What should you do with records when a freight broker is shutting down?

What should you do first when a freight broker is shutting down?

Freeze deletion, then assess. Before a broker's transportation management system (TMS), email tenant and shared drives are cancelled for non-payment, get written confirmation of who controls each account and set a hold on any auto-delete. Years of load history, carrier negotiations and exception handling can disappear within weeks of a subscription lapsing, and a lost archive cannot be reintroduced to a buyer later.

This playbook is written for chief restructuring officers, assignees for the benefit of creditors, wind-down advisors and receivers. Licensing is an additional recovery option to evaluate, never a reason to delay creditor-first duties. Related sector reading: buy-and-build sectors for how consolidators think about brokerages, and selling a freight brokerage for the going-concern route.

What is the wind-down timeline for records?

Weeks are measured from the decision to wind down. This is a planning aid, not a program rule.

Who must approve before records are licensed?

Authority depends on the form of the wind-down, and the answer is not the same everywhere.

Section 363 also limits the sale of personally identifiable information where the debtor's privacy policy forbade transfer, which can require a consumer privacy ombudsman. Broker records may include driver and shipper contact details, so check this early. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, tax adviser or professional body before acting.

Which freight broker records are worth preserving?

• TMS history: loads, tenders, rate quotes, exceptions, claims and appointment changes.
• Customer service email with shipper and carrier negotiation threads.
• Carrier onboarding and vetting records, where they are the broker's own.
• Dispatch chat and internal decisions on covering failed loads.
• Invoicing, accounts receivable and dispute resolution.
• SOPs, rate guides and training materials.

Exports should be complete, stored under access control and recorded in a short chain-of-custody note. Do not describe or send them to a prospective introducer.

Does the broker qualify?

Run the quick screen.

• 50+ full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded. A brokerage that shrank before closing may still count by peak headcount.
• Several years of documented operations.
• Rights to license: mainly the broker's own operational records, not customer-owned data.
• An authorized sponsor exists: owner, officer, trustee or assignee, as applicable.
• The archives exist and someone can export them.

Status matters little: businesses that are still operating, acquired or wound down can all qualify if the data still exists.

How does the introduction work?

1. Confirm authority and preserve the export.
2. Introduce the company through the referral form or share your referral link with the sponsor.
3. SourceX qualifies size, history, breadth and rights.
4. The sponsor completes a data inventory.
5. Price and terms are agreed with the sponsor, and any required court or estate approval is obtained before signing.
6. Buyers review, the agreement is signed, data is delivered under agreed redaction rules and proceeds are paid to the company or estate.

What to say to the sponsor or assignee

The company fit checker gives a non-binding preliminary view. Teams that also advise MSP sellers will find a similar approach in for MSP M&A advisors, and the MSP industry brief shows how sector-specific records differ.

How are professionals rewarded?

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company or estate receives. Court-appointed professionals should confirm whether disclosure or approval of any referral reward is required. See the program terms.

When to skip it

• Data owned by shippers or carriers without consent.
• Personal information with a privacy-policy bar on transfer and no workable path.
• Archives deleted or accounts closed with no export.
• Records already licensed for AI training.
• A court or trustee controls the assets and has not been involved.

Illustrative: a three-week window

Illustrative and fictional: an assignee takes over a brokerage that peaked at 85 staff. The TMS contract ends in three weeks and the email tenant is billed monthly. In the first week the assignee holds both subscriptions, asks the vendor in writing for its retention terms and has a former operations manager run a full TMS export under supervision. In the second week counsel confirms what approvals are needed. In the third week the assignee asks a partner for an introduction. The export taken in week one is what made the later steps possible; waiting for a buyer first would have cost the archive.

Mistakes that destroy value in a wind-down

Next step

List the broker's systems this week and stop any auto-delete, then register as a partner and introduce the sponsor. A company sponsor can also apply at sourcex.si/apply; see who qualifies.