Freight brokers and 3PLs
Closing a freight brokerage: keep the records, because AI buyers still want them
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The short answer
If you are closing a freight brokerage, export the records before you cancel the TMS. Several AI data buyers take closed companies: Pewter accepts operating, downsizing and closed firms with 20+ full-time staff at peak (source: Pewter), micro1 has a defunct-company form for 50+ employees at peak (source: micro1 defunct-company form), and Turing's Project Lazarus takes winding-down companies (source: aitrainer.work summary of Project Lazarus).
The clock is set by your software. Rose Rocket gives 30 days after termination (source: Rose Rocket terms (4.2, 7.2)), Salesforce gives 30 days on request (source: Salesforce MSA, updated Oct 15, 2026 (2.2, 6.2)), and Truckstop and Trucker Tools say they may delete all data at termination (source: Truckstop terms and conditions (5.6, 7.3, 11), Trucker Tools terms (5.2, 13.5)). Keep transaction records for three years under 49 CFR 371.3 (source: 49 CFR 371.3, Cornell LII).
Freight brokers going out of business: why the records matter now
Brokerage margins have been thin through the freight downturn; FreightWaves noted publicly traded brokerages reporting gross margins in the low-to-mid teens (source: FreightWaves, Nov 20, 2025). In 2026 a new pressure arrived. FMCSA's updated broker financial responsibility rules took effect on January 16, 2026, and FreightWaves reported that they mean immediate suspension of operating authority if a broker's available bond or trust fund drops below $75,000 (source: FreightWaves, Nov 20, 2025). In the same piece, FreightWaves wrote that a wave of suspensions could remove thousands of intermediaries from the market (source: FreightWaves, Nov 20, 2025). That was a projection, not a count, and we haven't found a verified figure for 2026 broker closures.
The FMCSA data does show how young much of the market is. Our count of FMCSA's AuthHist dataset on October 15, 2026 found about 19,600 property broker grants with no recorded disposition, and 11,081 of them date from 2020 or later (source: FMCSA AuthHist, All With History (DOT data hub)). “No recorded disposition” is our proxy for still active, so treat the numbers as estimates. The point for an owner: buyers ask for years of history, and a brokerage that ran for a decade on one TMS holds the kind of record that is scarce.
What AI buyers license from a brokerage is its decision history: spot quotes with won or lost, carrier negotiation threads, check calls, exceptions and accessorials, claims, and carrier approval decisions. A closed brokerage held all of that. Whether it can still be licensed depends mostly on whether anyone saved it. The freight brokers and 3PLs guide covers the full record map.
Which buyers take closed or downsized freight brokers
Most buyer programs are built around operating companies. A few say in writing that they take closed or winding-down ones:
| Buyer | Who it takes | What it advertises paying |
|---|---|---|
| Pewter | Operating, downsizing and closed firms with 20+ full-time staff now or at peak, 3+ years of records, US-based. Names freight and logistics. | Estimator illustration of $385K to $895K for a 100-person, 10-year firm |
| micro1 (defunct-company form) | Companies that have shut down, with 50+ employees at peak. Names operations and logistics among its domains. | $100K+, $500K+ and $1M+ tiers on its main program |
| Turing, Project Lazarus | Operating or winding-down companies; buys a company's full operating record | Up to $1M in one payment |
| SimpleClosure (AssetHub) | Startups winding down; opened to operating companies in September 2026. Buys code and workspace data. | "Tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for unique assets" |
| Sunset | Companies winding down; buys datasets outright and licenses them to AI labs | No payouts published |
A few practical notes. Pewter is the only one of these that names freight and lists the record mix a brokerage holds. micro1's defunct form is the one to look at if your brokerage peaked above 50 people and ran a busy Teams or Slack workspace. SimpleClosure and Sunset write mainly for venture-backed startups, so a brokerage is a different profile from the companies they describe. MIT Technology Review reported that SimpleClosure had handled more than 150 data deals since April 2026 (source: MIT Technology Review, Oct 13, 2026).
