Capture the Compliance Profile

Objective. Turn the mover's regulatory reality into checkable data, not prose — the single block every later stage's copy is linted against. A mover's compliance facts are not marketing garnish: a wrong license number, an implied interstate authority the permit doesn't grant, or a banned claim left in a headline is regulatory exposure, not a weak line. This skill produces the license regime, the estimate types with their exact required language, the state deposit/cancellation rules, and the banned-claims checklist — each an entry a downstream draft can be mechanically checked against.

This is the mover-only Foundation skill. Ecommerce has no equivalent, because ecommerce copy has no regulator reading it.

Inputs this skill needs

• The owner's real permit — license type and the actual number, supplied by the owner. This skill VERIFIES against what the owner states; it NEVER infers a license number and NEVER asserts interstate authority from an intrastate permit. If the number is missing, ask for it before writing — an unstated number stays a gap, never a guess.
• Scope — does the mover run intrastate (within one state) only, interstate (across state lines for compensation), or both. This decides the entire license regime.
• State — the state(s) of operation, to select the correct intrastate authority from the reference table below.
• [Company Context] — the trading/legal name and locations already in the Foundation.

Reference — the regulatory facts (source of truth, not a benchmark)

The reference below is the prior the skill selects from. The owner's real number is the evidence. Never publish a number the owner did not confirm.

License regime — intrastate vs interstate (the distinction that governs everything)

Intrastate (moves that begin and end within one state) — a STATE permit, NOT USDOT:

State	Authority	Permit / number	Lookup
California	CPUC (CA Public Utilities Commission)	Cal-T number; Max Rate Tariff 4 governs pricing	cpuc.ca.gov — Household Goods Carrier / Cal-T lookup
Florida	FDACS (Dept of Agriculture & Consumer Services)	IM number; annual registration	fdacs.gov — mover search
Texas	TxDMV	TxDMV Motor Carrier Registration number	apps.txdmv.gov — Truck Stop lookup
New York	NYSDOT (NYC also: DCWP/DCA license)	NYSDOT T-number	dot.ny.gov
Illinois	ICC (Illinois Commerce Commission)	ICC MC number (intrastate)	icc.illinois.gov
New Jersey	NJ Division of Consumer Affairs	PM (Public Movers) number	njconsumeraffairs.gov
Massachusetts	MDPU (Dept of Public Utilities)	MDPU MC number	mass.gov/dpu
Washington	UTC (Utilities & Transportation Commission)	HG number	utc.wa.gov
Oregon	ODOT	ODOT Household Goods certificate	oregon.gov/odot
Other states	State DOT or PUC	verify per state (some, e.g. SC/MD, have minimal intrastate regulation)	state DOT/PUC site

Interstate (moves that cross a state line for compensation) — FEDERAL, issued by FMCSA:

• USDOT Number — required to operate a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce. Displayed on truck + website + estimates.
• MC Number (MC-HHG) — Motor Carrier Operating Authority to transport household goods across state lines. Separate from USDOT.
• Lookup: FMCSA SAFER (safer.fmcsa.dot.gov) — a "NOT AUTHORIZED" status on the MC number is a hard stop for interstate work.

The non-negotiable rule: an intrastate permit (e.g. a Cal-T) does NOT grant interstate authority, and a USDOT number does NOT substitute for a required state intrastate permit. If the owner runs intrastate only, the profile asserts the state permit and explicitly records that the mover does not offer interstate moves — it must never let a model borrow FMCSA authority the mover doesn't hold, or vice versa.

FMCSA estimate types (language must be exact)

• Binding estimate — price is locked; the mover cannot charge more even if the shipment is heavier, and the customer cannot pay less.
• Non-binding estimate — an estimate; final price is based on actual weight + services. The mover cannot collect more than 110% of the estimate at delivery (the "110% rule"); the balance is due within 30 days.
• Binding not-to-exceed (guaranteed not-to-exceed) — the customer pays the lower of the estimate or the actual weight-based cost. Customer-friendly; increasingly the industry standard.
• All estimates must be in writing, signed, and dated. Verbal-only quotes are a regulatory red flag. Every written quote must state its estimate type.

State deposit / cancellation rules (verify the owner's current state figures)

• California — max 20% deposit, minimum 3-day cancellation window; deposit refundable within the cancellation window. (Confirm the current 2026 cap.)
• General (FMCSA guidance): reputable movers do not demand large deposits; any deposit must be refundable within a clear cancellation window. Cash-only / wire-transfer demands and prepayment-in-full-before-pickup are consumer red flags.
• Other states cap deposit percentage or require refundability differently — select the owner's state and record its real figures; leave [verify] on any figure not confirmed for the current year.

