What Draylo Actually Does When You Turn On a Defense Layer

Draylo's defense-in-depth is modular: every carrier always clears a base check (active operating authority, allowed-to-operate status, insurance on file, federal-record red flags), and above that base you switch on optional layers for the loads that warrant them. The important part — and the part people miss — is that these layers are not a manual checklist you work through outside the tool. You turn a layer on for a load or a profile, and Draylo runs it as part of the vet.

That distinction matters because "defense in depth" can sound like more homework: more calls to make, more boxes to tick by hand. In Draylo it's the opposite. Three of the four layers are things the app does for you once they're active; the fourth is a physical check at the dock that the app makes sure you actually perform and record. Below is exactly what each layer does when you switch it on — and where a human still has to act.

You don't decide the whole stack fresh on every load. You build check profiles once — "standard," "high-value," "new carrier" — in Settings, deciding which layers each profile carries, then apply a profile to a load. When a specific tender needs a closer look, you can add a layer to just that load on top of its profile. Layers are add-only by design: applying one can raise a load's verdict but never soften the base, so you can't accidentally configure your way below the floor.

So the workflow is: set your policy once, let it apply by default, and dial an individual load up when something about it warrants it. And you're not deciding blind — when a load's own facts imply layers that aren't on its stack (a newly-registered carrier, a theft-target commodity, a high declared value), Draylo suggests them with the reason spelled out, and one click applies them. Advisory, never auto-applied. The rest of this post is what each layer actually does once it's on.

This is the layer that catches identity fraud, and it's the one brokers most often skip under load-cover pressure because doing it by hand means digging the real contact out of the federal record and reaching them separately. When you switch this layer on, Draylo does that for you: once the carrier's required documents are on file, the app automatically sends a completion confirmation to the carrier contact registered with FMCSA — not the phone or email on the rate confirmation, which is exactly what an impostor controls.

The verdict then reacts to what comes back. If the FMCSA-registered contact reports that they did not initiate this onboarding, Draylo flags the load red and holds it — do not tender until the identity is resolved. If the confirmation simply hasn't gone out yet (documents still pending), the layer shows yellow so you know it hasn't cleared. You don't compose or send anything; the app runs the out-of-band loop and surfaces the result.

Newly registered authorities are where identity-takeover and "chameleon" scams live, so this layer scrutinizes them harder. When it's on, Draylo reads the carrier's FMCSA registration date and, if the authority is under a year old, raises a verify-identity flag on the load — automatically, from the federal record. Established carriers clear silently; the layer is specifically about new entities.

It also surfaces the coherence signals Draylo already computed during vetting — things like a contact domain that was registered after the carrier's authority, or a domain name that doesn't match the carrier's legal name. These are the tells that a new entity's identity doesn't hang together. The app does the date math and the coherence read; your job is to confirm the new carrier's identity through an independently sourced number before tendering, which the flag tells you to do and explains why for that specific carrier.

For a high-value load, your standard insurance floor may not be enough. Switch this layer on and Draylo re-runs its coverage engine against a higher minimum — the greater of your base requirement and the profile's elevated number, so a profile can only raise the bar, never lower it. It reads the certificate of insurance on file and flags any line (auto liability, cargo, general) that is missing, expired, or below the elevated minimum.

This is fully automatic — the app reads the COI and does the comparison; you don't recalculate anything. It's the same coverage engine the base check uses, just pointed at a taller bar for the loads that earn it. You act on the flag, not on the arithmetic.

The final check is physical: does the truck and driver that actually show up match who the carrier dispatched? That happens at the dock, not your desk — so when this layer is on, Draylo generates a capture link you send to the pickup contact. The person at the dock opens it on their phone (no login), types the truck's VIN, and snaps a photo of the VIN plate and the driver's CDL.

Here's the part that makes it a real check and not just a photo on file: Draylo decodes the VIN through the federal NHTSA database and cross-checks it against what the carrier said they'd send. If the VIN decodes to a passenger car instead of a tractor, or to a different make or year than was dispatched, or the unit number doesn't match — the load flags before you release it. That's the app catching a truck swap at the dock, not just documenting one after the fact.

The CDL is different, and we're straight about it: there's no public system that lets a broker verify a CDL is genuine, so Draylo captures and stores it as dated evidence — it does not claim to have verified it. You still eyeball the name and photo. Everything lands in an immutable record: the VIN decode, any flags, and the photos — exactly what a defensible carrier file needs, and the proof of what actually showed up at the dock.

Here's the whole model in one view — what Draylo does when each layer is active, and where a human still has to act:

The design goal is to make proportional, defensible vetting something a one-person brokerage can actually run — not a checklist that adds work, but a set of switches that add protection. You decide how deep to vet each load, because you hold the liability for carrier selection; the app carries out the checks you turned on. The floor keeps you safe on everything; the layers are yours to choose, and the app does the running.

If you want the reasoning behind choosing layers per load — how to read a load's risk and decide how deep to go — see the case for broker-chosen, risk-based vetting. For the legal backdrop that puts the liability on you in the first place, start with what "ordinary care" now requires after Montgomery.