How to upload a document

You can upload one or more documents to consignments and shipments via the TradeLens Shipment Manager.

Bulk upload

If you have permission to upload certain documents to a consignment or shipment, you can upload more than one document at a time through Shipment Manager. Bulk upload for transport equipment documents isn’t currently possible.

If the shipment doesn’t exist and the user is uploading a shipment document, the following rules apply:

• The organization uploading the shipment document must be eligible for creating a shipment. Shipments can be created by the following types:

• Cargo Interest
• 3PL Agent
• Certificate Issuer

• You’ll need to provide at least one 'Shipment References'. The combination of 'Shipment Reference Type' and 'Reference Value' must be unique within the scope of a given reference owner. 

• You’ll also need to provide the 'My Party Role', to indicate the role of the organization creating this shipment. Supported Roles:

• Seller
• Buyer
• Exporter
• Importer
• Origin 3PL Agent
• Destination 3PL Agent
• Certificate Issuer

If the shipment already exists for the given consignment, you can add more shipment references and parties to it. 

Example upload

In this example, we’ll upload a shipment document. The shipment doesn’t exist yet, so we’ll create it using the 'Shipment Reference Type' and 'Reference Value' that we provide on the upload.

Upload to a consignment

From the Consignments page, click the Documents button on the consignment you’d like to upload a document to. Then click Bulk Document Upload.

We’ll now upload a Packing List document for a shipment; we’ll create the shipment as part of this process since it doesn’t exist yet.

Click the 'Click to Upload Documents' link, or drag and drop files into that area – either will let you upload the files.

Select the consignment or shipment document type from the drop-down boxes. Add an optional document reference, then click the blue tick box on the far right-hand side.

As the Packing List in our example is a shipment document, scroll down and you’ll see Additional Shipment Details to fill in. In this example we’ve:

• Selected Seller as the My Party Role
• Added a unique reference under Shipment References – remember to check the blue box after you’ve added this
• Provided a Goods Description (optional)
• Added Planned Delivery and Completion Dates (optional)
• Added an additional Shipment Party – the Buyer

Click the orange 'Add Document' button to start the document upload, and in this case shipment creation. Click OK on the pop-up box.

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Check the results

Go to the Notifications Inbox, then select the System tab. You’ll see the new notification listed. Confirm the Status column for this new notification has 'Succeded'. If for some reason it 'Failed' click on 'More Details' under the 'Action' column to understand the reason. 

If you have email notifications or a webhook set up for system notifications, you’ll receive the additional details on the file/s you’ve uploaded.

For Successful uploads, click 'More Details' on the same line as the document you’ve uploaded to see additional document information and transaction details.

To confirm the Shipment has been created and the documents for the Shipment have been uploaded, click the 'Shipments' section in the left-hand menu bar, and the new shipment will appear as the first item in the list. Click on the 'Documents' tab and the shipment documents will be visible.