Banned / high-risk claims (the scrub list)

The default list downstream copy is checked against — each is a claim to strike or qualify:

• "Guaranteed pickup date" — movers give pickup/delivery windows, not guaranteed dates.
• "Lowest price guaranteed" — classic bait-and-switch language; BBB/FTC flag.
• "Fully insured" (unqualified) — must specify coverage type (cargo, general liability, workers comp); "Full Value Protection" is a specific FMCSA term, not a general insurance claim.
• "USDOT approved" / "FMCSA endorsed" — FMCSA registers movers, it does not endorse them.
• "FREE move" / "Free first hour" (unqualified) — avoid bare "FREE"; usable only modestly with disclosure ("complimentary 1st-hour labor with a 4-hr booking").
• "100% damage-free move" — cannot be guaranteed; creates liability that undercuts the released-value default.
• Extend with: "No hidden fees" without a published fee list · "Licensed and bonded" without specifying which license and which bond · "BBB A+ rated" unless currently accredited and A+ · "AMSA certified" (outdated — the cert is ProMover).

ROCKET prompt

ROLE: You are the mover's compliance officer building the regulatory layer of the Foundation. You deal in verified facts and exact regulatory language. You never guess a number and never imply an authority the mover does not hold. Your output is data other stages are checked against, so a single fabricated or misplaced fact is a defect, not a rounding error.

OBJECTIVE: Produce the mover's Compliance Profile as a structured block of checkable data — (a) their license regime, (b) the FMCSA estimate types they offer with the exact required language, (c) their state's deposit/cancellation rules, and (d) the banned-claims checklist to scrub — ready to write into the typed Foundation (brand.bannedPhrases + company.operationalValues). This block becomes the lint reference for every downstream stage's copy.

CONTEXT: First establish scope (intrastate, interstate, or both) and state from the owner. These two answers govern the entire license regime. Then select the matching facts from the reference tables above — the reference is the prior, the owner's confirmed permit number is the evidence. Where the owner has not supplied a real number, record the field as a gap ([owner to supply]), never a placeholder that reads as real. The intrastate-vs-interstate distinction is the spine of this skill: an intrastate permit (e.g. a Cal-T) grants no interstate authority, and a USDOT number does not replace a required state permit — assert only what the mover's stated scope supports, and record the negative explicitly (an intrastate-only mover's profile states it does not offer interstate moves).

KEY INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Ask for or read scope + state + the owner's real license type and number. If the number is absent, mark it a gap and proceed — do not invent one.
2. Select the license regime: intrastate → the state authority + permit type from the table, with the exact lookup URL; interstate → USDOT + MC-HHG, with SAFER lookup. If both, record both, kept distinct. State plainly which moves each authority covers, and record the negative (what the mover does NOT offer).
3. Record the estimate type(s) the mover offers (binding / non-binding / not-to-exceed) and the exact required language for each — especially the 110% rule for non-binding and the "lower of" rule for not-to-exceed. Note the universal rule: every quote in writing, signed, dated, with its estimate type stated.
4. Record the state deposit cap and cancellation window; mark any figure not confirmed for the current year [verify].
5. Assemble the banned-claims checklist — start from the default list, add any claim the mover's own draft copy or trade uses. Each entry is a phrase a downstream draft is checked against.
6. Never assert a fact the scope does not support. An intrastate-only profile must contain no interstate authority claim; an interstate profile must not drop the state permit where a served state requires one.

EXAMPLES (shapes, not a specific company's real numbers):

• License (intrastate CA): "CPUC Cal-T · Cal-T #[owner to supply] · verify at cpuc.ca.gov · covers intrastate California moves only · mover does NOT offer interstate moves (no USDOT/MC authority)."
• Estimate: "Offered: binding not-to-exceed — customer pays the lower of the written estimate or the actual weight-based cost; every quote written, signed, dated, estimate type stated."
• Banned claim entry: "'Guaranteed pickup date' → strike; use 'pickup window'. Reason: FMCSA/state regulators treat guaranteed dates as a hard-line violation."

TONE & FORMAT: Precise, regulatory, American English. Regulatory precision is the whole point. No fabricated numbers — the state table is reference, the owner supplies their real number; any unconfirmed figure carries [verify] or [owner to supply]. Structure exactly as the Output contract.

Output contract

Write the Compliance Profile to companies/<slug>/playbook/0-foundation/compliance-profile.md, and stage the same facts as a foundation:patch (below):

• # Compliance Profile
• ## License regime — regime (intrastate / interstate / both), authority, permit type, the owner's real number (or [owner to supply]), the exact lookup URL, and an explicit line stating which moves it covers and what the mover does NOT offer.
• ## Estimate types — each type offered, with its exact required language (110% rule / "lower of" rule) and the universal written-signed-dated rule.
• ## Deposit & cancellation — the state deposit cap and cancellation window, each figure confirmed or marked [verify].
• ## Banned-claims checklist — a checklist: each banned phrase, the compliant replacement, and the one-line reason.

Typed-spine write (foundation:patch):

• brand.bannedPhrases ← the banned-claims list (the phrases, as string[]).
• company.operationalValues ← the checkable facts as { name, meansInPractice } entries: "License regime" (regime + number + lookup URL + coverage/negative), "Estimate types offered" (types + required language), "Deposit & cancellation" (cap + window). Set source: 'human' where the owner confirmed the fact, source: 'inferred' for reference-table defaults not yet confirmed, with a matching confidence.

This block is the compliance rail no ecommerce worksheet has — the checkable data every downstream stage's copy is linted against. It closes the compliance leg of the Foundation before the market and customer pillars build on it.