If you are downsizing rather than closing, the operating-company programs still apply. Mode treats closed or sold companies case by case (source: Mode, who we prioritize) and counts only office staff toward its 20+ minimum (source: Mode affiliate FAQ (Oct 14, 2026)), which most brokerages meet more easily than other industries. The full list is on the page of companies that buy business data for AI, with profiles for micro1, Mercor and Handshake AI. Treat every figure above as the company's advertised term, not what a closed brokerage will receive.
The deadlines that matter when shutting down a freight brokerage
The records that buyers want live in software you rent. When the subscription ends, each vendor's terms decide how long you can still get the data out. These are the terms as each vendor publishes them:
| System | What its terms say at termination | Who owns the data |
|---|---|---|
| Rose Rocket (TMS) | Makes all Customer Data available for electronic retrieval for 30 days after any termination, after which it may delete it (7.2) | "Customer owns its Customer Data" (4.2) |
| Salesforce (and Revenova, which runs on it) | Makes Customer Data available for export on a request made within 30 days after termination; after that, no obligation to keep it (2.2) | Salesforce acquires no right, title or interest in Customer Data (6.2) |
| Truckstop | "Truckstop is not a data storage solution" and may delete all data, Customer Data or otherwise, at expiration or termination (5.6) | Customer retains rights in its own data (7.3) |
| Trucker Tools | "Trucker Tools is not a data storage solution" and may delete all data, Subscriber Content or otherwise, in its possession (13.5) | Subscriber owns its Subscriber Content (5.2) |
| Microsoft 365 (email, Teams, SharePoint) | Expired 30 days, then Disabled 90 days with admin-only access. After cancellation, data might be deleted after 90 days and will be deleted no later than 180. Deleting a subscription removes SharePoint and OneDrive data at once. | Not addressed on this help page |
Three points follow for a closing brokerage. First, the 30-day windows run from termination, not from the day you decide to close, so start exports while the subscriptions are still paid. Second, Salesforce requires a request inside the window; a lapsed org with no request on file has no guaranteed export. Third, Truckstop and Trucker Tools hold mostly vendor data that buyers exclude anyway, but anything your team typed into those platforms and wants to keep has to come out before termination.
McLeod, Aljex, Tai, Turvo and Revenova each handle exports differently, and a self-hosted McLeod database sits on your own server. Our guide to exporting your history from McLeod, Aljex, Tai, Turvo and Revenova goes system by system.
Don't wipe the server with the furniture
49 CFR 371.3 and records under legal hold
Closing does not end a broker's record-keeping duty. Under 49 CFR 371.3, a broker must keep a record of each transaction for three years (source: 49 CFR 371.3, Cornell LII). Each record covers:
- The consignor's name and address
- The carrier's name, address and registration number
- The bill of lading or freight bill number
- The compensation for brokerage services and who paid it
- Any non-brokerage services, what each cost and who paid for them
- Freight charges collected and the date the carrier was paid
The rule also gives each party to a brokered transaction the right to review the record of it (source: 49 CFR 371.3, Cornell LII). A data license is a copy, so it does not replace this duty. Keep the originals, in a form you can still search and produce, for the full period.
Records tied to an open cargo claim, a broker liability suit, a double-brokering investigation or a collection dispute need the same care. Records under a legal hold usually stay out of a data license entirely, and buyers typically exclude anything in litigation.
Who controls the records in a wind-down
Who can sign a license, or a sale, of a closed brokerage's records depends on how it closed. In general terms:
- Voluntary wind-down. The company still owns its records, and its owners or officers act for it while it winds up. Creditors' claims are part of that process.
- Sale of the book of business. If another broker bought your accounts or assets, the purchase agreement decides whether books, records and data went with them. See selling a freight brokerage for how a license fits a sale.
- Assignment for the benefit of creditors. The assignee takes control of the assets and is the one who would sign.
