Guide
Work it like a driver works a breakdown: in order, with the clocks in view. Most unpaid loads resolve on the early steps. The ones that do not are won or lost on the bond claim — and the bond claim is a race with three clocks on it, the hardest of which can already be running. Here is the whole path.
Before anything else, make sure the file is clean on your end: the rate confirmation signed, the bill of lading matching the load, the proof of delivery signed by the receiver, the invoice sent to the right address with the right amount and the load number on it. A surprising share of 'the broker won't pay' is 'the invoice never landed' or 'the paperwork has a hole in it' — and a hole you find yourself is a hole you can fix today. If a factoring company is in the picture, confirm what they have and have not been sent, too.
Call once, politely, and ask the three questions: is there a problem with the paperwork, when will this be paid, and who do I talk to if that date slips? Then put the same ask in writing the same day — email or the portal — with the load number, the amount and the delivery date in the subject line. This is not just good manners. A bond claim needs proof that you tried to collect from the broker first; the sureties ask for it. Every written ask, every reply, every 'check is in the mail' is a page of your claim file. Save all of it, with dates.
Give a working broker a fair, short runway — a promised date in writing, then one follow-up when it passes. What you are listening for is the difference between slow and gone: a broker who answers with dates and partial payments is one problem; a broker whose phone rings out, whose portal goes dark, whose address suddenly bounces — that is a broker going down, and going-down brokers burn your clocks. Move to step 3 the moment the pattern smells wrong.
Every broker must carry a $75,000 bond, held by a surety company. Your claim goes to the surety that held that bond on the day you delivered the load — bonds change hands, and today's surety may be the wrong one entirely. Run the free delivery-date lookup on our homepage, or open the broker's page in the broker record and use its full bond history. Write down three things: the surety's name, the bond number, and — if the bond has been cancelled — the day the cancellation was posted. That third one starts the hardest clock in this guide.
The claim is a written package to that surety, in your name: rate confirmation, bill of lading, signed proof of delivery, invoice, and your written payment demands. The full step-by-step — including how to do every bit of it yourself, free — is how to file on a freight broker's bond. The clocks:
File complete, not just fast. A surety that has to chase you for the signed delivery receipt is a claim standing still while the pool fills.
Two filings cost nothing and belong in the file, but keep them in their place: neither one pays you. The federal complaint puts the non-payment on the government's record for that broker. The record request asks the broker, in writing, for the record of your transaction — including what the shipper paid. File the claim first; the reports ride along after, not instead.
Factored the load and got your money? The story may not be over. Most factoring is with recourse: if the broker never pays the factor, the advance comes back out of your account — weeks or months later, usually at the worst moment. The claim against the bond then sits with you again. The chargeback guide covers that seat in full.
Everything above is the whole job, and it is yours. If the papers are in a shoebox and the clock is running, FileTheBond finds the surety, builds the package and files it for a flat $79, $129 or $189 by the amount owed — The fee buys the filing — prepared right, filed on time. It never buys a recovery.