TL;DR: A freight broker website serves two audiences on one site. Shippers check whether you can cover their lanes and how you communicate; carriers check whether you are registered, bonded and pay on time. Give each audience its own page and path, show your registered name and broker status everywhere, and never present the brokerage as a carrier.
A carrier's dispatcher gets your rate confirmation for a load next Tuesday. Before she accepts, she opens your website. She is looking for three things: your MC number, how and when you pay, and a phone number that matches the one in your email. On the same afternoon, a logistics manager opens the same site to see whether you run reefer out of the Central Valley. Neither of them reads the "About us" story.
That is the angle of this freight broker website template: two audiences, two sets of questions, one site. It belongs to the wider freight broker marketing guide.
How this was made: drafted by Miriad with AI assistance; every figure links to its source.
Who visits a freight broker website, and what does each one check?
Two groups visit: shippers deciding whether to send you freight, and carriers deciding whether to haul it. Shippers check lanes, equipment, communication and how to request a quote. Carriers check registration, financial security, payment terms and how to get set up. A site that answers only one group loses the other.
The legal definition explains why. In US law, a broker arranges or offers to arrange the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier, for compensation; a carrier's own employees acting as bona fide agents are not brokers (49 CFR § 371.2). You sit between the two sides. Each side needs to trust you before it commits, and each looks for different evidence.
Which pages does a freight broker website need?
A small freight broker website needs five pages: a homepage with two clear paths, a shipper page, a carrier page, a contact page and a short "who we are" page. More pages are optional. Each page answers one audience's questions, and every page carries the same registered name, MC number and broker status.
| Page | Main audience | What it must show |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Both | One line on what you broker; two buttons: "Request a quote" and "Carrier setup"; registered name and MC number in header or footer |
| Shippers | Shippers | Lanes and equipment you run (dry van, reefer, flatbed, LTL), how you report status, a quote form |
| Carriers | Carriers | Registration and bond details, payment terms, setup documents, how to verify you |
| Contact | Both | Office address, direct phones, after-hours number, the email domain you use |
| Who we are | Both | The team by name and role, how long you have brokered, the lanes you know best |
The quote form deserves care. Ask for origin, destination, pickup date, equipment, weight and special requirements; those fields let you answer the request with a proper quote instead of a round of questions. The freight quote email template shows what to send back.
What must every page say about your broker status?
Every page, and every ad, must make clear that you are a broker, under your registered name. US rules forbid a broker from advertising under another name or presenting itself as a carrier, and require that any advertising shows the broker status. In practice: registered name and MC number in the footer, no "our trucks".
The rule reads: a broker may not offer brokerage services, including through advertising, under any name other than the one in its registration, may not represent itself as a carrier, and "any advertising shall show the broker status" (49 CFR § 371.7). A website is advertising. So are the email signature, the LinkedIn page and a trade show banner.
Example (illustrative, not a real case): a five-person US brokerage rewrites its homepage with an AI assistant. The draft headline says "Our trucks, your schedule" and the hero image is a stock photo of a branded tractor. The owner rewrites the headline as "Truckload capacity on the lanes we know, from carriers we vet", replaces the photo with a dispatcher at a desk, and adds the registered name used in the FMCSA filing, the words "licensed property broker" and the MC number to the footer. He also checks the "Who we are" page, which had called the company "a trucking company since 2015", and changes it to "a freight brokerage since 2015". Three edits, all prompted by one rule.
What do carriers look for on a carrier page?
Carriers look for proof that you are registered, bonded and pay as agreed. A carrier page should show your MC number, the form of financial security you hold, your payment terms, the setup documents you need and how a carrier can verify that an email or call really comes from you. Without it, good carriers hesitate.
The financial security is the core. A US property broker must hold $75,000 of financial security, a surety bond on Form BMC-84 or a trust fund on Form BMC-85, and FMCSA will not register a broker without it. If a claim payment pulls the bond or trust below $75,000, the surety or trustee must notify FMCSA within 2 business days, and the broker's authority is suspended within 7 business days of FMCSA's notice unless the amount is restored or the notice was in error (49 CFR § 387.307). Carriers who know this check the bond, so make the details easy to find.
A carrier page outline:
- Registration: registered name, MC number, USDOT number if you hold one.