- Bankruptcy. A trustee or debtor in possession controls estate property. A sale outside the ordinary course happens only after notice and a hearing, and the Bankruptcy Code adds a privacy check where the debtor's privacy policy restricted transfers of personal information (source: 11 USC 363, Cornell LII).
- Lenders and factors. If a lender holds a lien on all company assets, its collateral may reach records and software, so the lien documents matter.
The Spirit Airlines case shows how a court-run sale of records works. Google won the auction for the bankrupt airline's business records with a $10 million bid (source: MIT Technology Review, Oct 13, 2026), and micro1 later offered $12.5 million (source: Fortune, Sep 14, 2026). A consumer privacy ombudsman reviewed the deal, passenger and booking records were carved out, and a de-identification firm must certify each transfer to the court (source: The Next Web, Oct 5, 2026). A small brokerage estate is a far simpler case, and its records are mostly business contacts rather than consumer data, but the same safeguards are a sensible template.
Before you cancel anything: a checklist for closing brokers
- Export the TMS database and attachments. Ask the vendor for a full database export or backup, plus the document store: rate confirmations, BOLs, PODs, carrier packets and claim files.
- Keep the TMS subscription live until the export is confirmed. Open the export, check the load count by year against the TMS, and only then let the contract end.
- Archive email. Export every mailbox, including former employees', as PST from Microsoft 365 or through Google Takeout, before licenses are removed.
- Export chat. Teams or Slack history, before the workspace is downgraded or deleted.
- Save the accounting file. QuickBooks, NetSuite or Sage Intacct, with AR, AP and carrier pay history.
- Export the CRM. Salesforce or HubSpot. For Salesforce, file the export request within 30 days of termination at the latest.
- Copy shared drives and SOPs. Training decks, quoting playbooks and carrier vetting rules are some of the cleanest material a buyer sees.
- Leave vendor data out. Don't plan to include DAT or Truckstop load-board and rate data, RMIS or Highway vetting reports, or visibility pings. Our guide to DAT, Truckstop and vendor data in a freight data license explains why.
- Keep 371.3 records and anything under a hold. Three years for transaction records; longer for anything in a dispute.
- Write down who can sign. Owner, officer, assignee or trustee, and whether a lender has a claim on the assets.
- Don't send files to anyone yet. Mode, for example, says nothing is uploaded until the license agreement is signed (source: Mode affiliate FAQ (Oct 14, 2026)). Share descriptions and rough numbers first.
A workable order of operations
Before the last load. Decide which systems you will keep paying for through the export, and tell the TMS vendor you need a full copy. Ask what format it comes in, how attachments are delivered and how long it takes, because a vendor export can take days to produce.
The week operations stop. Run the email, chat, accounting and CRM exports while every user account still exists. Removing a user's license or account can put that mailbox on its own deletion schedule, so export first and remove licenses second.
Before each contract ends. Check every export opens and that the date ranges and load counts match what the live system showed. File any export request a vendor requires in writing, such as Salesforce's request inside 30 days of termination (source: Salesforce MSA, updated Oct 15, 2026 (2.2, 6.2)).
For the next three years. Store the originals somewhere you control, with two copies, and keep the 371.3 records searchable. A buyer conversation can happen months after closing, as long as the records are still there.
With the exports in hand, see what your brokerage's records could qualify for, or use the data value checker to compare programs by size and years of history.
How Regulr is paid, and how we write these pages
Regulr is a sell-side advisor. When a business we introduce signs a license, we may be paid a fee by the buyer or through a program's referral terms. We list every program we can verify whether or not it pays us, order is never set by fees, and every figure is the company's own advertised term with a link to where it says so. Regulr has not closed a data deal yet, so nothing here describes our results.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell data from a freight brokerage that has already closed?
Some buyers say they take closed companies. Pewter says operating, downsizing and closed firms qualify if they had 20+ full-time staff at peak and 3+ years of records, micro1 runs a separate form for defunct companies with 50+ employees at peak, and Turing's Project Lazarus takes winding-down companies. What decides it in practice is whether the records still exist, so the TMS database, mailboxes and chat history need to have been exported before the software contracts ended.
