Bill of lading parser and data extractor API

Send any PDF bill of lading — ocean, truck, or rail, digital or scanned. The data extractor returns carrier, consignee, ports, container IDs, and freight terms as typed JSON.

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Sample invoice

BOL-2049-PMX

2026-05-10

Due 2026-05-26

From

Pacific Maritime Lines

Bill to

Globex Distribution Centers

SKU	Description	Qty	Amount
CONT-PMX2049	40ft container · 12,400 kg · electronics	1	$2800.00
CONT-PMX2050	40ft container · 9,800 kg · electronics	1	$1400.00

Extracted schema

The fields AP teams expect.

bol_number

Bill of lading reference number.
bol_date

ISO date the BoL was issued.
carrier

Shipping line or trucking company.
scac

Standard Carrier Alpha Code, when printed.
shipper

Party originating the shipment.
consignee

Receiving party.
vessel_voyage

Vessel name and voyage number on ocean BoLs.
origin_port

Port or terminal of loading.
destination_port

Port or terminal of discharge.
container_numbers

Array of container or trailer IDs.
seal_numbers

Array of seal IDs matched to containers.
freight_terms

Prepaid, collect, third-party, etc.
line_items

Array of description, weight, volume, and quantity values.

Sample JSON

One invoice in. One row out.

{
  "document_type": "bill-of-lading",
  "bol_number": "BOL-2049-PMX",
  "carrier": "Pacific Maritime Lines",
  "shipper": "Pacific Maritime Lines",
  "consignee": "Globex Distribution Centers",
  "bol_date": "2026-05-10",
  "freight_total": 4200,
  "currency": "USD",
  "line_items": [
    {
      "sku": "CONT-PMX2049",
      "description": "40ft container · 12,400 kg · electronics",
      "quantity": 1,
      "unit_price": 2800,
      "amount": 2800
    },
    {
      "sku": "CONT-PMX2050",
      "description": "40ft container · 9,800 kg · electronics",
      "quantity": 1,
      "unit_price": 1400,
      "amount": 1400
    }
  ]
}

FAQ

What is a bill of lading parser?

A bill of lading parser reads a BoL PDF or scan and turns it into structured data: the BoL number, carrier, shipper, consignee, ports, container and seal numbers, and cargo rows. It replaces manual keying into a TMS, ERP, or customs filing.

How accurate is it?

In our bill of lading OCR benchmark (24 parsers, 25 BoLs, a 21-field schema), okraPDF scored 96.9% field-level accuracy overall: 100% on digital and scanned BoLs and 84.2% on fax-quality pages. The methodology and the full leaderboard are public.

What does the bill of lading data extractor return?

Typed JSON matching the schema you send: BoL number and date, carrier and SCAC, shipper, consignee, vessel/voyage, ports, container and seal numbers, freight terms, and per-item weight and quantity rows — ready for your TMS or ERP.

Does it work on scanned or faxed BoLs?

Yes. Most BoLs arrive as scans, photos, or faxes. OCR runs automatically when the PDF has no text layer, and skewed or low-resolution pages are handled before extraction.

Ocean, truck, and rail bills of lading?

Yes. Straight, ocean, and inland BoLs share the core schema; fields that do not apply (like vessel_voyage on a truck BoL) come back null instead of guessed.

Master and house BoLs both supported?

Yes. The schema covers both; container_numbers may be empty on a master BoL.

Do carrier-specific layouts need templates?

No. The parser reads each PDF’s layout directly — no zone-drawing and no per-carrier template library to maintain as layouts change.

How is this priced?

Extraction is priced per page. The free tier covers the first 100 pages.