Scan and Send Load Documents

With the Transflo Mobile+ app, drivers can scan load documents anywhere, anytime. The mobile app allows drivers to snap a picture of their documents and submit high-quality images with optional electronic signatures and industry-leading document compression protocols that use less data than a social media post! The easy-to-use functionality allows drivers to submit multiple documents at one time while ensuring carriers, shippers, and brokers receive high quality images that can go directly into billing workflows.

Tips for Capturing Better Document Scans

As a driver, you can select and easily change the document type assigned to each document. Tap a document in the list before you send them to see options such as BOL, POD, lumper, and more.
Follow the steps below to take good quality photos of paper documents such as a bill of lading (BOL) or proof of delivery (POD). If you submit poor quality images, the system might not be able to process the data which could result in delays.

If network service is not available, the latest release of the app provides an offline document queue to store pending unsent batches for you temporarily until a data plan signal or Wi-Fi connection is available.
Android devices have a Back button at the bottom of each screen and iOS devices have a Back option at the top of applicable screens.
You can view the documents you submitted later (over the next 14 days) at transfloexpress.com. Enter your confirmation number (saved in your e-mail, text messaging app, or in-app chat messages).
If you want your own saved copy of all documents, snap your own photos first and save them immediately on your device or in an online (cloud) storage space. Then upload and submit those existing document photos for each load through Transflo Mobile+.
Place documents on a flat, dark or contrasting non-glare surface. Take picture in a bright, well-lit environment.
Use flash with good surrounding light. If the document is on glossy paper, it may be better to turn flash off. Brighter light and flash are required for poor quality documents, multi-part forms, carbon copies or documents on colored paper.
Take a picture of the whole document filling the screen with the entire document.
To make barcodes more readable, you need to be about 14 inches way from the document.
Good picture focus is required. To get good focus, keep the phone steady then take the picture and . Keep your hands steady and try to remain stable when taking the picture and if you are in-cab turn off your engine to eliminate vibration.
After taking photo, wait until the picture is displayed on the screen. You can drag the blue dots in the corners to frame or crop the document.
To make light text appear clearer, after cropping, press the Darken button at the bottom of the screen. Darken can be pressed multiple times to continue darkening the text. If the page becomes too dark, press the Lighter button to reverse the changes.
In general, to avoid unnecessarily large images, do not take pictures with HDR or Night Mode.
Turn flash OFF if taking accident pictures in daylight. Turn flash ON only when taking pictures at night or when taking claim pictures inside a loading dock.

New! Scan and Send Load Documents | R6.0 Summary

Only a summary of the steps is given below; for a longer version with full details, see the next section. Release 6.0 of the mobile app (summer 2023) included a new document scanning redesign to improve the way your device detects, scans, and submits load documents. The new screen examples below show standard user interface elements on a typical mobile phone. Similar steps apply to smart phones and tablets (including Microsoft Surface Pro devices) running Apple iOS, Google Android, or Microsoft Windows.

On your Transflo Mobile+ app dashboard, tap Scan Documents or Scanning. The label can be customized at each company fleet.
To add photos of documents already saved on your mobile device, tap ADD EXISTING IMAGE.
1. You can make many of the same edits to your added images as described below for new photos such as crop, rotate, or adjust brightness.
2. Tap Next after each step.
To take a new photo of a document:
1. Fill the screen with the document. Keep your hands steady. Wait for the blue Document Detected message and then take the picture yourself or let Auto Snap take it for you.
2. Tap the white circle to take a photo of the current page. If Auto Detect and Auto Snap are ON, the app detects and captures the photo for you. To remind you Auto Snap is ON, the white TAKE PHOTO circle changes to blue.
3. Tap the green checkmark or tap Delete (the trash can) and try again.
You can crop the detected preview of a live photo now (when you first capture the image) or crop it later. You can also crop an existing photo of a document you already scanned and are now adding. Tap Next.
You can make any of the following optional adjustments:
- Discard: Confirm your decision to trash this item and start over, or cancel to keep it.
- Rotate: To rotate your page 90 degrees clockwise, tap Rotate.
- Brightness: To make an image or text more clear, lighter, or darker, tap the Brightness button at the bottom of the screen.
- Crop: To crop your image, tap Crop.
- Format: Choose Black and White, Grayscale , or Color.
- When you are done with any optional changes, tap Next.
On the Choose Document Type screen, tap the type of document you just scanned or added.