What should I do with my records when closing a freight brokerage?
Export before you cancel anything. Get a full copy of the TMS database and its attachments, the email archive, Teams or Slack, accounting and CRM, and confirm each export opens before you let the subscription lapse. Keep transaction records for the three years 49 CFR 371.3 requires, and keep anything tied to an open claim or lawsuit.
How long do I have to keep records after closing a freight brokerage?
49 CFR 371.3 requires brokers to keep a record of each transaction for three years. The record includes the consignor, the carrier and its registration number, the bill of lading or freight bill number, the compensation and who paid it, and freight charges collected with the date the carrier was paid. Each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record of it.
What happens to my TMS data when I cancel?
It depends on the vendor's terms. Rose Rocket makes Customer Data available for 30 days after termination and may then delete it. Salesforce, which Revenova runs on, makes data available on request made within 30 days after termination. Truckstop and Trucker Tools both say they are not a data storage solution and may delete all data at termination. A self-hosted McLeod database sits on your own server, so it lasts as long as that hardware does.
Who can sign a data license after a brokerage closes?
Whoever controls the company's assets at that point. In a voluntary wind-down that is usually the owners or officers acting for the company. In an assignment for the benefit of creditors it is the assignee, and in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy it is the trustee, who can sell estate property outside the ordinary course only after notice and a hearing. If the book of business was sold, the purchase agreement decides who got the records.
Are DAT and Truckstop data included when selling a closed broker's records?
Buyers typically exclude them. DAT's terms bar using its products or product data to train publicly available AI, and Truckstop's terms say customers will not input Truckstop Data into any AI function without its written consent. Those restrictions don't lapse because the brokerage closed. Keep only what your own team entered and decided.
Should I keep paying for the TMS after my brokerage stops booking loads?
Usually until the export is done and checked. Several vendors limit or end access at termination: Rose Rocket gives 30 days to retrieve data, and Truckstop and Trucker Tools say they may delete all data. A month or two of subscription fees is small next to losing a decade of quotes, check calls and claims that a buyer might license.
Is SimpleClosure or Sunset a fit for a freight broker?
Both are wind-down companies that buy or broker data from companies shutting down. SimpleClosure's AssetHub describes code and workspace data from startups and opened to operating companies in September 2026. Sunset buys datasets outright and sets the price. Their published material is aimed at startups, so a brokerage should compare them with buyers that name freight, such as Pewter.
Sources
Buyer terms, vendor terms and federal rules were checked against each source's own pages on October 15, 2026.
- Pewter
- micro1 defunct-company form
- micro1, data partnerships
- Turing, Project Lazarus
- aitrainer.work summary of Project Lazarus
- SimpleClosure AssetHub
- MIT Technology Review, Oct 13, 2026
- Sunset blog, Apr 14, 2026
- Mode, who we prioritize
- Mode affiliate FAQ (Oct 14, 2026)
- Rose Rocket terms (4.2, 7.2)
- Salesforce MSA, updated Oct 15, 2026 (2.2, 6.2)
- Truckstop terms and conditions (5.6, 7.3, 11)
- Trucker Tools terms (5.2, 13.5)
- Microsoft Learn, when a Microsoft 365 subscription ends (Jun 8, 2026)
- 49 CFR 371.3, Cornell LII
- 11 USC 363, Cornell LII
- FreightWaves, Nov 20, 2025
- FMCSA AuthHist, All With History (DOT data hub)
- The Next Web, Oct 5, 2026
- Fortune, Sep 14, 2026
Brian Boesen · Founder, Regulr AI
Brian runs Regulr AI, which works for established businesses that want to license de-identified records to AI companies. He checks each program's published terms against its own pages and updates these guides when they change. Last updated October 15, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and Regulr is not a law firm. Rules vary by state, by profession and by contract, and they apply to your facts, not to a category. You approve exactly what is in scope before anything is shared.
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