Key Takeaways
Warehouses have digitized appointment scheduling, check-in, and yard management. But the Bill of Lading, the most legally important document in a shipment, is still a piece of paper that gets printed, signed with a pen, handed to a driver, and filed in a cabinet.
That manual step is the reason most warehouses cannot achieve fully touchless gate operations even after digitizing everything else. The driver goes through the digital gate flow, and then someone has to hand them a piece of paper. It breaks the automated flow and reintroduces a manual handoff.
Opendock's Digital BOL Signing capability closes that gap. The BOL is presented to the driver at checkout on a facility tablet or their mobile device, signed electronically, and stored as a Proof of Pickup. No warehouse staff involvement required.
The problem is not that warehouses want paper. Most operations teams would happily eliminate it. The problem is that BOL signing has always been disconnected from the gate workflow.
Even warehouses using Opendock for check-in and checkout still had to step outside the system for the BOL. Warehouse staff prints the document, brings it to the driver, waits for a signature, collects the signed copy, and files it. At facilities processing dozens or hundreds of appointments per day, that is a real labor cost. It also creates a documentation problem. Paper BOLs get misfiled or damaged, and when a shipper needs proof of delivery weeks later for a claim or audit, the document may not be findable.
The other issue is the gap between WMS data and the BOL itself. Your WMS already contains everything needed to generate the document, including shipment details, carrier info, trailer numbers, and seal numbers. But without an integration path, that data sits in the WMS while someone manually creates or uploads the document separately.
Opendock's Digital BOL Signing capability addresses both problems. Here are the three ways that it works:
A shipper or warehouse user uploads a BOL document to the appointment in Opendock before the driver reaches checkout. When the driver goes through the checkout flow on the facility tablet or their mobile device, they are presented with the document, review it, sign it electronically, and receive confirmation instantly via email or phone number and exit the facility. The signed Proof of Pickup or Delivery is stored in Opendock and linked to the appointment. Warehouse staff is not involved in any of those steps.
For warehouses with a WMS integration, the BOL does not need to be uploaded manually at all. The WMS generates the document automatically from shipment data and sends it to Opendock via API. When the driver arrives at the gate, Opendock fires a webhook so the WMS can capture arrival data. When the appointment is marked complete, the WMS generates the BOL and pushes it to Opendock. The document is already waiting when the driver reaches the checkout flow.
The driver signs, has the option to print their copy or receive confirmation via email or phone number, and leaves. When the signature is captured, Opendock fires another webhook so the WMS can pull the signed document back automatically.
The entire sequence, from carrier arrival to signed Proof of Pickup or Delivery stored in the WMS, happens without warehouse staff touching a document or interacting with the driver. That is what touchless gate operations actually look like in practice.
Scotts Miracle-Gro runs this integrated flow today. Their WMS and TMS talk directly to Opendock, generating the BOL automatically and retrieving the signed copy without any manual steps, across all plants in the division. They continue expanding the integration across their network.
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Walk through a complete gate management workflow in this interactive tour.
For shippers running ShipperGuide TMS, the flow starts on the other side. ShipperGuide creates the BOL first, and Opendock updates it as the shipment moves through the yard. Gate arrival, appointment status, and checkout are all reflected back into the document automatically. Because ShipperGuide is natively embedded in Opendock, there is no API integration to build. The connection already exists.
The driver signs at checkout in Opendock, just as in the other two flows. Once signed, the document can be printed from either system, Opendock or ShipperGuide, so teams can retrieve it from whichever platform they already work in day to day.
A fully touchless gate operation means a driver arrives at your facility, identifies themselves at the kiosk, completes loading or unloading, signs the BOL on a tablet or their own phone, receives confirmation, and exits without a single interaction with warehouse staff.
What this delivers for your operation:
Digital BOL signing is fully embedded in Opendock's Gate Management suite, not a standalone signing tool. Combined with driver self-check-in, self-checkout, and driver ID validation, it means a driver can arrive at a facility, identify themselves, complete loading or unloading, sign the BOL, print their copy or receive it instantly via email or phone number, and leave without a single interaction with warehouse staff. Each capability is part of the same product. You are not adding a new system. You are completing the gate workflow you already have.
The signed document is stored digitally with a full audit trail. You can retrieve it through the Opendock UI or via API whenever you need it. No more searching filing cabinets when a claim comes in six weeks later.
For warehouses using a WMS, the Digital BOL Signing API is built for integration. The connection works through webhook-based events: Opendock fires when a carrier arrives at the gate, and your WMS can capture that arrival data in real time. When the driver signs, Opendock fires again so your WMS can pull the signed document automatically.
SSA Marine, a customer operating through Camelot WMS, shifted 90% of appointment scheduling, over 1,000 monthly appointments, to carriers after implementing the Opendock integration. Camelot WMS has built the Digital BOL Signing connection, driven by a customer that specifically wanted touchless checkout without losing signed documentation. If your WMS team is evaluating the integration, full technical documentation is available in the Opendock developer portal.
For a full list of Opendock integration partners, visit the partners and integrations directory.
If your team is spending time printing BOLs, tracking down drivers for signatures, or filing paper documents, Digital BOL Signing removes all of those steps from your workflow. The driver handles it on the facility tablet or their mobile device.
The Digital BOL Signing API connects your WMS, the gate, and the signed document workflow into a single automated loop. If your WMS can call a webhook and receive one back, the integration path is straightforward.
Digital BOL Signing is included for all Gate Management customers. It is part of the checkout flow, not an add-on. If you are already using driver check-in and checkout, you can add Digital BOL Signing without any additional cost or product change.
The BOL has been the last manual step in gate operations for years. Digital BOL Signing removes it. Drivers sign at the tablet, the document is stored automatically, and your warehouse staff can stay focused on what actually requires their attention.
Book a demo to see how Opendock's gate management solutions fit your operation.
Yes. The upload flow lets any warehouse user attach a BOL to an appointment manually. The driver still signs electronically at checkout and receives confirmation instantly via email or phone number and the option for a printed copy. The WMS integration adds automation on top of that. It removes the upload step and closes the loop on document retrieval, but it is not required to get started.
The signed Proof of Pickup or Delivery is stored in Opendock and linked to the appointment. You can retrieve it through the UI or download it via API. If you have a WMS integration, Opendock fires a webhook when the driver signs so your WMS can pull the document automatically.
Timeline depends on your WMS vendor's integration capacity. The Digital BOL Signing API uses webhook-based events: Opendock fires on carrier arrival and again when the driver signs, and your WMS sends the generated BOL to Opendock via API. If your WMS can call and receive webhooks, the integration path is straightforward. Full technical documentation is available in the developer portal linked in the WMS integration section above.