How FreightProof Works

Zero Trust for Freight — the same security model the U.S. government uses for classified systems, applied to carrier vetting

FreightProof applies the principles of NIST SP 800-207 (Zero Trust Architecture) to the freight industry. The core idea: never trust, always verify. Every actor proves themselves. Every transaction has a receipt. Nothing is assumed.

Traditional carrier vetting operates on a "trust the database" model — you check a website, see a dashboard, and hope the data is current. That's the same security model the federal government abandoned a decade ago for sensitive systems.

FreightProof replaces "we checked" with cryptographic proof of exactly what the data showed, when it was checked, and who checked it — independently verifiable by anyone.


The Four Wallets

FreightProof creates four interlocking Data Wallets, each containing signed, timestamped, hashed evidence:

FOUR WALLETS, ONE SEALED RECEIPT PER DISPATCH Carrier Wallet DOT# · FMCSA · scored Driver Wallet CDL · med cert · self-KYC Vehicle Wallet VIN · inspections · photos ✓ Trip Wallet carrier + driver + vehicle + route · weather · load one sealed receipt · $10 “What did you know about this carrier, driver, and truck when you dispatched?” One receipt answers it.

Carrier Wallet

The DOT number is the key. FMCSA census data, safety ratings, BASIC scores, crash history, inspection records, and authority status are pulled, scored against the factors Justice Barrett identified in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, and sealed with a SHA-256 hash. Cross-referenced against 4.2 million state business registrations for officer records, EIN verification, and shell-carrier detection.

Driver Wallet

Self-service identity enrollment. The driver photographs their CDL, DOT medical certificate, drug/alcohol clearance, training certificates, and motor vehicle record. Each document is captured, timestamped, and hashed into a portable compliance identity. The driver controls it. A broker sees the compliance score — not the personal documents.

Vehicle Wallet

VIN plus license plate plus trailer serial number. Pre-trip inspection results with photos, annual DOT inspection records, maintenance documentation. Every photo is timestamped and hashed. The vehicle proves its own fitness — not a fleet-level average.

Trip Wallet

Links a specific carrier + driver + vehicle for a specific dispatch. Adds route, weather conditions (NOAA), time of day, load type, and manifest. One sealed receipt per dispatch. $10. This is the evidence file that answers the question a court will ask: "What did you know about this carrier, driver, and truck at the moment you dispatched this load?"


The Cryptographic Proof Chain

Every piece of data in FreightProof follows the same verification path:

1. Capture — Raw data pulled from FMCSA, state registries, driver documents, or vehicle inspections at a specific moment in time.

2. Hash — SHA-256 cryptographic hash computed over the complete data snapshot. Changing any character after the fact produces a completely different hash — tampering is mathematically detectable.

3. Timestamp — The hash is bound to a specific moment. Not "we checked sometime this week" — "this is exactly what the data showed at 2:47:33 PM EDT on June 2, 2026."

4. Anchor — The hash is optionally anchored on Polygon blockchain, creating a third-party timestamp that even Rootz cannot alter. Court-grade immutability.

5. Verify — Anyone can independently verify the proof. Take the data, recompute SHA-256, compare to the stored hash. No Rootz account needed. No API key. No trust in us required.

This is the same proof architecture used in federal systems under FIPS 140-3 — except applied to freight compliance instead of classified data.


MOTUS + FreightProof: Two Layers of Trust

TWO LAYERS OF TRUST · REGISTRATION vs DISPATCH MOTUS · government proves who they are · once time ! crash ! insurance lapses drift MOTUS can’t see after registration dispatch dispatch dispatch dispatch FreightProof · proof at every dispatch MOTUS proves who. FreightProof proves what — this record, this driver, this truck, at this moment.

On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched MOTUS — a new carrier registration system with IDEMIA biometric identity verification, Login.gov authentication, and Thomson Reuters CLEAR business validation. It's a significant improvement: carriers must now prove who they are with government-issued IDs and facial biometric matching.

But MOTUS verifies identity at registration time. FreightProof verifies compliance at dispatch time.

LayerWhat It ProvesWhenWho Built It
MOTUS (government)This carrier is who they say they areAt registrationDOT/FMCSA + IDEMIA
FreightProof (Rootz)This carrier had this safety record, this driver, this truck, at this momentAt every dispatchRootz Corp

Registration-time identity is necessary but not sufficient. A carrier verified through MOTUS today could have a fatal crash tomorrow, lose their insurance next week, or let an unqualified driver behind the wheel on Friday. MOTUS doesn't capture any of that.

FreightProof creates the proof layer that sits on top of government identity — turning a one-time registration check into continuous, per-transaction, cryptographically sealed evidence.


AI-Native Architecture

FreightProof is built for AI agents, not just human browsers:

  • 12 MCP tools available at freight.rootz.global/mcp — any AI agent can vet a carrier, pull crash history, or create a sealed vetting record
  • Content negotiation — the same URL serves HTML to humans and structured JSON to AI bots
  • .well-known/ai discovery endpoint — AI agents find FreightProof and understand its capabilities automatically
  • REST API — every data point accessible via standard HTTP endpoints
  • The future of freight compliance isn't a human checking a dashboard. It's an AI agent that automatically vets every carrier at dispatch time, creates the proof, and flags exceptions — while the dispatcher focuses on the load.


    Data Foundation

    FreightProof sits on top of the largest collection of freight safety data available to any vetting platform:

    SourceRecordsUpdate Frequency
    FMCSA Company Census4.4M carriersBulk quarterly + live API
    FMCSA Crash File3.6M crashesMonthly
    FMCSA Inspections4.85M inspectionsMonthly
    State Business Registrations4.2M companiesCross-reference at vet time
    FMCSA BASIC ScoresOn-demandLive API (QCMobile)

    Total: ~12.8 million government safety records, cross-referenced against state business registrations for officer matching, EIN verification, and shell-carrier detection.

    All data is from public government sources. The proof is from Rootz — hashed, attested, and owned by you.


    Open Standards

    FreightProof doesn't lock you in:

  • SHA-256 — an open, federal standard. Anyone can verify a hash.
  • Polygon — a public blockchain. Anyone can confirm an anchor.
  • JSON — standard data format. Any system can consume it.
  • MCP — open protocol for AI tool integration.
  • We built FreightProof so that the proof it creates doesn't depend on us to be verified. That's what makes it credible as evidence — and that's what separates proof from promises.