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Last updated: General Nebraska freight broker bond information — confirm current requirements with the licensing authority.
Omaha Is Freight Capital, Not Just Farm Country

Nebraska Freight Broker Bond$75,000 BMC-84, Quoted in 1 Business Day

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 a rail hub that supports a rail-to-truck transload brokerage niche, and the state has an established truckload carrier base. 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.

$75,000
Federal BMC-84
49 CFR § 387.307
None
Nebraska Broker Bond
PSC bonds carriers, not brokers
NE DMV
UCR Administrator
Brokers register, lowest fee tier
Rail + Truck
I-80 Rail Corridor
Major rail yards along I-80
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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 Nebraska or arranges loads through the state. Nebraska 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(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.

Why "Nebraska Motor Carrier Bond" Searches Get Confusing

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.

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Half the Book: I-80 Beef & Grain

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.

The Other Half: Rail-to-Truck

Omaha's Rail Infrastructure Creates a Transload Brokerage Niche

Omaha is a significant rail hub, and Nebraska has major rail yards along the I-80 corridor. That concentration of rail infrastructure supports an Omaha/Council Bluffs rail-to-truck transload brokerage niche: 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 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 rail 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. 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?

No. The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) regulates intrastate transportation under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 75-301 to 75-322, which the statute itself scopes to "transportation by a motor carrier or the transportation of passengers and household goods by a regulated motor carrier for hire in intrastate commerce." That language covers the trucks and the movers physically operating within Nebraska — it does not reach a property broker who arranges transportation but never dispatches a vehicle. Whether you're booking rail-to-truck transload out of Omaha or beef and grain freight down I-80, the only surety bond a Nebraska-based freight broker files is the $75,000 BMC-84 under 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b) and 49 CFR § 387.307.

Does Nebraska UCR registration apply to freight brokers, and who administers it?

Yes — and this is where Nebraska brokers get tripped up, because UCR is easy to assume is a carrier-only filing. The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles administers the Unified Carrier Registration program for the state, and its own broker definition — "a person other than a motor carrier, who sells or arranges for transportation by a motor carrier for compensation" — explicitly includes brokers and freight forwarders alongside motor carriers as a registrable classification. Brokers and freight forwarders register at UCR's lowest fee tier (well under what a multi-truck carrier pays), but skipping it because you assumed UCR was carrier-only is a compliance gap that shows up in a Nebraska DMV audit, not an FMCSA one.

How does brokering rail-to-truck transload freight out of Omaha differ from a standard truckload lane?

Omaha is a significant rail hub, and Nebraska has major rail yards along the I-80 corridor. A broker working the Omaha/Council Bluffs rail-to-truck transload niche is coordinating container drayage, chassis availability, and equipment-interchange paperwork instead of a standard shipper-dock pickup — and rail dwell time (a container sitting at the ramp before a drayage carrier can pull it) creates a detention and demurrage exposure that a general truckload broker never underwrites for. Sureties reviewing a rail-transload-heavy Nebraska book typically ask more about drayage carrier vetting and interchange documentation than they would for a dry-van generalist.

What's different about brokering Nebraska's I-80 beef and grain freight versus general freight?

Nebraska is consistently among the top cattle-on-feed and beef-processing states in the country, with major packing plants clustered along the I-80 corridor between Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, and North Platte, plus grain elevators that run near-continuous outbound freight during the fall harvest surge. A broker in this lane is managing reefer temperature-log compliance and tight pickup windows tied to a packing plant's kill schedule rather than a flexible multi-day delivery appointment, and USDA/FSIS-regulated product raises the claims stakes of a late or temperature-excursion load well above a dry-van shipment. That claims profile is exactly why the BMC-84 form itself makes no distinction by freight type — the bond protects against broker non-payment to any carrier, cold-chain or not — but it's worth knowing before you build a book concentrated in this lane.

Which Nebraska agency handles UCR for brokers?

The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles — not the Public Service Commission — administers UCR on Nebraska's behalf. It is a separate annual federal filing from your BMC-84. Nebraska adds no state broker license on top of federal authority. 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 Nebraska freight broker bond?

Property brokers and freight forwarders based in Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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.

Nebraska DMV — UCR Registration

Official Nebraska DMV source for Unified Carrier Registration, including the broker classification and fee tiers.

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

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

Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer
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Rail Transload, Reefer/Ag, or General — One Bond

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BMC-84 quotes within one business day. No second Nebraska bond to manage — just the federal $75,000 requirement and a Nebraska DMV UCR filing. 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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