Transflo Broker AI User Guide

As a business user at a freight broker organization, what can I do with access to the Transflo Workflow AI Broker software platform:

• You can retrieve documents using index term searches, document property searches, and other methods. Search results are presented in a result set in your supported web browser. In each result set, you can perform even more precise text searches to narrow down the set of documents in the search results.

• You can also select documents to view, edit, and print, as well as e-mail documents and pages as attachments or links.

• Other Transflo Repository functionality allows you to add new documents and pages to existing work items. When adding new documents, after uploading the file or scanning in the paper document, you enter descriptive information from the document into application-specific index fields. This is referred to as indexing the document. Indexing allows you to organize and efficiently search through stored documents. You can also use your Transflo repository to index batches that have been added to applications using Transflo Repository Image Capture.

• With Transflo Repository security profiles, documents are secure. Access with a Transflo Repository username and password, Transflo Repository access privileges and restrictions are in effect throughout the session. Access privileges control which documents you can access from within Transflo Repository and the functionality that is available for you to use when working with documents.

• As you would expect from a browser-based application, Transflo Workflow AI for Brokers has an intuitive interface with easy-to-use features. For instance, you can access most functionality by clicking either a menu item or toolbar button. You can access Online Help from any window by clicking the Help option, clicking the Help Toolbar button, or pressing F1 on the keyboard. In addition, some application windows have Help buttons that display context-sensitive online help.

To access the Transflo Workflow AI Broker repository system, navigate to the secure website and then log in.

1. Enter the Transflo Workflow AI for Brokers URL into your internet browser address bar:

   Example:

   https://metastortest3.metasource.com/AppXtender/DataSources/TFPOC/

2. Enter your username and password. Click SIGN IN.

   

   The first time you log in to Transflo Workflow AI you are prompted to create your password. As a returning user, if your password is about to expire, you are prompted to create a new one.

   Password Rules:

   • Minimum Length: 8 characters

   • Minimum Numbers: 1

   • Minimum Special Characters: 1

   Examples:

   Cleve1@nd

   Freight!8

3. After you log in, a list of the Transflo Workflow AI virtual folders that you have permission to access appears.

4. Double-click on the VENDOR_BILLS folder to perform document management functions.

   

As a security measure, it is always good practice to log out of the system when you are finished using Transflo Repository.

1. On any screen, at top right, click Exit.

   

2. To confirm, click LOGOUT.

   

   Tip: In some components of the system, click your username or user icon in the upper right corner of the screen and then click Log Out.

   

   

You can search for documents by defining search filters. Your search queries can be saved and shared with others users.

1. In the Applications list on the left, click an application folder. A typical naming convention might show COMPANY_VENDOR_BILLS.

   

2. Click New Query.

   

3. Enter one or more search options to reduce the number of items. Search filters help you focus on specific results, improve performance, and reduce page load time.

   • Every field displayed is searchable. The result set will display all available fields unless customized on the result set page.

   • To find a document in Transflo Repository, search by Load/Order# or document type.

   • You can also search by Upload or Received Date which will bring a list of all documents up that are associated with that Date.

   Example: Below is the main search screen of Transflo Repository with all available search fields.

   

4. You can save your search query to use it again.

   1. To save your query, enter your search criteria, and then click the Save button.

      

   2. In the Save Search window, enter a name for your query (for example, 2025-Q2-CLOSE or abc-loads-beth-ap.)

   3. To share your query with other users, select the Available to all users check box. To keep your query private and visible only to you, clear the check box.

   4. Click Save.

      

5. Saved queries appear on the main page or home page after you log in. A query shortcut icon and menu of options appears. Click the Query Options icon and then select one of three options:

   • Run: Click this option to run the query.

   • Edit: If you created the query or have access permissions, you can edit the query. Exercise care before editing shared queries.

   • Delete: If you created the query or have admin permissions, you can delete a query. As a best practice, verify no other users need the query for their work before you remove it.

     

6. You can also run a query in the Applications list on the left.

   

7. Try your own query. Your Query Results page might look like the following example:

   

   As a common example for an accounts payable manager, the following screen shows a document repository search for all documents that match a specific load number.

   

   After you click Run, the Query Results page shows all documents for that load.

   

8. To view a document, perform any of the following methods:

   • Click the Document Options icon and choose Open.

     

   • Double-click anywhere in the row.

   • Click on the page icon.

     
     

   • For a quick preview of the first page, hover your mouse over the page icon.

     

9. The document viewer always shows the first page of any document.

   

10. To view page thumbnail images, click the Page Thumbnails icon. When viewing thumbnails, you can also zoom in and zoom out.

    

11. To display the current set of index values tagged to a document, click on the Show/Hide Index Values arrow on the right side of the page.

