The FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires freight brokers to have Process Agents filed on their behalf. So, what is a Process Agent?
A Process Agent is who papers are served to if there are any court documents or filings that are brought up against you. You may have heard of a Process Server as the one that serves court filings and a Process Agent is the one that receives them.
Brokers must have an agent for each state where they have a presence and states where they write contracts. This is through federal form BOC-3. Motor Carriers and Forwarders must have a Process Agent in all 50 states.
There are many different businesses that will file the form BOC-3 on your behalf. Many times, it is filed for all 50 states. The cost is inexpensive. Usually, it is under $100 for a one time filing that should be good for as long as there are no changes. There may be additional fees if you need to change the information and refile. There are some companies that will charge a monthly rate but most of the time it is a one-time fee. If you are quoted a monthly charge, you may look into getting another quote.
The FMCSA website has several companies listed on their website that can help you with this.
This is #7 in our Series on Starting a Transporation Brokerage Business. Leave a comment or question below.
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