Double brokering is the unauthorized re-brokering of a load: the carrier that accepted it hands it to another carrier without the broker's knowledge, breaking the chain of vetting, insurance, and payment. It is the fraud pattern closed networks exist to prevent.
Double brokering happens when the carrier that accepted a load quietly re-brokers it to someone else: the freight moves (or vanishes) under a truck nobody vetted, insurance may not respond because the hauling carrier has no contract with anyone in the chain, and payment fraud rides along, with the middle entity collecting from the broker while stiffing the actual trucker. It differs from legal interlining or subcontracting done with disclosure and consent; the defining feature is concealment.
Cross-border freight raises both the odds and the stakes. Anonymity is easier where vetting infrastructure is thin, a load crossing two countries passes more hands (linehaul, transfer, linehaul), and a diverted trailer near the border can disappear into either country.
Defenses are structural, not heroic. Buy capacity where identity is verified and re-verified, invite-only networks over anonymous postings for exactly this reason. Match the physical truck to the contracted carrier: tractor plates, trailer numbers, and driver identity confirmed at pickup against what the carrier of record provided. Watch payment-side signals, since factoring notices from unfamiliar entities and last-minute 'our other company will invoice' switches are classic tells. And keep tracking continuous; a load that goes dark and then reappears off-route is a load to escalate immediately. The cheapest double-brokering incident is the one your onboarding process rejected last week.
Cargado connects 250+ brokers with 2,000+ vetted carriers moving Mexico and Canada freight every day.