    

12. To go back to a previous search query or result set, click a level in the hierarchical breadcrumb trail at the top of the screen. Breadcrumbs show the progressive levels or recent history of steps that show how you got to any document.

    

You can apply one or more of the following advanced search methods to find documents. These methods can help you retrieve more documents or can help you narrow down the results. Even if you expect a large set of results, if only one document satisfies the search criteria, the document automatically opens in the document viewer.

Search with Wildcards

You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character in your search criteria. A wildcard can narrow a search by controlling the number of documents returned in the search results. Wildcards are valid for index fields like Borrower Name, Property Address, and City.

The asterisk wildcard matches any single character or string of characters. It is used for beginning with, ending with, and other pattern searches. The following table shows how wildcards affect which documents are included in search results.

Search Criteria:	Search Results:
SMITH	Exact match on SMITH only.
SM*	Begins with the characters SM including SMITH, SMITHERS, and SMYTHE.
*ITH	Ends with the characters ITH including SMITH, HIGHSMITH, and JUDITH.
S*H	Begins with the character S and ends with the character H.
*ITH*	Contains the character pattern ITH including SMITH and WITHERS.

Search a List of Values

A list of values search allows you to define multiple criteria for every search field. For example, you could enter 9999, 8888 in a Load Number field and other claim numbers in the Search Value text box to search for multiple values.

Transflo Repository Web Access locates all documents that contain any entry in the Search Value text box. All documents with 9999 in the Account Number field and all documents with 8888 (as well as any others you add) are located and, if more than one document is found, listed in the query results view. By allowing you to specify more alternatives, the list of values operation provides inclusive searches that retrieve a larger set of documents.

Note: If only one document satisfies the search criteria, the document automatically opens in Document Display view.

To search for documents using a list of values, follow these steps:

1. Start a new query or edit a previously saved query.

2. Click the Search List button to the right of the search field.

   

   The List Search window appears.

   

3. In the Field Value field, enter a value for the list and click ADD.

   

4. Repeat these steps to continue adding each value you want to include and then click OK.

   The List Search window closes. Your specified criteria appear in the appropriate search field on the Search Criteria page.

 

List Search on Multiple Values Using Excel

Entering multiple field values to search and clicking ADD can take time.

To search for multiple values without having to individually add them, follow these steps:

1. Enter a list of values you want to search in a single column in a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel (Column A).

2. In the first cell in Column B, add the following concatenation formula to join values:

   =CONCAT(

   then click on the fx.

   

3. In the pop-up, follow the below instructions:

   • Text1: , (comma)

   • Text2: ‘

   • Text3: A1

   • Text4: ‘

   The quotation marks are added automatically.

4. Click OK.

5. Double-click on the small dot in the bottom right corner of the C1 cell to apply the formula down to all rows.

   

6. In the Search Criteria window, in the field where you want to search multiple values, enter List: and add a space before pasting your values.

   

7. Verify you have no spaces in the data you paste in. To fix this, go back to Excel or copy and paste the data into Word and run a find and replace operation to replace the spaces with a blank (no entry).

   

   (Optional): The following screens show the Find and Replace operation in Word.

   

   

   This will remove the space needed at the end of list; so add that back in and copy and paste the data back into the search field.

   

   

8. When ready, press Run.

 

Search with Field Expressions

Another way to search for a range of values is with field expressions. This is a great feature to search documents by a date range. To help compose your search expression syntax, Transflo Repository Web Access features an expression editor.

1. To search index fields using expressions, enter symbols representing expressions as part of the search criteria. The following table shows the correct syntax for each expression.

   Search Expression	Symbol	Example
   Between	[ , ]	Search for field values between two numbers. ['1000','2000']
   Greater Than	>	Search for field values greater than a specified number. >2500
   Greater Than or Equal To	>=	Search for field values greater than or equal to a specified number. >=2500
   Less Than	<	Search for field values less than a specified number. < 500
   Less Than or Equal To	<=	Search for field values less than or equal to a specified number. <=500
   Not Equal To	<>	Search for field values not equal to a specified number. <>89.95
   Within	>>	Search for dates within the last specified number of days. >>90 (days)
   Older Than	<<	Search for dates in the past that have aged beyond the specified minimum number of days. <<365 (days)

2. The user interface makes it easier to construct the proper expression syntax. To access the expression editor, click the Search Range button to the right of an index field search criteria text box. It is the middle icon below:

   

3. Try your own search expression. The following example shows the expressions available for the INVOICE AMOUNT field:

   

   In this example, the user has selected the Between comparison. Instead of entering ['1000','2000'], the user can select Between in the Type of Comparison field, and then enter 1000 in the Value field and 2000 in the And field, and then click OK.

   

The imaging functions or tools on the toolbar provide convenient features for adjusting your view of a document. After you sign-in to your software, open a document and position your mouse pointer over each icon to view its name.

