Last reviewed: August 21, 2026|Next review due: November 19, 2026|Reflects current Pennsylvania BMC-84 premium calculator requirements

✓ 2026 Requirements Verified

FMCSA $75,000 BMC-84 · Federal, Not State-Set

Pennsylvania Freight Broker Bond Calculator

Move the slider to your credit score for a live premium range on the $75,000 BMC-84 — the federal bond every FMCSA-licensed broker in Pennsylvania carries. Then, if any of your freight stays entirely inside the Commonwealth, check the PA PUC box to add the separate $10,000 intrastate bond estimate. No other state calculator on this site does that math for you.

$75,000

Federal Bond

$10,000*

PA PUC Bond

24 hrs

Filing Time

*Only if you also broker intrastate PA freight — 52 Pa. Code § 39.15

Want the full regulatory picture first? Read our Pennsylvania freight broker bond guide covering the dual-bond requirement in depth, or start with the national BMC-84 overview.

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PA BMC-84 Premium Calculator

Federal bond

$75,000

Personal Credit Score690

300580650700750850

Tier: Average (650–699)

Where do you broker freight in PA?

My MC number has been active less than 12 months (new authority)I also broker intrastate PA freight and need the separate $10,000 PA PUC bond (52 Pa. Code § 39.15)

Estimated BMC-84 Annual Premium

$2,250 – $4,125

I-78 Lehigh Valley note: The Lehigh Valley submarket is dense with 3PL and e-commerce fulfillment accounts, so underwriters see steady, well-documented freight volume here — brokers with 12+ months of clean history often land at the low end of their tier.

Lock In This Rate Read the PA Dual-Bond Guide

Official Federal (FMCSA) Requirements

"Each broker subject to the requirements of this section shall provide financial security of $75,000 for purposes of this subsection, regardless of the number of branch offices or sales agents of the broker."

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b)(3); 49 CFR § 387.307 • 49 U.S.C. § 13906(b)(3) / 49 CFR § 387.307

What Three PA Warehouse-Alley Brokers Actually Pay

The Lehigh Valley and Central PA distribution corridors along I-78 and I-81 move a huge share of Pennsylvania's brokered freight. These worked examples show how credit, operating history, and the PUC toggle move the estimate — run your own numbers in the slider above.

Maria — I-78 Lehigh Valley 3PL Broker

3 years active MC authority, 715 credit score, steady Allentown/Bethlehem fulfillment freight, interstate only

Good tier (700–749)

$938 – $1,300/yr

Maria's book is exclusively interstate warehouse-to-DC freight, so she skips the PUC bond entirely. Her clean operating history keeps her toward the bottom of the Good tier instead of its $1,875 ceiling.

Dev — I-81 Central PA, New Authority + Dual Bond

MC number active 6 months, 655 credit score, Harrisburg-to-Carlisle repositioning that sometimes never leaves PA

Average tier (650–699) + PA PUC

$2,450 – $5,144/yr

Dev checks both boxes: new authority (pushes his BMC-84 ceiling up 15%) and the PA PUC toggle, because some of his warehouse-to-warehouse loads stay entirely inside Cumberland County. The PUC add-on is a small slice of his total, but skipping the filing would leave him operating without required intrastate authority.

Sam — I-76 Pittsburgh Flatbed, Established

8 years active MC authority, 780 credit score, manufacturing and steel flatbed freight, interstate only

Excellent tier (750+)

$750 – $900/yr

Sam's high-value flatbed loads draw more underwriting questions about cargo coverage than a dry van book would, but with eight years of clean history and top-tier credit, none of that moves his rate — it just means his underwriter asks about his cargo policy before binding.

The Full PA BMC-84 Rate Table, Tier by Tier

Prefer to scan the whole table instead of moving the slider? These are the identical base rates the calculator above uses — before the new-authority or PUC add-on.

Pennsylvania BMC-84 Annual Premium by Credit Score

Based on a $75,000 bond amount

Credit ScoreEst. Annual Cost

Excellent (750+)Rate: 1.0%–1.5%
$750–$1,125
Good (700–749)Rate: 1.25%–2.5%
$938–$1,875
Average (650–699)Rate: 3%–5.5%
$2,250–$4,125
Fair (580–649)Rate: 5%–8%
$3,750–$6,000
Challenged (<580)Rate: 8%–15%
$6,000–$11,250

Base BMC-84 rates before the new-authority (first 12 months) adjustment. The separate PA PUC intrastate bond ($10,000 minimum) adds roughly $100–$800/year depending on credit — see the calculator above for the combined estimate.

Why the Number Above Isn't Final

Why Your Bindable Quote May Land Outside This Range

An estimate and a bindable quote are answering different questions. The calculator above answers “roughly what does a broker with my credit score and operating history pay?” A bindable quote answers “what will a specific surety carrier actually charge you, today, once they've pulled your full file?” The gap between those two numbers is real, and it's almost always explained by inputs the slider simply can't see.