To change a document type, you can tap on its name in the list and then tap Edit DocType. Select a different document type. On some devices, you might have to tap Back or swipe left or right to go back to the list.
To add more document pages to send in this same batch for one or more loads, tap the Add Page button and repeat the steps above for adding existing documents or using the camera to capture new documents.
To view a larger Preview of each item in the list, tap its small thumbnail image. You can also edit the document type one more time on the Preview screen. To go back to the list, tap Back.
To remove an item from the list, tap X Remove.
If you need to cancel all documents, exit the app. Exercise caution when using this feature. You might still have your existing images saved on your device but any recent items you just captured are deleted when you tap DELETE ALL. If you have the paper originals or copies, you can send them later.
To submit your documents, tap Submit:
1. A Document Attributes screen might ask you to enter your driver ID, description, load or BOL number, and truck number. In some configurations, your driver ID is entered for you. Tap Next.
2. If your company requires signatures, tap Add Signatures. You might be asked to sign your name or physically hand your device to someone else to sign a document on-screen writing with a stylus or just a finger.
3. When all documents are ready, tap Send All.
Your batch confirmation number appears. You can make a note of it now or refer to the text message, e-mail, or in-app notification you receive later.

To view those documents again later (over the next 14 days), go to transfloexpress.com and enter the confirmation number.
Tap Close in the top right corner of the screen to go back to the dashboard.
If you perform the steps above and tap Send All and then get the following message, it means your documents were almost ready to be sent but you lost your 4G/5G cellular data or Wi-Fi network connection:

Unable to upload. Would you like to add to the upload queue or cancel and try again?

We recommend that you tap Add to Document Queue and then allow time for your device to re-establish a data or Wi-Fi connection.

New! Scan and Send Load Documents | R6.0 Full Details

Release 6.0 of the mobile app in August 2023 includes a document scanning redesign to improve the way you can detect, scan, and submit load documents. In 2024, additional 6.x releases enhance the product. The new screen examples below show standard user interface elements on a typical mobile phone. Similar steps apply to smart phones and tablets (including Microsoft Surface Pro devices) running Apple iOS, Google Android, or Microsoft Windows.

On the dashboard, tap Scan Documents, Scanning, or the custom menu item for document capture in your edition of the Transflo Mobile+ app running on your device (features vary by carrier or fleet).
(Optional) Review any custom instructions provided by your organization and then tap Start. If you do not see this screen, ignore this step.
Decide if you want to ADD AN EXISTING PHOTO or TAKE A NEW PHOTO. You can add a photo image of a document you already captured on your phone or take a new photo of each load document. This option is up to you or your company requirements. The batch of documents you send can be a mix of existing documents and new documents. If you cannot decide, do what is most convenient for you:
- Use Your Own Camera App: Some drivers take photos or save electronic documents on their phone or tablet over the span of hours or days at each stop and then send each batch of existing documents later.
- Use Built-in Transflo Mobile+ Document Capture: Others wait until final delivery to take all their new photo scans of documents for a load at the same time and then immediately send them.
- Use Both Methods: For example, you pickup a load in Denver and save a PNG image file of the eBOL. You drive to Cleveland and receive a PDF of the signed ePOD and save it as a JPEG. You also receive a paper unloading (lumper) receipt. When you send your documents for this load, you take a live photo of the paper receipt and add the eBOL (PNG) and ePOD (JPG) files off your phone.
To add existing images or photos of documents that you already saved on your mobile device, tap the ADD EXISTING FILE button.
1. Search or swipe up, down, left, or right to locate your existing document. Options vary by device. You can select one document file at a time to add to your temporary list of load documents you are about to send.
  
