Cmr Waybill API

CMR Waybill OCR & Data Extraction

A CMR waybill (consignment note) is the governing document for international road freight under the 1956 Geneva Convention (CMR). It travels with the goods from loading to delivery, carrying handwritten entries for sender, consignee, carrier, goods description, vehicle registration, freight charges, and delivery condition. Because the standard form is multilingual and completed by hand in the cab, the data is hard to capture at scale, yet every freight forwarder, customs broker, and transport manager needs it digitised to clear goods, process claims, and move loads on time.

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13

Extractable fields

5

Use cases

6

FAQs answered

Benefits

Cut manual data entry from minutes per waybill to seconds, freeing freight teams for higher-value work.

Reduce handwritten transcription errors that cause customs delays and invoice disputes across borders.

Process high volumes of CMR notes during peak shipping seasons without adding temporary data-entry staff.

Enable real-time track-and-trace by feeding structured carrier, goods, and delivery data into transport management systems.

How it works

  1. Step 1

    Upload

    Send the document to the API as a file or a URL no special formatting required.

  2. Step 2

    The engine reads the document

    The engine analyzes the page layout and identifies the content that matters. The engine reads the multilingual CMR form, including handwritten entries in boxes 1 through 24, carrier stamps, driver reservations, and groupage cargo lines, and returns structured fields such as sender, consignee, carrier, vehicle registration, loading and delivery addresses, goods description, gross weight, freight charges, and signatures.

  3. Step 3

    Structured JSON is returned

    Every extracted element comes back as structured JSON, positioned and typed, ready to feed into downstream systems.

  4. Step 4

    Confidence-based review

    Each field carries a confidence score, so low-confidence results can be routed for human review instead of trusted blindly.

Extractable fields

Date on which the waybill was establishedTransporter's contact detailsDate on which the goods were collectedType and quantity of the goodsDescription of the goodsName of the recipientFull address of loading and unloading sitesTransport priceDamages payableTransport vehicle's registration numberName and address of the commissionerSignatures and stamps+ many more

Features

AI-powered OCR that reads handwritten fields from multilingual CMR forms (German, French, Spanish, English).

Structured extraction of sender, consignee, carrier, vehicle registration, places of loading and delivery, goods description, packages, gross weight, and freight charges.

Handles single-waybill and groupage (multi-line) consignments within one document.

No pre-trained templates required, the engine adapts to any CMR layout, including scans of the carrier's copy with stamps and reservations in the margins.

API-first design with JSON output for direct integration into TMS, ERP, or customs filing platforms.

Supports PDF, JPG, PNG, and TIFF uploads, including multi-page consignment note sets.

Use cases

Cross-border customs filing

Freight forwarders and customs brokers feed extracted sender, consignee, goods description, HS codes, and gross weight directly into customs declaration systems, reducing manual re-keying and the risk of misclassification that triggers inspections.

Freight audit and invoice matching

Match extracted freight charges and damages clauses from the CMR against carrier invoices. Flag discrepancies automatically before payment, and settle disputes with the signed delivery evidence already structured in your system.

Transport management system integration

Connect extracted CMR data to a TMS, ERP, or accounting software using workflow automation tools such as n8n, Zapier, or Make. Automate the creation of transport orders, update shipment status, and trigger invoicing without human touch.

Claims and insurance processing

When goods are damaged or lost in transit, the CMR note is the primary evidence. Instantly retrieve the carrier's registration, loading and delivery dates, goods description, and any driver reservations to accelerate insurance claims and support legal proceedings.

Groupage consignment splitting

For consolidated loads with multiple cargo lines under one CMR, the engine extracts each line's package count, gross mass, volume, and consignee. Warehouse operators can split and route partial deliveries without manually parsing the groupage section.

LIVE DEMO

Try it yourself

Upload a CMR waybill (PDF, JPG, or PNG) or test with our sample document to see how the extraction engine reads handwritten and printed fields in real time.

Sample document: Cmr_waybill

Select a document and press Parse

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Business advantages

Frequently asked questions

Can the API read handwritten entries on a CMR waybill?

Yes. The CMR form is typically completed by hand in the cab. ByteIt's AI engine is trained to recognise handwritten text in the standard CMR field boxes, sender, consignee, carrier, goods description, weight, signatures, and driver reservations, even when handwriting is rushed or smudged.

What file formats are supported?

You can upload CMR waybills as PDF (including multi-page sets), JPG, PNG, and TIFF. The engine handles scans of the carrier copy, photocopies, and mobile phone photos of the green CMR form.

Does the engine support the multilingual CMR form?

Yes. The standard CMR consignment note uses German, French, Spanish, and English field labels on the same pre-printed form. The extraction engine reads the labels in any of these languages and returns the field data in a consistent JSON structure regardless of the source language.

How is the data delivered?

The API returns structured JSON with fields such as sender, consignee, carrier, vehicle registration, places and dates of loading and delivery, goods description, package count, gross weight, freight charges, and signatures. The output can be forwarded to any downstream system via webhook or workflow automation tools.

Can it handle groupage (multi-line) consignments?

Yes. When a single CMR note covers several cargo lines under one contract, the engine extracts each line's package count, gross mass, volume, and consignee details and returns them as a structured array in the JSON output.

What about pricing and integration?

ByteIt offers usage-based pricing with a free tier for testing. Integration is via a RESTful API with SDKs available for Python, Node.js, and other common languages. No upfront setup or template training is required.

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