- Financial security: BMC-84 surety bond or BMC-85 trust fund.
- Payment terms: standard days to pay, quick-pay option if you offer one, what paperwork triggers payment (signed rate confirmation, proof of delivery, invoice).
- Setup: the documents you need from a carrier, and how to send them.
- Verify us: the email domain you use, the main phone number, and a sentence asking carriers to call back on that number if an email asks for anything unusual.
What should the shipper page show?
The shipper page should show the lanes and equipment you run, how you handle a load from tender to delivery, and how to request a quote. Specific lanes are more convincing than "nationwide coverage", because shippers buy one lane at a time. Add how you report status and who answers after hours.
A good shipper page reads like the freight broker introduction email, turned into a page: a short lane table, the equipment types, a paragraph on your status rhythm, and the quote form. If you also work cross-border or as a freight forwarder, say which modes and which legs you handle, so shippers do not send you freight you will have to hand on.
Keep claims to what your records support. If you write "most loads get a status update at pickup and before delivery", your dispatchers have to do it.
How should a brokerage set up its Google Business Profile?
Set up a Google Business Profile only at an address where the business really operates, under the business's real name with nothing added. A mailbox service is not eligible. If shippers rarely visit your office, you may need to set the profile as a service-area business and hide the address.
Google's rules are specific. A rented mailing address where the business does not operate is not eligible; a virtual office qualifies only if it is staffed during business hours; a co-working office needs clear signage and must receive customers during business hours. Adding taglines, keywords or hours to the business name is not permitted, and a service-area business without a storefront should hide its address (Google Business Profile Help). "Example Freight – Reefer & Dry Van Experts" is not a business name; "Example Freight LLC" is.
How do you build the site without a big project?
Build it in a handful of short sessions: write the five pages from your existing documents (lane list, setup packet, payment terms), let AI tidy the language, and check every claim against the rule and your records. A simple website builder is enough. What matters is that each audience finds its answers on one click.
A build order that works:
- Collect the facts: registered name, MC number, bond form, payment terms, lanes and equipment, phone numbers.
- Write the carrier page first; it is the one with fixed facts.
- Write the shipper page from your lane list.
- Write the homepage last, as a short entry to both.
- Check every page for broker status, registered name and any wording that suggests you own trucks.
If you are deciding where the website fits among all the other marketing jobs, the freight broker marketing plan puts it in a 90-day sequence. For the wider picture, return to the freight broker marketing guide.
If you want help structuring the pages so search engines and AI assistants can read your lanes and credentials clearly, the SEO & GEO Operator Pack is being built for that. Get notified when it launches.
FAQ
What should a freight broker website include?
At minimum: a homepage with separate paths for shippers and carriers, a shipper page with lanes, equipment and a quote form, a carrier page with registration, bond and payment terms, a contact page with direct numbers, and a short page about the team. Every page should show the registered name, the MC number and that you are a licensed property broker.
Can a freight broker say "our trucks" on its website?
No. US rules say a broker may not present itself as a carrier, and any advertising must show the broker status. Words like our trucks, our fleet or our drivers, or a photo that suggests you own the equipment, can mislead shippers and carriers. Write carriers we work with or capacity we arrange instead, and keep your registered name visible.
Do I need a carrier page on my brokerage website?
Yes, if you want good carriers to accept your loads. Carriers check your registration, bond and payment terms before hauling for a new broker, and a clear carrier page answers those questions without a phone call. It also helps prevent fraud: tell carriers which email domain and phone number you use, so they can spot impersonators.
Should a freight brokerage have a Google Business Profile?
It can, if you operate from a real, staffed office address. A rented mailbox is not eligible, and adding keywords to the business name is not allowed. A brokerage without a storefront that serves customers at their sites may fit the service-area setup, with the address hidden. The profile helps shippers who search for you by name find your phone number and reviews.
Sources
- 49 CFR § 371.2 – Definitions — Cornell Legal Information Institute, current text, accessed 2026.
- 49 CFR § 371.7 – Misrepresentation — Cornell Legal Information Institute, current text, accessed 2026.
- 49 CFR § 387.307 – Property broker surety bond or trust fund — Cornell Legal Information Institute, current text, accessed 2026.
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google — Google Business Profile Help, accessed 2026.