Bill of lading

Review by eFreeware

Freight brokers, carriers and shipping offices still pass a lot of paper across counters, and Bill of Lading Manager is built for the moment when that paperwork has to become a file. The app, from developer Snappii, produces bills of lading, ocean BOLs and air waybills on a phone or tablet, then passes them to whoever needs a copy. It has been on Google Play since September 2015 and sits in the Business category, with a free download and more than 10,000 installs to date.

The job it takes on is narrow on purpose. Instead of a general document tool, it gathers the specific pieces a shipment record needs: the parties involved, signatures, photos, a cost total and a finished PDF. A small operation that sends drivers out with clipboards would recognize the workflow, and so would an office that currently retypes the same details into a computer at the end of the day.

I'd treat this as a form-filling tool with a delivery step, not a fleet management system. The developer's pitch is that it speeds up data collection, cuts paper and helps businesses get paid faster, and the features line up with that promise even if the results depend on how a given company runs its paperwork. Its 2.6 average from 33 ratings suggests users have not all been won over, which is worth weighing against the convenience of the format.

Building a bill of lading from a template

The starting point is a template. Several standard BOL layouts are offered, some with photo fields and some without, along with a straight BOL, an ocean BOL and an air waybill. Choosing the right one for the shipment type is the first decision, and it saves building a document from an empty page every time.

From there the app collects the details. You can pull people in from the device's address book rather than typing names and addresses by hand, which is the sort of shortcut that matters when the same consignee appears week after week. Voice to text is available for entering information, useful when a driver is standing at a loading dock and would rather speak than tap.

Company details are added once in Settings, so the letterhead information does not have to be re-entered per document. A logo can be attached as well, which gives the finished PDF the look of something issued by your business rather than a generic form. The total cost can be calculated inside the app, so the figures on the document come from the same place as the rest of the record.

Saved BOLs are not locked away after creation. They can be viewed and edited later, which matters when a weight or a delivery address changes after the first version was written. I'd expect this editing loop to be the part that decides whether the app fits a team's habits, because a document that cannot be corrected after the fact is worse than paper.

Signatures, photos and proof on the road

Two features stand out for anyone handling deliveries away from a desk: signature capture and photo attachment. A signed BOL stored alongside images of the load is a more complete record than a signature alone, and it avoids the familiar problem of a paper sheet that goes missing between the truck and the office.

The app works both offline and online, according to the developer, which is the detail that makes it plausible for drivers in areas with poor coverage. Documents created without a connection can be handled on the device and dealt with later, rather than forcing a stop to find a signal.

Finished documents leave the app as PDF reports, shared through email or cloud drives. That is the step where the digital approach pays off: the recipient gets a legible file with the signature and photos embedded, and the sender keeps a copy in the same place as the original record. The finished file can be sent on without a detour through paper.

The developer also offers full customization of the app for a business, which points to companies with their own form layouts and field requirements. That is a conversation with Snappii rather than a switch inside the app, so it is most relevant to an operation large enough to have specific paperwork standards.

What it takes to get going

Setup begins with the free download and a 30-day free trial. During that period the app can be used to create and share documents, which gives a team enough time to see whether the template set matches the shipments it actually handles. Trying it against a real week of loads is more informative than a quick look at the forms.

After the trial, unlimited form submissions come through a subscription bought as an in-app purchase on the device. The app itself is free to download and contains ads, and unlimited form submissions come through the subscription. A business that only occasionally issues a bill of lading will have a different calculation from one that produces several a day.

Before the first document goes out, company information needs to be entered in Settings so the BOLs carry the right details. Beyond that, the preparation is mostly about having the address book populated and deciding which template suits each shipment type. The recent update was a round of minor bug fixes, so the app is still being attended to rather than left as it was.

Where this app makes sense

The clearest fit is a freight brokerage, carrier or shipping office that issues bills of lading regularly and wants them signed, photographed and sent as PDFs without a detour through paper. Small and mid-sized operations get the most obvious benefit, since the template set covers common shipment types without any configuration work.

It also suits teams whose drivers or agents work in places where a connection cannot be assumed, given the offline mode. Being able to complete a document at the point of pickup and send it once a signal returns is a practical advantage over a web-only form.

Companies with unusual paperwork will care most about the customization offer, because their forms are unlikely to match the standard templates exactly. Anyone evaluating the app should also weigh the subscription against the volume of documents they produce, since the free trial is a fixed 30 days and the ongoing arrangement is a paid one.

The rating picture is mixed: a 2.6 average across 33 ratings is not a ringing endorsement from the install base. That does not settle anything by itself, but it is a reason to use the trial period deliberately rather than assuming the app will slot into an existing process without friction.

A digital BOL tool for freight teams that ship often

Bill of Lading Manager is worth trialing if your business issues bills of lading, air waybills or ocean BOLs as a routine part of moving goods and you want them created, signed and shared from a phone or tablet. The combination of templates, address book contacts, signatures, photos, cost calculation and PDF sharing covers the core of that task, and offline operation keeps it usable away from the office.

The subscription after the 30-day trial is the main thing to plan for, along with the ads in the free download. Teams that produce documents only now and then may find the ongoing cost harder to justify than those issuing several a week. Snappii's customization option is there for businesses whose forms fall outside the standard set.

My advice is to spend the trial on real shipments rather than sample data. If the templates fit the loads you handle and the PDF output satisfies the parties receiving it, the app replaces a paper process with something faster and easier to keep. If your paperwork is unusual or your volume is low, the trial will make that clear before any money changes hands.

What's new in version 1.0.39

Minor bug fixes. We are happy to hear from you. Let us know what else you would like to improve [email protected]