  Tip: Consider using a consistent naming convention to save yourself time. If you snap a photo of an eBOL for load number 1234 and save it as 1234.png, you can easily find it when you are ready to submit all docs for load 1234.
2. You can make many of the same edits to your photos as described below for new photos such as crop, rotate, or adjust brightness.
3. Tap Next after each step.
To take a new photo of a document, follow these sub-steps:
1. A No Document Detected message might appear.
  - Allow yourself time to place your document on a flat surface and get your camera phone into position.
  - Place your paper document on a flat, dark, or contrasting non-glare surface with bright indirect surrounding light.
  - Bright light and flash are generally recommended for poor-quality documents, multi-part carbon copy forms, or documents on colored paper.
  - If the document is on glossy paper or a shiny surface, we recommend that you turn OFF the camera flash feature.
2. If prompted, tap Open Settings to open your mobile device operating system settings to allow camera access permissions for the Transflo Mobile app.
  
  Tip: If you are frustrated by these settings, you are not alone. Just bear in mind these are not Transflo app settings. The settings in this step are standard privacy and security settings on your mobile device for all apps and you are in control by design. Transflo cannot control these settings for you.
3. Tap the app Settings button in the lower right corner and choose your camera preferences (the camera settings in this step apply only to the Transflo app):
  - Auto Detect: This smart feature automatically detects the edges or borders of pages.
  - Auto Snap: This time-saving feature automatically takes the photo for you when it detects your document. If you want to take your own photos, you can turn Auto Snap OFF.
    
    Tip: To turn Auto Snap ON, you must also turn the Auto Detect setting ON. If you forget, a message appears to remind you.
  - Night Mode or HDR: Added in 6.1.4 (June 2024), this setting can be turned ON or OFF. On supported models, your mobile device camera can use Night Mode to capture more detail and brighten your document photos in low-light situations. Also known as High Dynamic Range (HDR), Night Sight, or NightScape, Night Mode can help you take better photos in low-light conditions without the need for a flash (in fact, on the Transflo app, flash must be OFF). When you turn Night Mode ON, your camera can capture multiple images with different exposures and merge them into a single image to optimize brightness and minimize blur. If motion is detected, Night Mode can assist the capture process to minimize blur caused by shaky hands.
    
    If you turn Night Mode ON, the app turns OFF any flash settings you might have previously set.
    
    Similarly, if Night Mode is ON but then you set Flash to AUTO or ON, the app obeys your flash choice but turns Night Mode OFF for you with a reminder that Night Mode Requires Flash OFF. Decide which allowable choices work best for your current needs.
  - Flash: Tap Settings and then tap your camera flash preference. From left to right, you can choose: OFF (no flash), AUTO (flash automatically lights up when needed in low-light conditions), or ON (the camera uses flash for every photo you take).
4. Fill the entire screen with the document. Keep your hands steady and try to remain completely motionless when taking the picture. If you are in-cab, turn off your engine to eliminate vibration.
  - To make barcodes more readable, position your camera phone about 14 inches away.
  - To get the best focus, wait for the blue Document Detected message to appear and then take the picture yourself or let Auto Snap take it for you.
  - In some configurations, you can also tap the screen to trigger an auto-focus square and then take the picture. The auto-focus square is configurable based on your fleet settings, so it may or may not appear.
5. Tap the white circle to take a photo of the document (or page 1 of a multi-page document). If Auto Detect and Auto Snap are ON, the app detects and captures the photo for you. To remind you Auto Snap is ON, the white TAKE PHOTO circle changes to a blue circle.
  - If you are satisfied with the captured preview image, tap the green checkmark.
  - If you are not satisfied with the captured preview image, tap Delete (the trash can) and try again.
6. If the app detects a blurry image, you are prompted to keep it and continue or retake the photo.
  
  Blurry Image: Image appears to be blurry. Would you like to retake this image?
  - To replace the blurry image with a new one, tap Retake.
  - If you think the blurry image is acceptable or the best you can do for now, tap Continue.
7. If you are satisfied with the image, tap Next.
  
