-feed and beef-processing states, with major packing plants strung along I-80 from Omaha through Lincoln, Grand Island, and North Platte, and grain elevators that shift into near-continuous outbound shipping every fall harvest. A broker running this lane is coordinating reefer temperature compliance and pickup windows tied to a plant's kill schedule — not the flexible multi-day appointment window that defines a general dry-van lane.
What the Reefer/Ag Niche Requires
- Temperature-log verification on every reefer load, not spot-checked
- A carrier network that can hit tight pickup windows around a packing plant's kill schedule
- Seasonal capacity spikes during fall grain harvest, when elevator outbound volume surges
- Familiarity with USDA/FSIS-regulated product documentation on beef loads
Why This Raises the Claims Stakes
The BMC-84 bond amount doesn't change by freight type — it protects against broker non-payment to any carrier, cold-chain or not. But a late pickup or a temperature excursion on a load of USDA-regulated beef carries a materially higher spoilage claim than a delayed pallet of dry goods, so a reefer/ag-heavy Nebraska book is exactly the kind of exposure sureties ask more pointed underwriting questions about.
Omaha's Union Pacific Address Creates a Transload Brokerage Niche Few States Have
Union Pacific — one of the country's largest Class I railroads — is headquartered in Omaha, and its Bailey Yard in North Platte (about 150 miles west on I-80) is described by the railroad as the world's largest rail classification yard, sorting thousands of railcars a day. That concentration of rail infrastructure supports an Omaha/Council Bluffs rail-to-truck transload brokerage niche most states never develop: containers come off intermodal ramps and need a drayage carrier to complete the final leg, rather than moving dock-to-dock the entire way.
Brokering that transload leg means underwriting container drayage carriers, tracking chassis availability, and handling equipment-interchange paperwork instead of a standard shipper pickup — and rail dwell time (how long a container sits at the ramp before a drayage carrier can pull it) creates detention and demurrage exposure that a general truckload broker never has to price into a relationship.
Nebraska's Three Freight Lanes — Same Bond, Different Documentation
How the state's biggest freight brokerages split their books
Omaha/Council Bluffs Rail Transload
$75,000
Union Pacific intermodal drayage
- Container/chassis tracking
- Equipment-interchange paperwork
- Rail dwell & demurrage exposure
I-80 Reefer & Ag Freight
$75,000
Beef, grain — Omaha to North Platte
- Temp-log compliance
- Kill-schedule pickup windows
- Fall harvest capacity surge
Statewide General Freight
$75,000
Dry-van, flatbed, LTL
- Standard multi-day appointments
- No cold-chain or rail dependency
- Broadest carrier network needed
Bond amount is identical across all three lanes — $75,000 BMC-84 under 49 CFR § 387.307. The lane distinction affects documentation and claims exposure, not the bond requirement itself.
Nebraska 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 which of Nebraska's freight lanes you run; see our freight broker bond cost by state guide and surety bond cost overview for broader context.
Lane Doesn't Change Your Premium
Whether you're running Union Pacific transload, reefer/ag, or statewide general freight, your BMC-84 premium is priced on personal credit — not freight type. A concentrated book in one lane may draw more underwriting questions, but it won't change the $75,000 face amount or the rate table above.
Getting Bonded: FMCSA Filing Plus the Nebraska DMV UCR Step
Because Nebraska has no separate broker-bonding track, nearly all of your paperwork runs through the FMCSA — but one Nebraska-administered filing still applies to every broker. See our full guide to getting freight broker authority for more detail on each federal step.
Nebraska-Specific Steps
- 1
Register for UCR Through the Nebraska DMV
Brokers and freight forwarders register at UCR’s lowest fee tier — a separate filing from your BMC-84
If You Also Run Trucks Intrastate
Only Nebraska brokerages that also physically operate trucks or move household goods within the state need PSC intrastate motor carrier or household goods mover licensing under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 75-301–75-322 — a track separate from your BMC-84. A pure brokerage that never dispatches its own equipment doesn't need it, just the federal bond and UCR registration above.
Nebraska Freight Broker Bond — Frequently Asked Questions
Questions specific to Nebraska-based brokers, the PSC/FMCSA/UCR distinction, and the rail-transload/reefer-ag lane split
Does Nebraska require its own freight broker bond on top of the federal BMC-84?
Does Nebraska UCR registration apply to freight brokers, and who administers it?
How does brokering Union Pacific rail-to-truck transload freight out of Omaha differ from a standard truckload lane?
What's different about brokering Nebraska's I-80 beef and grain freight versus general freight?
Which Nebraska agency handles UCR for brokers?
FMCSA Broker Registration
Official FMCSA portal for broker authority applications, BMC-84 filing status, and SAFER system lookups.
Nebraska DMV — UCR Registration
Official Nebraska DMV source for Unified Carrier Registration, including the broker classification and fee tiers.
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 Premium Calculator
Estimate your annual premium by credit score tier
Iowa Freight Broker Bond
Council Bluffs’ other side of the river, across I-80
Kansas Freight Broker Bond
Grain and ag freight neighbor, one state south
Missouri Freight Broker Bond
Kansas City intermodal, the other Class I rail hub nearby
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov) and verified before publication. BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-certified, A-minimum rated surety carriers serving all 50 states.
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Freight Broker Bonds by State
State-specific guidance for filing your $75,000 BMC-84 and securing FMCSA property broker authority.
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Pennsylvania Broker Bond
Northeast freight broker BMC-84 filing
Arizona Freight Broker Bond
Southwest property broker bonding
Georgia Freight Broker Bond
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Montana Freight Broker Bond
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Wyoming Freight Broker Bond
Fast BMC-84 filing for Wyoming-registered brokers