Regional agents and subcontractors send delivery evidence through email, spreadsheets, paper connotes, photos and carrier-specific workflows. The freight may be delivered, but the carrier record remains incomplete.
| Pain point | What actually happens | Observed rate |
|---|---|---|
| Missing PODs | Freight is on the ground. Without verified POD, the consignment stays open in the TMS. Billing & agent settlement wait on proof. | 14–22% of agent-handoff lanes |
| Fragmented agent evidence | Email, XLSX, CSV, PDF, JPG, scanned paper, handheld CSV — each agent reports differently and none of it matches the carrier manifest schema. | 7+ formats per active lane |
| Manual follow-up | Operations, customer service, finance and claims teams each chase the same delivery questions through inbox threads and depot phone calls. | 20–40 min per dispute |
| Continuity risk | The workaround lives in the person who usually handles it. When they're on leave, the operation feels blind even though the answer exists. | 1–3 staff per lane |
- The update exists. Nobody can use it yet.
- The proof exists. Billing still waits.
- The answer exists. Customer service still chases it.
- The system is current. Reality is not.
One reconciliation layer for messy delivery evidence. A linear process designed around the way agent evidence actually arrives — with a human review queue where confidence is low.
| Stage | Step | What it covers | Typical inputs / outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Carrier Manifest | Shipments, connotes, items & weights, agents assigned, expected delivery dates. | CSV / XLSX / API |
| 02 | Agent Evidence | POD emails, spreadsheets, delivery photos, scanned paper, failed-delivery notes. | Email / PDF / JPG / XLS |
| 03 | Extraction & Matching | Identify connote, status, recipient, timestamp, signature/photo, exception code. | OCR + rules + match |
| 04 | Review Queue | Uncertain records, duplicates, missing PODs — routed for manual override with audit log. | Operator workbench |
| 05 | Carrier-Ready Export | CSV, SFTP, REST API, EDI 214 event file, structured email or ERP/TMS import. | CSV / SFTP / API / EDI |
Built around evidence chain
Every exported event is traceable to its source file, line, and extracted field. The audit log is part of the product, not a bolt-on.
Human review where it matters
Low-confidence records do not silently fail. They are routed to an operator queue with a side-by-side compare and a one-click override.
Read-only by default
Gridline reads manifests and prepares files. It does not write back to your ERP, TMS or carrier portal without an integration you authorise.
No new file standards. We accept what your agents already send, and we produce what your carrier systems already expect.
Inputs Gridline accepts
| Type | Format(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier manifest | CSV, XLSX | Per-lane schema map |
| Agent POD spreadsheet | XLS, XLSX, ODS | Column order tolerant |
| POD email | EML, IMAP, forward | Body + attachments |
| Scanned connote | OCR + review queue | |
| Delivery photo | JPG, PNG, HEIC | EXIF timestamp used |
| Handwritten note | Scanned, typed | Routed for human read |
| Failed-delivery note | Email, PDF, photo | Reason code mapped |
| POD PDF (multi-page) | Carrier & agent forms | |
| Carrier handheld export | CSV | Per-depot |
Outputs Gridline prepares
| Event | Format(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered status update | event_type=DEL | POD reference attached |
| Failed delivery event | event_type=FAIL | Reason code: RFD/CLO/... |
| Damaged freight note | event_type=DMG | With photo ref |
| Missing POD report | CSV (per lane / agent) | Daily or weekly |
| Payment-ready list | CSV (settlement) | Verified POD only |
| Claims evidence packet | PDF + source links | Per consignment |
| Carrier-ready CSV | Schema-matched CSV | Per import contract |
| SFTP / API event file | SFTP, REST, EDI 214 | Scheduled drop |
| Structured email | Plain-text / HTML | For non-API receivers |
A compact reconciliation queue with form controls and a side review panel. The view your operations team will actually work in — not a marketing dashboard.