  (Optional:) You can crop the detected preview of a live photo now (when you first capture the image) or crop it later. You can also crop an existing photo of a document you already scanned. To crop out unnecessary parts of the page, drag the blue dots or grab handles around the document at each corner to crop the image down to the exact size you want. As you move each corner, the area is enlarged in a preview circle for optimum precision.
  
  When finished, tap Next.
8. You can make any of the following optional adjustments (or, skip all adjustments and accept the current document as it is by tapping Next):
  - Discard: To revert any changes you made and restore the original image, tap Discard. You can then confirm your decision to trash this item and start over, or cancel to keep it.
  - Rotate: To rotate your page 90 degrees clockwise, tap Rotate.
  - Brightness: To make light text more clear, tap the Brightness feature at the bottom of the screen. Darken can be tapped multiple times to continue darkening the text. If the page becomes too dark, tap the Lighter option, to reverse the changes. New in this release is the ability to simply drag the line to adjust the brightness level.
    
    Tip: The brightness setting applies to black and white or grayscale images but not color images. Adjusting the brightness of full-color documents and photos is planned as a future feature.
  - Crop: To crop your image (if you didn't already crop it), tap Crop. The app attempts to apply your last saved cropping region to each document. To crop out a different unnecessary region of the page, drag the blue dots or grab handles around the document at each corner to crop the image down to the exact area you want (the rest is unnecessary and cropped or hidden from further view). As you move each corner, the area is enlarged in a preview circle for optimum precision.
    
    New in 6.0.1 is the ability to choose from the following three (3) Crop Image options:
    - Crop: To apply your current crop region to the document and save that same cropping shape or region so it is applied by default to future documents to save you time, tap Crop.
    - Reset: If you adjusted the last saved cropping region (you moved the blue dots) but want to discard your changes and go back to the last saved crop region, tap Reset.
    - Cancel: To cancel any crop adjustments, revert to the un-cropped original document, and go back to the Scan Adjustments screen, tap Cancel.
  - Format: You can often reduce the data size of load documents which can speed performance and save time. For example, tap Format and then decide if you can reduce your image to Black and White without sacrificing quality. If not, tap Grayscale as an acceptable common ground for the majority of documents. Tap Color only if your document requires color to be viewed (for example, a color photograph of people, products, equipment, a map, or a page that uses colors such as red, yellow, or green to indicate status).
    
    Example: In the following example, the user adjusted the format to black and white and reduced the brightness so the black text was darker. Typically, these adjustments are made separately; however, in this specific scenario, both the format and brightness controls appear at the same time.
    
    Tip 1: Many fleets take advantage of a global Transflo feature that automatically sets the document format based on the document type. For example, all invoices might be set to color and all BOLs might be set to black and white. In these environments, the Format button is hidden and you can safely continue to the next step.
  - To keep your changes, tap Next.
On the Choose Document Type screen, tap the type of document you just scanned. .

To change a document type, you can tap on its name in the list and then tap Edit DocType. Select a different document type. On some devices, you might have to tap Back or swipe left or right to go back to the list.
At this step, you have at least one document in the list. To add more document pages to send in this same batch for one or more loads, tap the Add Page button and repeat the steps above for adding existing documents or using the camera to capture new documents.
To view a larger Preview of each item in the list, tap its small thumbnail image. You can also edit the document type one more time on the Preview screen. To go back to the list, tap Back.
To remove an item from the list, tap X Remove.
(Optional) If you need to cancel all documents, exit the app. Exercise caution when using this feature. You might still have your existing images saved on your device but any recent items you just captured are deleted when you tap DELETE ALL. If you have the paper originals or copies, you can send them later.
When you are ready to submit your documents, tap Submit. The steps you take next vary by company:
1. A Document Attributes screen might appear where you can complete any fields configured by your fleet to make sure the documents you send are associated with the right matching data. For example, in your app, the screen might ask you to enter your driver ID, description, load or BOL number, and truck number. In some configurations, your driver ID is entered for you.
2. Tap Next.
3. If your company requires signatures, tap Add Signatures. If you are prompted, tap OK and then tap Add Signature.
  
