The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is targeting this month to issue a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on "Transparency in Property Broker Transactions," according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2026 regulatory agenda. The regulation at the center of this fight is not new — it has been sitting in the Code of Federal Regulations since 1980.
49 CFR 371.3 requires property brokers to keep a record of each transaction and gives each party the right to review the record. On paper, an owner-operator who hauls a load for a broker already has a federal right to see what the broker billed the shipper. In practice, it has gone largely unenforced for four decades. Carriers say brokers evade it by writing a waiver of those rights into the carrier agreement or by simply declining to produce the records.
The Fight Over Enforcement
The current push started in May 2020, when the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) petitioned FMCSA to amend 371.3. Rates had collapsed in the early pandemic, and carriers accused brokers of widening margins while paying less. OOIDA asked FMCSA to require brokers to provide an electronic copy of each transaction record automatically within 48 hours of the load being completed. The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) asked the agency to prohibit brokers from coercing carriers into waiving their review rights as a condition of doing business.
In response, the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), which represents brokers and third-party logistics companies, filed a counter-petition asking FMCSA to eliminate 371.3(c) entirely. FMCSA granted the carrier petitions in March 2023 and rejected TIA's. In November 2024 the agency published a notice of proposed rulemaking that drew close to 7,000 public comments. Then the administration changed, and rather than finalize that version, DOT chose to start over and write a new proposal.
What the November 2024 Proposal Included
The November 2024 version proposed four key changes:
- Requiring brokers to keep transaction records electronically
- Modernizing what those records must contain
- Reframing transparency as an affirmative regulatory duty on the broker rather than a passive right the carrier must invoke
- Requiring the broker to provide the records within 48 hours of a request
Nobody knows yet how much of that survives into the new draft.
Carrier and Broker Perspectives
The carrier argument rests on a point that is difficult to dismiss: this is not a request for a new right — it is a request that an existing one be made real. OOIDA has been consistent on this. In comments responding to TIA, the association wrote:
"Truckers want brokers to reasonably comply with existing federal regulations" and are "not asking for anything more than their right to transparency, which is used to help them differentiate good brokers from unscrupulous ones."
OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh urged members to file comments during the 2024 rulemaking.
The practical arguments carriers make include the waiver problem—a right that a broker can require you to sign away before access to freight is not much of a right.
What to Watch For
The previous regulatory agenda targeted May for this notice; the current agenda says this month. The outcome could be the most important rule for owner-operators in years, or it could change almost nothing. The new proposal will determine which vision prevails.
| Element | November 2024 Proposal | New Proposal (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| Record format | Electronic | Unknown |
| Timeframe for provision | 48 hours | Unknown |
| Waiver prohibition | Not explicit | Unknown |
| Affirmative duty | Yes | Unknown |
Shippers and carriers should monitor the FMCSA docket closely. If the new rule retains the 48-hour provision and strengthens waiver protections, it could significantly shift bargaining power. If it weakens those elements, the impact may be minimal.
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