Owlery can meet your team where it already works. Start with the Carrier Portal, connect an API, use EDI, or combine them by workflow.
Your Shipper Sets the Requirements
Your shipper, not Owlery, decides what your integration needs to cover. Ask your shipper what they expect, including:
- Which workflows to automate
- Which document types to send
- Which tracking updates to send (such as EDI 214 status codes), and how often
Owlery recommends a full integration when you can: real-time quotes, tenders, in-transit tracking, documents, and invoices. Shippers often choose Owlery for that level of detail, so there’s a good chance your shipper will want it.
You don’t have to automate everything at once. Anything you don’t automate, your team handles in the Carrier Portal. See Combine Options Safely.
Compare Your Options
Carrier Portal
The Carrier Portal has no technical implementation. Your team signs in with a work email and handles each workflow in Owlery.
Choose the Portal when you:
- Manage a lower shipment volume.
- Want operations or billing teams to start immediately.
- Need a fallback when an automated connection is unavailable.
- Need to upload PODs or book dock appointments alongside an EDI connection.
Start with the Carrier Portal overview.
API
The API connects Owlery to your TMS or another internal system. Owlery provides credentials and endpoint documentation. Your team maps the data and handles requests and responses.
Choose the API when you:
- Already integrate with customers through REST APIs.
- Need structured quote, tender, tracking, document, or invoice automation.
- Want to keep users in your TMS.
- Prefer real-time requests over file exchange.
Review the Owlery API reference, then email support@owlery.ai for credentials and connection setup.
EDI
Choose EDI when you already operate an X12 translator and want a standard file-based connection. Your team configures its carrier ISA ID, generates SFTP credentials, and completes guided certification in Dashboard → EDI Test.
Continue with EDI Onboarding. Use the EDI Guidelines for transaction structure and field-level requirements.
Combine Options Safely
You do not need to automate every workflow at once. Each workflow connects on its own, so automating one never requires automating another.
For example, you can send invoices as EDI 210s even if you can’t send PODs automatically. Your team uploads PODs in the Carrier Portal, and your 210s flow in as usual. Owlery matches both to the same load by Load Number.
Assign one system of record to each workflow. Do not accept the same tender or submit the same invoice through two channels. For load changes and invoice corrections, reuse the original load and invoice identifiers so Owlery updates the existing record.