  You might be asked to sign your name or physically hand your device to someone else to sign a document. Sign directly on the screen with a stylus or finger and then tap Next.
  
  In some Transflo configurations, you can electronically send a signature request to someone, an authorized person can sign, and you receive the signed document back all electronically (no paper documents to scan).
4. When all documents are ready, tap Send All.
Your batch confirmation number appears. You can make a note of it now or refer to the text message, e-mail, or in-app notification you receive later.
To view those documents again later (over the next 14 days), go to transfloexpress.com and enter the confirmation number.
Tap Close in the top right corner of the screen to go back to the dashboard.
If you perform the steps above and tap Send All and then get the following message, it means your documents were almost ready to be sent but you lost your 4G/5G cellular data or Wi-Fi network connection:

Unable to upload. Would you like to add to the upload queue or cancel and try again?

We recommend that you tap Add to Document Queue and then allow time for your device to re-establish a data or Wi-Fi connection.

To learn more about this new offline scanning feature, see the following section below.

Scan Offline with Document Queue

Introduced in November 2022, the new document queue feature allows you to scan documents in offline mode and send them later when a 4G/5G data or wireless network connection is available.

Tip: The Offline Document Queue feature is not available in custom white label configurations of the mobile app that display your custom company logo. Only the generic public app available in the Apple AppStore or from the Google Play store includes this feature.

After you complete the document scanning steps above and tap Send All, if you get the following message, it means your documents are almost ready to be sent but your network connection has low signal strength or was lost:

Unable to upload. Would you like to add to the upload queue or cancel and try again?

To save the documents and files in your pending unsent batch locally on your device until a data or Wi-Fi connection is available, tap Add to Document Queue.

On some devices you might still see the following older classic screen design; however, the feature works the same way.
Tap OK.
At this point, no further action is required. You can continue driving, go OFF-DUTY, or do other tasks. The app will continue to try to acquire a data or Wi-Fi signal to send your pending batches in the document queue. To avoid delays, make sure your mobile device has a wireless network or cellular data connection.

All of the remaining steps are optional.
To check on progress, tap the ≡Actions menu in the top-left corner.
In the resulting Actions menu, tap Document Queue.
On the default Queued Documents page, your pending unsent batches appear.
Tip: If you believe you have established network service, tap the Resend button in the top right corner to make the app re-attempt to send all queued documents.
At the bottom of the screen, tap Service or No Service. The status of your cellular and Wi-Fi services appears. For example, your documents could not be sent because you had no cellular data or Wi-Fi connectivity. It is also possible that you were in Wi-Fi Upload Only (you can turn this ON or OFF in Settings) mode but not within the range of a local access point or wide-area network.
When service is restored, the app automatically attempts to upload your queued documents. The spinning progress icon indicates the app is attempting to send your documents.

As examples, service might be restored in any of the following ways:
- You drive within range of a cell tower.
- Your signal strength improves.
- You adjust your mobile device settings for data, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
- You connect to a wireless hotspot.
If successful, the documents are sent and your queue is empty again.
To confirm, tap Completed, and verify your documents were sent.
To perform the following options, click the Options menu for a specific batch in the list:
1. To resend a batch, tap Resend.
2. To delete a batch, tap Delete. For example, you know it is an extra duplicate or you plan to rescan, add more pages, and send the entire corrected batch later.
3. To get the confirmation number for the batch, tap Confirmation #.
To view any failed batches, tap the Failed button.

The app continues to try to send any pending documents in the queue that were blocked due to any loss of connectivity; however, even after a successful network connection, a batch might fail because of a more serious issue such as a power outage, network server error, or other failure.

Whenever possible, all batches return to the queue and are re-attempted until successful. If sending a batch is simply not possible, any Failed Documents appear temporarily, cannot be re-attempted, and are removed from the queue.

If you continue to experience failed documents, contact your manager, fleet administrator, or Transflo Support.

View a demonstration of these steps in one or more Transflo videos:

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