For the teams that handle delivery proof. Same evidence, same audit trail, no duplicate chasing across departments.
| Team | What Gridline does for them | Tools used inside the workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | Identify missing handoff events and unresolved deliveries. | Per-lane status board, missing POD report, daily close checklist. |
| Customer Service | Answer "where is my freight?" with better evidence than an inbox search. | Search by connote or recipient, evidence chain view, one-click POD bundle. |
| Finance | Release payment-ready jobs and reduce billing delays. | Payment-ready list, held-billing report, agent settlement export. |
| Claims / Disputes | Prepare POD and exception evidence for disputes — with audit trail. | Dispute evidence packet, audit log per consignment, confidence score. |
| Agent Network Mgmt | Monitor agent compliance, late PODs and per-agent SLA. | Per-agent scorecard, lane compliance trend, exception volume report. |
| IT / Systems | Feed clean files into existing carrier workflows. | CSV / SFTP drop, REST API, EDI 214 event file, schema mapping. |
Gridline does not require a full system migration. Start with one carrier, one regional agent lane, a shipment manifest, and a sample set of POD evidence. We reconcile the evidence, identify missing records, and produce a carrier-ready export.
- 1 carrier manifest (CSV or XLSX) for the chosen lane
- 2–4 weeks of historical POD evidence
- Agent emails, spreadsheets, scanned PODs, failed-delivery notes
- Required output format: CSV, SFTP, API, EDI, or structured email
- Success metrics agreed before processing
- Operations contact for the chosen lane
Gridline is not a replacement for your ERP, TMS, driver app, or carrier portal. It is a reconciliation layer that helps clean up the evidence already moving through your network.
| System category | How Gridline integrates | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ERP / TMS | Export-ready files and integration support for the carrier's system of record. We feed it; we don't replace it. | Supported |
| Carrier portals | Structured upload packages matched to portal schemas, ready for daily or batch ingestion. | Supported |
| Existing spreadsheets | Import and normalise the spreadsheets agents already use, regardless of column order or status code conventions. | Supported |
| Agent emails | Parse forwarded mail or connect via IMAP / mailbox alias. Match attachments and body text to manifest lines. | Supported |
| Paper & scans | OCR scanned connotes and POD paperwork; route low-confidence records to the review queue rather than failing silently. | OCR + review |
| EDI / API / SFTP | Supported as output paths when available — EDI 214 events, REST event POSTs, or scheduled SFTP drops. | Supported |
| Driver app / carrier handhelds | Read-only ingestion of depot CSV exports. Gridline does not write back to handhelds. | Read-only |
- Does Gridline replace our TMS or ERP?
- No. Gridline reads manifests, reconciles agent-side evidence, and prepares export files for the systems you already operate. There is no migration required to run a pilot.
- Where does our data live during the pilot?
- Data is processed in an isolated workspace per customer. We accept historical files only during pilot — no production access or write-back to your TMS is required. Full data-handling notes are available on request.
- What if agent evidence is incomplete or ambiguous?
- Low-confidence records do not get auto-closed. They route to the review queue with a side-by-side compare; an operator approves, edits, or rejects. The decision is captured in the audit log.
- Which export formats are supported?
- CSV (schema-matched), SFTP drop, REST API event POSTs, EDI 214, and structured email for receivers without an API. The output is matched to the import contract the receiving system already expects.
- How long does a pilot take?
- Typically 4 weeks for a single carrier-agent lane: week 1 setup and schema map, weeks 2–3 reconciliation and review, week 4 measured comparison against your current close numbers.
- What does success look like?
- Agreed in writing before processing. Common pilot KPIs are POD match rate, missing-POD count, manual follow-up reduction, time-to-clean-event, exception count, and export acceptance rate into the client TMS schema.
Run a pilot on one of your messiest lanes.
Send us a manifest and a sample of agent POD evidence. We return a reconciled export, a missing-POD report, and a side-by-side comparison against your current close numbers.