How to scan trucking paperwork
- Choose Document / BOL, ID card, ID front & back or Photos to PDF.
- Tap Take photo. Lay the paper on a darker, plain surface, hold the phone straight above it and keep all four corners in view.
- The page is found, cropped and straightened automatically. Tap Crop to fix the corners if needed, Original to compare.
- Pick a look: Auto for most forms, Color to keep stamps and colored ink, Grayscale or B&W for small files.
- Add more pages, then Download PDF or Share PDF straight to WhatsApp or email.
What the scanner does
- Finds the page using brightness and straight-edge detection, removes the background around it and corrects the angle. If it isn't sure, it keeps the whole photo instead of cutting the page.
- Straightens slightly curved pages and uses table lines on printed forms to square them up.
- Cleans the paper by measuring the paper brightness across the page, which removes shadows and yellow or blue tints.
- Sharpens text gently at a higher working resolution with smooth resampling, so letters get crisper without running together. Stamps, signatures and colored pen keep their color.
- Never invents content. It only adjusts the pixels in your photo. It cannot recover text that is too small, blurry or cut off — retake the photo closer if small print is unreadable.
Branding on exports
Every saved or shared file — PDF pages, JPG and PNG images, ID layouts and long images — gets a small “TruckingDesk · truckingdesk.site” line in a footer below the page. It never covers the document. In PDFs the website link is clickable.
Tips for a sharp scan
- Use your phone's full camera resolution. Photos sent through messaging apps are compressed and lose small print.
- Good light from above, no shadow from your hand or phone.
- Fill the frame with the page. One page per photo.
- Check signatures, seal numbers and piece counts before sending.
Privacy
Photos stay in this browser tab. They are not uploaded, not saved in browser storage and not kept in the offline cache, and they are cleared when you close the page — download or share first. Text recognition (OCR) runs on your device; its files (about 15–20 MB) download only when you use it.
Questions
How can I scan a BOL or POD with my phone for free?
Open this page in your phone's browser, take a photo of the paper on a dark surface, check the crop, and tap PDF. There's no app to install or account to create, and the photo stays on your phone.
Is it as good as a paid scanner app?
It handles typical BOL and POD photos well, but results depend on the photo. Compare with the original before sending important paperwork.
Can I make one PDF from several photos?
Yes — up to 20 pages. Use the arrows under the selected page to change the order.
How do I scan both sides of an ID?
Choose ID front & back, add the front, then the back. Both are placed on one page.
My iPhone photo won't open.
Some browsers can't read HEIC. In iPhone Settings → Camera → Formats choose "Most Compatible", or take the photo with the Take photo button.
Does it work offline?
After one visit online, scanning and PDF export can work offline on supported browsers. Text recognition needs a connection the first time.