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[ARTICLE · art-46318] src=bol.ai ↗ pub= topic=ai-tools verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Show HN: Bol.ai – Extract structured data from Bills of Lading

Bol.ai launches a tool that extracts structured data from Bills of Lading, commercial invoices, and packing lists using AI, enabling freight forwarders and customs brokers to automate data entry. The platform supports PDFs, scans, and photos, validates data against ISO standards, and flags discrepancies across documents. Pricing starts at €19/month with per-document fees.

read4 min views1 publishedJul 1, 2026
Show HN: Bol.ai – Extract structured data from Bills of Lading
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Upload a BOL — PDF, scan or photo — and get clean, structured data back in seconds. B/L number, parties, ports, containers, weights. Ready for your TMS, ERP or spreadsheet.

5 free documents on signup · 7-day free trial · per-document pricing · no sales call required

The Bill of Lading is our specialty — and we read the documents that travel with it. Drop in a commercial invoice, packing list or CMR waybill too: Bol.ai detects the document type automatically and returns the right fields, at the same per-document price.

Built for the daily reality of freight forwarders and customs brokers: stacks of carrier BOLs that someone has to key into the system.

Drag in a PDF, scan or phone photo — up to 10 MB. Master or house B/L, any carrier layout.

20+ structured fields including per-container details. Every container number is checked against its ISO 6346 check digit, dates and weights against plausibility rules — suspect fields are flagged, never silently wrong.

Download CSV for Excel or your ERP import, or pull JSON straight from the API into your own system.

Upload a shipment's Bill of Lading, commercial invoice and packing list and Bol.ai links them automatically — then flags where they disagree: a gross weight that doesn't match, a consignee spelled differently, a package count that's off. The mismatches that cause customs holds, amended entries and demurrage — surfaced before you file, not after.

This is what comes back — actual output structure, not a mock-up.

{
  "bl_number": "MAEU123456789",
  "booking_number": "610203040",
  "scac": "MAEU",
  "carrier": "Maersk Line",
  "vessel": "EMMA MAERSK",
  "voyage": "124W",
  "shipper": { "name": "Dutch Cheese Exports BV", … },
  "consignee": { "name": "NY Food Imports Inc.", … },
  "port_of_": "Rotterdam, NL",
  "port_of_discharge": "New York, US",
  "containers": [{
    "container_number": "MSKU1234565",
    "seal_number": "NL445566",
    "container_type": "40RF",
    "packages": "1100 cartons",
    "gross_weight_kg": 21500,
    "volume_cbm": 58.4
  }],
  "incoterms": "CIF",
  "freight_terms": "PREPAID",
  "date_of_issue": "2026-05-28"
}

Turn carrier master B/Ls into house B/L data, shipment files and customer updates without the retyping marathon.

Pull consignee, goods description, weights and container numbers straight into your declaration workflow.

Feed arrival planning and warehouse systems from the documents your carriers send you — automatically.

Bills of Lading contain commercial relationships you don't want spread across the globe. Bol.ai stores documents and extracted data exclusively in the European Union — database in Western Europe, file storage under EU jurisdiction. GDPR-friendly by architecture, not by addendum.

Paper doesn't stay at your desk — neither does Bol.ai. No app store required.

Open bol.ai on your phone and capture a document at the warehouse, dock or customs counter. Same extraction, straight from the camera.

Add Bol.ai to your home screen — Android: menu → Add to Home Screen; iPhone: Share → Add to Home Screen. Full-screen, one tap away.

Forward a BOL to extract@bol.ai from your account email — the extraction is waiting in your document list.

Pay a small base fee, then per document processed. No seats, no modules, no annual contract required.

€19/month

  • €0.49 per document

€79/month

  • €0.29 per document

Credits

one-time credit packs

Are you an AI agent or procurement tool? Machine-readable pricing →

It converts a BOL document — usually a PDF or scan — into structured, machine-readable data: B/L number, shipper, consignee, ports, container numbers, weights and more, so it can flow into a TMS or ERP without manual retyping.

20+ fields including B/L number, booking number, SCAC, carrier, vessel/voyage, shipper, consignee, notify party, ports of and discharge, per-container details (number, seal, type, packages, gross weight, CBM), freight terms, incoterms and date of issue.

PDF files and images (PNG, JPG) up to 10 MB — including scans and photos of paper documents.

Accuracy depends on document quality. Every extraction is shown to you field-by-field for review before export, and failed extractions are never charged silently — you see the status of every document.

Exclusively in the European Union — database in Western Europe, file storage under EU jurisdiction. Nothing is stored outside the EU.

No. Bol.ai does one thing well: turning freight documents — the Bill of Lading and the invoice, packing list and CMR alongside it — into structured data. It is not a tracking or shipment-visibility tool.

Yes — send a document, get JSON back, plus an MCP server for AI agents. API keys are available on the Professional plan and with credit packs; new accounts include 5 free documents, so you can evaluate the API without paying. See the API docs.

Sign up, upload a BOL, and see your data come back structured.

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