South Carolina Freight Broker Bond$75,000 BMC-84 — No Separate State Bond

One Deep-Water Gateway, Feeding a Rail-Served Inland Port 212 Miles Upstate

Every state requires the same $75,000 BMC-84. What varies is what the freight underneath it looks like — and South Carolina's freight economy is unusually concentrated: nearly everything that matters for a broker's book runs through the Port of Charleston, then either stays coastal or rides rail 212 miles inland to Greer, near Spartanburg, close to a large automotive manufacturing campus. The Charleston Harbor Deepening Project, completed in December 2022, brought the Inner Harbor to 52 feet and the Entrance Channel to 54 feet — the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast, according to the South Carolina Ports Authority — which is why the newest terminal there can already berth ultra-large container vessels without the tidal windows that constrain shallower ports.

Why the ORS Never Bonds Property Brokers

South Carolina's Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) represents the public interest before the Public Service Commission on transportation matters under S.C. Code Title 58, Chapter 23. Its regulated categories are narrow: motor carriers of passengers (taxis, charter buses, limousines, and non-emergency medical transportation), transportation network carriers, household goods movers, and haulers of hazardous waste for disposal. Property/freight brokers aren't on that list, and there's no repealed statute to point to — South Carolina simply never built a state-level bonding scheme for property brokers the way it did for household goods movers. That's consistent with federal law: the FAAAA, codified at 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1), preempts states from regulating a motor carrier or broker's prices, routes, or services for the transportation of property. Brokers still owe the FMCSA basic recordkeeping obligations under 49 CFR part 371 — keeping a record of each transaction for at least three years — but that's a federal paperwork rule, not a second bond.

South Carolina 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.

Getting Broker Authority as a South Carolina-Based Broker

For interstate authority, the entire process runs through the FMCSA. Broker registration itself is governed by 49 U.S.C. § 13904, which requires the FMCSA to register a person as a broker only after finding they're fit, willing, and able to comply with federal broker rules — and that registration stays valid only while the broker maintains the $75,000 bond required under 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b). See our full guide to getting freight broker authority for more detail on each step.

Freight Broker Bond Resources