Legal / Forms · Word template
Free Broker–Carrier Agreement Template
A master agreement between a broker and a motor carrier — authority and insurance warranties, rate confirmation precedence, cargo liability, payment terms, and back-solicitation.
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What you get
- Warranties that each side holds and will maintain the operating authority it claims
- Insurance minimums with certificate and notice-of-cancellation requirements
- A clause making the signed rate confirmation control the commercial terms of each load
- Cargo liability, claims handling, and the window for filing and resolving a claim
- Payment terms, offset rights, and a back-solicitation clause with a defined duration
How to use it
- 1
Confirm the counterparty's authority and insurance before signing, not after the first load moves.
- 2
Set the insurance minimums you actually require and demand notice of cancellation — a certificate proves the policy existed on the day it was issued, nothing more.
- 3
Make clear that each load's rate confirmation governs its commercial terms and that the master agreement governs everything else.
- 4
Agree the claims process in writing: who files, against which coverage, within what window, and how a claim interacts with payment.
- 5
Have counsel review liability, indemnity, and back-solicitation before use — these are the clauses that get litigated. Nothing here substitutes for that review.
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Broker–Carrier Agreement Template
1. Authority and compliance
Each party warrants it holds valid operating authority and will keep it in force for the life of the agreement, and will notify the other promptly if it lapses, is revoked, or is suspended. Include the carrier's safety-rating obligation and the right to stop tendering loads if the rating deteriorates below an agreed threshold.
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Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions buyers usually ask once the category, software, or rollout details start getting more specific.
No, they do different jobs. The rate confirmation sets the commercial terms of one load — rate, stops, accessorials, service requirements. The master agreement sets the relationship: authority, insurance, liability, claims, payment, and confidentiality. Running on rate confirmations alone means there is no agreed answer to the questions that only arise when something goes wrong.
That is a commercial and risk decision rather than a template default, and it varies with the commodity, the value, and what your own customers require of you. Set limits deliberately, require a current certificate, and — more importantly — require notice before cancellation, because a certificate only evidences the position on the day it was issued.
Enforceability varies by jurisdiction and turns on how reasonable the restriction is in scope and duration. A narrow clause limited to the customers actually served through the broker, for a defined period, tends to fare better than a broad ban. Because the answer is jurisdiction-specific, this is one to put in front of counsel rather than adopt from any template.
The agreement should say, because the default is rarely obvious to both sides. Set out who files, against which policy, what documentation supports it, and the period for filing and response. Also state whether payment on unrelated loads can be withheld while a claim is open — that single point causes more friction than the claim itself.
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