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Where to find it: Settings → Shipper Settings → Documents → BOL Template → Edit You can set up your Bill of Lading (BOL) yourself: which fields it shows, what they’re called, your logo, the barcode, and your terms and signatures. Anyone on your team can edit it. The BOL Template row in Document Settings shows what your BOLs use today:
  • The Owlery default layout: you haven’t customized it yet.
  • Your customized template: someone on your team has saved changes.
  • A custom HTML template that Owlery maintains: see BOLs Built by Owlery below.
Select Edit to open the editor.

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How the Editor Works

The editor has two halves. On the left you change the settings; on the right, Live Preview shows the BOL exactly as it will print. You work within a fixed BOL layout — you decide what goes in each part of the page, not where the parts sit. Nothing changes for your team until you select Save.
1

Pick a Shipment to Preview

In Live Preview, search for a load, order, or quote. Pick one that’s typical for you, so you can see your real data on the page.Once a shipment is selected, the editor shows what each data source prints for it in [brackets] — for example, PRO number [24423859]. That makes it easy to tell which data source you want.You can also switch Billing Party and Include Items From (Order System or Load Data) to see how the BOL looks in each case. These only change the preview, not your template.
2

Set Up the Header

  • Document title: the heading at the top, such as UNIFORM STRAIGHT BILL OF LADING.
  • Header layout: Logo and title on the left, or Centered title.
  • Show who generated the document: prints the line saying who created the BOL in Owlery, and when.
  • Logo: select Upload Logo to use your own (PNG, JPG, or SVG, up to 512 KB). Use the trash icon to remove the logo, or Default logo to go back to the Owlery logo.
3

Set Up the Barcode

Open Barcode to choose whether a barcode prints in the top-right corner and what it shows. See Barcode on the BOL.
4

Arrange the Sections and Fields

The BOL has a Left column and a Right column of sections — Shipper, Receiver, Details, Carrier, and so on. Select a section to open it and edit its fields. See Sections and Fields.
5

Adjust the Rest of the Page

Below the columns:
  • Special Instructions: a section of fields that spans the full width of the page, like temperature or handling requirements.
  • Shipment table: the table of items on the shipment. Set its name, the Shipment terms printed with it, and its columns. Each column uses the items selected for the BOL. Turn on Show trailer loaded / freight counted selections to print those checkboxes.
  • Totals: the totals printed under the shipment table, such as quantity and pallet count.
  • Footer and signatures: Footer text at the bottom of the page, and up to three signature blocks. Each signature block has a title, a label, and terms.
Under the left column, Show freight charge selections prints the Prepaid / Collect / 3rd Party checkboxes.
6

Save

Select Save. From then on, new BOLs for your organization use your template. BOLs that were already generated stay as they are.

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Sections and Fields

Every section — and the Special Instructions, Totals, and Shipment table areas — is a list of fields. Each field has:
  • Field name: the label printed on the BOL, such as NAME or PRO NO.
  • Data source: what prints next to it. Pick shipment data (the PRO number, the carrier’s name, the ship date, and so on), or pick Custom text to type your own wording. Custom text can span several lines.
Some data sources fall back to other data when the first choice is empty — for example, BOL number uses the load number, then the order number, when there’s no BOL number. The data source menu explains each fallback. To change the layout:
  • Reorder: drag a section or field by its handle (⋮⋮). Sections can be dragged between positions within a column.
  • Add: hover over a section or field and select + to add a new one right after it.
  • Remove: hover over it and select the remove icon.
  • Rename a section: open it and change Section name.
A section with no fields is hidden on the BOL. Limits: up to 8 sections per column, 30 fields per section, 12 shipment table columns, and 3 signature blocks.

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Barcode on the BOL

Your BOL can print a barcode in the top-right corner. Most shippers use it for the PRO number — the tracking number the carrier assigns to the shipment. This matters most for LTL. When the driver can scan the PRO number straight off the BOL, the carrier doesn’t assign a new one at pickup. That keeps the PRO number in Owlery matching the carrier’s, so tracking keeps working. In the editor’s Barcode section:

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Starting Over and Discarding Changes

  • Reset To Default replaces everything in the editor with the Owlery default BOL. It only changes the editor — your saved template stays in use until you select Save.
  • Cancel closes the editor. If you’ve made changes, you’ll be asked whether to keep editing or discard them.
If someone else on your team saves the BOL template while you have the editor open, your save is stopped instead of overwriting their changes. Close the editor and open it again to start from their version.

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If the Editor Won’t Save

  • A message names an empty field: a field name, section name, document title, or signature title or label is blank. Fill it in, or remove that item. The preview also stays empty until it’s fixed.
  • The logo is rejected: the message says why: the wrong file type, over 512 KB, or a file that can’t be read as an image. Export the logo again in PNG, JPG, or SVG and upload it.
  • The settings are too large to save: the limit is 2 MB, including the logo. Shorten long custom text or upload a smaller logo.

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BOLs Built by Owlery

Some organizations have a custom HTML BOL that Owlery built for them. These can’t be edited here — the BOL Template row will say so, and there’s no Edit button. Contact support@owlery.ai to change it or to switch to the editable template. Your current BOL stays in use until then.