From left to right, experiment with each of the following optional steps:

1. Select a page in the current document by clicking through a list of page thumbnails.

2. In the Page toolbar group, you can go to the previous page, go to a specific page number you enter, or go to the next page.

3. In the Rotate toolbar, you can rotate the currently selected pages 90 degrees counter-clockwise or clockwise.

4. In the Zoom toolbar:

   • To zoom out, click - Zoom Out.

   • To zoom in, click + Zoom In.

   • You can also drag the blue circle left or right.

   • The next three (3) buttons force the page view to fit the entire width, height, or a hybrid of both to maximize screen real estate.

5. In the View toolbar, if the browser supports rendering of native files, you can bypass server rendering and just try to load the raw file. This is most successful on Edge browsers (including Edge in legacy IE mode) and least successful (web-safe images only such as PNG, JPG, GIF) on Chrome and Safari browsers.

6. The Annotation toolbar is covered in its own separate steps below.

7. In the Format toolbar, you can set the following annotation properties:

   • Redaction

   • Fill

   • Line Color

   • Line Width

   • Default Group

8. In the Actions toolbar, you can use the following options with any optional annotations you make to a document:

   • Show and hide annotations

   • Save changes

   • Undo the last change

   • Cancel changes

Transflo Repository offers a complete set of annotation features that can be used to mark up a document.

From left to right, the specific functions are listed below:

• Select: Select the annotation elements and objects you can add to a document.

• Arrow: Draw arrows to help point to document data.

• Rectangle: Draw a box around data or cover up specific sections of a document with white space or block out areas in another color.

• Text: Add custom text, data, notes, or questions to flag specific data in a document.

• Highlighter: Draw attention to specific areas of a document.

• Rubber Stamp: Add a common annotation element to a document such as a RECEIVED, SIGN HERE, APPROVED, or DENIED stamp. You can even add a preset signature stamp.

Try the following steps yourself to learn how to make typical annotations to a document:

1. To add a note on a document, click the T (text) tool in the Annotation toolbar.

2. Click anywhere in the document where you want the note to go.

3. In the Add Text Annotation window:

   1. In the Annotation Text field, enter the note you want to appear on the document.

   2. Set the properties for your text including font size and color.

   3. For longer notes, to reduce visual clutter, select the Display as Icon check box. Users see only an annotation icon. They can mouse over or click the icon to view your full annotation text note.

   4. (Optional) Click the Set as Default box to apply your settings to all future text annotations.

   5. Click OK.

      

4. Your note now appears on your document. To edit an annotation, use the Select tool to double-click it.

   

5. To save the annotations you make to a document, click Save in the Actions toolbar.

   

6. When you print or email documents in Transflo Repository, you have the option of showing or hiding the annotations. To toggle the annotations, click the Show or Hide Annotations tool button under the Actions toolbar.

   

   Tip: Because annotations can be turned ON and OFF, think of annotations as appearing in their own separate layers on top of a document. Annotations do not alter the original document; they are simply overlays.

Essential document management functions, such as the ability to export or email documents, are available when you view the result set of any search query. You can select one or more documents and export them for you and other users to view outside of the system.

1. To select the documents you want to export, click one or more check boxes on the left. To select all documents in the current result set, select the top box.

   

2. Click the Export button and choose Export Selected Documents from the button menu.

   

3. The system combines all of your selected documents into a single PDF.

   Tip: To export individual documents, use the Email function described in the next section.

4. (Optional) To export an Excel spreadsheet of the selected index criteria for the current result set, click the Export button and choose Export All Indexes from the button menu.

   
   

You can prepare an e-mail message including document attachments or links to the Transflo Repository. You can also follow these steps to generate PDF files or a ZIP archive of all documents that you can use for any reason (if you just want the documents, you can always skip the final step of sending the email).

1. Click the Email button over the result set or the Email button in the top-right corner of the Document View page.

   

2. In the Mail Document window:

   1. Complete the fields for your e-mail message. Enter the Subject line and write a greeting, description, or instructions in the Body field.

   2. If you are e-mailing to someone internally, click the Send Attachments as Hyperlinks option. This option includes a link to each document (users must have access to Transflo Repository).

   3. To send the actual documents as attachments, clear the Send Attachments as Hyperlinks check box.

   4. Check the Use PDF Format box.

   5. To combine multiple documents into one compressed ZIP archive file folder, clear the Send Attachments as Hyperlinks check box and then select the Archive Documents into One Zip File option.

   6. When you are ready to generate the e-mail message file (it is not going to any recipients yet), click EMAIL.

      

3. Allow time for the system to process the request to collect PDF files or links to one or more documents and package them in a clean blank new e-mail message.

   

4. After the system generates the e-mail message file, your web browser shows you the downloaded message file is ready for you to open it and send it to one or more recipients.

