Extract Bill of Lading Data to Excel — Any Carrier, Any Format
Upload a BOL from any shipping line — ocean, LTL, or air freight. Type the fields you need. Get a clean spreadsheet in 5–10 seconds per page, with no template configuration required.
Up to 99% accuracy on printed BOLs · No templates required · Files not stored after processing
What You Can Extract from a Bill of Lading
Type the column names you need — the AI locates each value across the document by understanding what it means, not where it sits on the page.
Why BOL Extraction Is Tricky — and How the AI Handles It
Bills of lading are some of the most format-variable documents in logistics. The same fields — shipper, consignee, cargo, charges — appear in a different position on every carrier's form.
Where Traditional OCR Runs Into Trouble
Layout varies by carrier. Maersk, FedEx Freight, and UPS Freight format their BOLs differently. Template-based OCR needs a separate configuration per carrier, and breaks whenever a carrier updates its form.
Multi-zone structure on a single page. A BOL packs a shipper block, consignee block, commodity table, charges section, and signature zones together. Line-by-line OCR mixes content across sections — a weight in the charges block gets confused with a weight in the cargo table.
Mixed content: print, handwriting, stamps. Handwritten weight corrections, rubber stamps, and barcodes frequently appear alongside printed fields. Basic OCR treats all of these as one undifferentiated text stream.
How Column-Name Extraction Works
You define the columns you need. Type BOL Number | Shipper | Consignee | Port of Discharge | Container Number and the AI finds each value anywhere on the page — by understanding what it means, not by reading a fixed pixel position.
Section-aware reading. The AI reads the document the way a logistics professional would — it understands that "Consignee" is the receiving party's address block, not just any line containing a company name, and that commodity table rows are separate from the charges summary.
One column setup, any carrier. Upload BOLs from 20 different carriers in a single batch. The same column definitions apply to all of them — the output is one unified Excel file, one row per BOL, regardless of format differences.
From BOL Stack to Structured Spreadsheet
If you're a freight broker, 3PL team, or customs broker processing weekly shipment documentation, here is what the workflow looks like end to end.
Upload your BOL documents
Drop in a batch of BOL PDFs, scanned images, or dock photos — from any carrier. Digital PDFs from carrier portals and scanned paper BOLs can be mixed in the same upload. Processing runs at 5–10 seconds per page.
Type the columns you need
Enter field names that match your workflow — standard ones like Shipper | Consignee | Container Number | Total Weight, or LTL-specific ones like Freight Class | NMFC Code | PRO Number. You can also define a computed column like Total Charges (Freight + Accessorial) and the AI calculates it during extraction.
Download the Excel output
Export to XLSX, CSV, or JSON. Every BOL becomes one row in the output table — ready for TMS import, freight audit, carrier reconciliation, or paste into your tracking spreadsheet. Google Sheets users can use the sidebar add-on to extract results directly into an active sheet without leaving Sheets.
When It Works Best — and When to Review Results
Accuracy is high for standard BOL documents. A few specific conditions affect results — worth knowing before processing a large batch.
When it works best
Digital PDFs from carrier portals. Machine-generated BOLs from TMS systems or carrier websites produce near-perfect extraction accuracy.
Scanned paper BOLs, first copy. Standard office scans at 300 dpi or higher extract reliably, including handwritten weight entries and shipper notes.
Mixed carrier batches. BOLs from different shipping lines can be uploaded together and processed with one column setup — no per-carrier configuration required.
Worth a spot-check
3rd or 4th carbon copies. Later-generation carbons have faded ink that reduces character recognition. Where possible, scan the original or first copy instead.
Dense stamp overlays on printed fields. Text directly covered by a rubber stamp may extract with lower confidence. The AI flags uncertain values — review these before importing to your TMS.
Irregular handwriting or pencil marks. Common handwriting in shipper and weight fields is handled well. Heavy cursive or light pencil in driver notation areas may need manual verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I extract commodity line items — multiple cargo rows — from a single BOL?
Yes. Add columns like Cargo Description | Quantity | Weight | Freight Class to your extraction setup. The AI reads the commodity table in the BOL and outputs each line item as a separate row in your Excel file. A BOL with four commodity lines produces four rows, each with the full set of columns you defined.
Does it work on LTL BOLs with NMFC codes and freight class?
Yes. LTL-specific fields — Freight Class, NMFC Code, Handling Units, PRO Number, and special instructions — are all supported. Type them as column names and the AI locates them in the document, whether the BOL is from FedEx Freight, Old Dominion, XPO, Estes, or any other LTL carrier.
How does it handle BOLs from different shipping lines without template setup?
The tool uses column-name extraction: you type field names like Shipper Name, Port of Discharge, Container Number, and the AI finds those values anywhere on the page by understanding what they mean — not by matching a fixed template. A Maersk BOL and a Hapag-Lloyd BOL produce the same structured output from the same column setup, even in a mixed batch.
How accurate is extraction on photographed BOLs or faded carbon copies?
Printed text on clean scans achieves up to 99% accuracy. Smartphone photos of BOLs taken in good dock lighting extract reliably for standard fields. Faded carbon copies (3rd or 4th generation) and heavy stamp overlays reduce confidence — for these, review the extracted values before using them downstream.
Can I process a large batch of BOLs for freight audit or carrier reconciliation?
Yes. Upload multiple BOL files at once — the tool processes all of them with the same column definitions and merges results into one Excel file, one row per document. For teams collecting BOLs from carriers, drivers, or field staff, the Collection Link feature generates a shareable upload link so others can submit documents directly to your processing queue without needing an account.