What the Calculator Sees vs. What Underwriting Actually Reviews

Same $75,000 BMC-84 bond — different depth of review

Underwriting Factor	This Calculator	A Bindable BMC-84 Quote
Personal credit score	Self-reported slider input	Pulled directly from the bureau
MC number age	New-authority checkbox only	Verified against FMCSA SAFER records
Safety rating & OOS orders	Not captured	Reviewed in full — can shift your tier
Prior BMC-84 claims	Not captured	Reviewed — a paid claim can move you a full tier
PA PUC intrastate exposure	Yes/no toggle estimate	Verified against your PUC filing status
Co-signer or financial statement	Not captured	Can meaningfully lower a Fair/Challenged quote

Bond amounts never change — $75,000 BMC-84 and, where applicable, $10,000 PA PUC are fixed by statute. What underwriting adjusts is the rate applied to those fixed amounts.

None of this means the calculator is wrong — it means it's deliberately fast and anonymous, with no credit pull required to use it. The way to close the gap is the form below: it asks the qualifying questions underwriting actually needs (corridor, PUC exposure, MC age) so the number you get back is close to what you'd be asked to sign, not just a planning range.

Ready to close the gap between estimate and bindable quote? Answer a few PA-specific questions below — no credit pull required to see your rate.

Get My PA BMC-84 Quote Skip to Full Application

Get Your Exact Pennsylvania BMC-84 Rate

Tell us where you broker freight and whether you need the PA PUC bond — we'll match you with a carrier that prices that profile well, no obligation.

PA BMC-84 Calculator — Frequently Asked Questions

Questions specific to using this slider and its PA PUC toggle

This calculator gave me a range. Why might my actual bindable quote come in higher or lower?

The slider only sees two inputs — your credit score and whether your MC number is under 12 months old. A bindable quote pulls your actual credit report, checks your SAFER safety rating and any FMCSA enforcement history, and reviews whether you've ever had a BMC-84 claim paid out. A broker with a clean multi-year file can land below the slider's low end; a broker with a prior claim or an out-of-service order can land above the high end even with strong credit. Treat the slider as your planning range and use the form below to get the number underwriting will actually hold you to.

I checked the PA PUC bond box — how is that $10,000 bond actually priced?

The PA PUC bond is a separate, smaller-face-value bond ($10,000 minimum under 52 Pa. Code § 39.15) with its own rate band, so it doesn't just get folded into your BMC-84 percentage. Because the face amount is so much smaller, even Challenged-tier applicants usually pay under $800/year for it — but it's underwritten separately, filed separately with the PA PUC, and renewed on its own schedule. The calculator adds both estimates together so you can budget the combined number, but expect two line items, not one.

I'm not sure if my freight ever stays entirely inside Pennsylvania. Should I check the PUC box?

If every load you arrange crosses a state line — even a short hop from Philadelphia into New Jersey — you're interstate-only and don't need the PUC box checked. If any portion of your book is a pickup and delivery that both happen inside Pennsylvania (a common pattern for I-81 warehouse-to-warehouse repositioning around Harrisburg and Carlisle), check it. When in doubt, leave it checked for planning purposes; it's cheaper to budget for a bond you don't end up needing than to get caught operating without PUC authority, which carries a $1,000 per-violation penalty.

Does my I-78, I-81, or I-76 corridor selection change the $75,000 bond amount?

No — the federal $75,000 penal sum under 49 CFR § 387.307 is identical for every Pennsylvania broker regardless of corridor. The corridor toggle changes the underwriting note shown below your estimate, not the math. What it reflects is real: a steady Lehigh Valley 3PL book underwrites differently than a Pittsburgh flatbed book heavy on high-value manufacturing freight, even at the same credit score — but that shows up in how quickly you clear underwriting, not in a different rate table.

Why does checking 'new authority' push my estimate up even though I entered the same credit score?

Because credit score and operating history are two separate risk signals, and sureties price both. A broker with no FMCSA safety record and no claims history yet is a bigger unknown than one with three clean years on file — even if both have identical credit. The new-authority adjustment adds roughly 15% to the top of your tier's range for the first 12 months your MC number is active. It phases out automatically at renewal once you have operating history to underwrite against.

Why use this instead of the national BMC-84 calculator?

The national calculator at /tools/calculator/freight-broker-bond/ prices the $75,000 bond the same way everywhere, because the federal amount doesn't change by state. This version adds the one thing that's genuinely different about Pennsylvania: the PA PUC intrastate bond that brokers running any wholly-in-state freight also need under 52 Pa. Code § 39.15. If you only broker interstate freight, the two calculators will give you the same BMC-84 number — this one just also handles the PUC math if you need it.

PA Freight Broker Resources & Next Steps

Pennsylvania Freight Broker Bond GuideFull FMCSA + PA PUC dual-bond breakdown

National BMC-84 Bond GuideEvery state, one federal bond

BMC-84 vs. BMC-85 ComparisonBond premium vs. trust fund deposit

National BMC-84 CalculatorAll states, generic credit-tier estimate

Florida BMC-84 CalculatorPort drayage & produce-season premium slider

Surety Bond Cost GuideHow premiums are underwritten across bond types

Reviewed by

Eric Drummond, Licensed Surety Producer

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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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PA BMC-84 · All Credit Levels

Know Your Number. Now Get Bonded.

Whether you're running loads out of the Lehigh Valley or splitting time between interstate and intrastate PA freight, get your exact BMC-84 rate today.

Get My PA BMC-84 Bond Read the Full PA Guide

Freight Broker Bonds by State

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

Freight Broker Bond Resources

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