   

5. Click the Open File link, double-click the small envelope icon, or open the file in your Downloads folder.

6. The e-mail file you prepared earlier opens in your local e-mail client where you can access your address book and send the document attachments or links to one or more recipients.

   

   If you chose Send Attachments as Hyperlinks, the body of your message includes basic details about each document with a link for recipients with access permissions to open the document.

   

7. If you chose to archive to zip all the files and you want to copy the individual files to a drive or your desktop – double click on the zip file. The individual docs will appear in Explorer and you can then move them to where you want (cut and paste to destination folders).

8. Make any final edits and click Send to send the e-mail.

When processing vendor bills and payments, most of your time will likely be spent in the Transflo Workflow system handling exceptions. Any documents that fail automated business rules result in one or more exceptions. These documents are routed to the appropriate queue for resolution in the Transflo Workflow system.

1. To access the workflow system, click Workflow in the top menu bar.

   

2. The Work Items List or Inbox appears in a new tab in your browser. Separate queues for each exception type appear depending on your access permissions. Examples include Order Number Missing, Order Number Not On File, and Unreadable.

   

3. Click a queue.

4. Select the items in that queue that you want to examine. Select one or more check boxes.

5. Click the Picklist icon to select these items and place them in your inbox.

   

6. The number of cases you have assigned to yourself in your Inbox increases. Click Inbox.

   

7. To open a workflow in your Inbox, select a queue list and then click one of the workflows assigned to you on the right side. The Workflow form opens:

   

8. The scanned image of the document opens on the right side and the data extracted from the document (and other index fields) appear on the left.

9. In the image window, all the functionality available is detailed in the DMS section of this documentation (the viewer in workflow and DMS are the same).

   

10. The left side shows data that was extracted from the documents (for example, Invoice Amount or Load Number) and sales order data.

    

11. Select one of the following action buttons at the bottom of the Data Display pane:

    

    • Approve: Approve the carrier payment info and the documents being sent to client destinations. If another exception is still not resolved, the invoice routes to that exception queue.

    • Reject: Do not send payment info or documents to the client destinations but keep a copy and audit record. This document will no longer appear in any exception queue. Instead, the document can be located in the repository where you can find it by searching any of the fields above. The status is updated to rejected.

    • Save: Put the document back in your inbox and save any pending changes.

12. To switch your view, click a tab in the upper left part of the screen:

    • Load Data: The default view.

      
      

    • Documents: This view provides all documents associated with that load (or submission). Click any line to view the document in the image viewer. To change the document type, click Edit.

      

    • DocNotes: This view allows you to view and create notes about the load.

      

The Transflo Workflow AI platform and DMS Doc Viewer allow you to break apart a document. You can copy or move one or more pages.

1. Open the original document in the viewer.

   

2. Memorize, write down, or copy and paste into a notepad application the following document data:

   • LOAD NUMBER

   • SUBMISSIONID

   • CASEID

   You will need these values later to associate any new documents with the original submission from a driver in the mobile app, Truckstop scanning, e-mail, or some other authentic source.

   

3. At top left, click the Document menu and choose Copy or Move Pages.

   

4. In the Copy or Move Pages to New Batch window:

   1. Enter a single page, a range of document pages, or a valid non-sequential set of pages (for example, enter 2 for just page 2, enter 1-8 for pages 1 through 8, or enter 3, 5, 7-10 for pages 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10).

   2. Set the Target Application. By default, the current application appears.

   3. Select the Index New Document option.

   4. Click one of the following buttons:

      • Copy: Copies the pages you specified above into a new document and leaves the pages intact in the existing document.

      • Move: Moves the pages you specified above into a new document and deletes the pages from the original document.

      

5. In either case (copy or move), the new document is sent through the workflow just like any other new document in the system. When you view the new document, the indexing pane on the right is empty (it shows no data).

   Tip: If you don’t see the index fields, click the blue and white arrow to expand and resize the indexing panel.

   

6. Enter the Load Number, SubmissionID, and CaseID from the original document.

7. In the DOCTYPE field, select a value from the drop-down list of document types.

8. For invoices, enter the following fields:

   • INVOICE NUMBER

   • INVOICE DATE

   • INVOICE AMOUNT

9. Click Save.

10. To see your new document, click View Indexed Document.

    

    Your new document appears in the viewer.

    

11. To view a list of all new documents, click the Documents tab.

    

12. To refresh the list, follow these sub-steps:

    1. Close the workflow.
    2. Reopen it and click the Documents tab again to refresh the list of new documents.

As a manager, team leader, or authorized user, you can view the Executive Dashboard on a daily basis to manage their exceptions, track staff progress, and present a standard set of target metrics to senior management and executive staff. The dashboard also includes export functions.

To learn more, see Transflo Broker AI Executive Dashboard.