Semi-Truck and Tractor VIN OCR API

Where to Find the VIN on a Semi-Truck

Heavy trucks carry the VIN on the driver-side door-jamb certification label and stamped on the frame rail. The windshield plate common on cars is not always present.

Capture and Extract It Reliably

Photograph the door-jamb label straight on; frame-rail stampings need side lighting and a clean surface. Then send the photo to the VIN OCR API, which returns the VIN and the surface it was read from. Test with the free VIN scanner.

Where This Fits

• Fleet onboarding: Replace manual transcription of 17-character identifiers with a photo.
• Maintenance and inspection records: Attach the extracted VIN and its source surface to the record for audit.
• Truck leasing: Send low-confidence reads to a review queue instead of saving them.

Python Example

Send the image as Base64 JSON and read the VIN fields.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("vin.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/vin",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("vin:", data.get("vin"))
print("confidence:", data.get("confidence"))
print("carrier_type:", data.get("carrier_type"))

Sample VIN Response

Illustrative response using the Wikipedia sample VIN. The API returns the VIN as read; decoding happens in a separate step.

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "vin": "1M8GDM9AXKP042788",
    "confidence": "High",
    "carrier_type": "metal_plate"
  }
}