RV and Boat Rental License Scanning with PDF417

The Identity Data Problem for RV and boat rentals

Renters of RVs and boats must show a valid driver license, and agents copy details into long rental contracts. Teams also need to keep a readable barcode separate from a verified person or authentic card; mixing the two creates compliance and product risk.

Deterministic Barcode Parsing with Human Confirmation

Scan the renter’s license, confirm document_kind is driver_license, pre-fill the contract, and check expiry before handover. StructOCR’s PDF417 API decodes the barcode on the back of US driver licenses and parses the AAMVA record without asking a generative model to reconstruct unreadable values. Only a driver license is acceptable here, so check that document_kind is driver_license before continuing. Boating-safety certificates and vehicle-class requirements must be checked under the rental company’s rules and local law.

Workflow Applications

Server-Side PDF417 Integration

Send the complete card-back image from a protected backend. This example selects fields relevant to RV and boat rentals and treats HTTP 422 as a retake or review state.

import base64
import os
import requests

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

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)

if response.status_code == 422:
    body = response.json()
    print("Retake or review:", body.get("error"), body.get("capture_issue"))
else:
    response.raise_for_status()
    data = response.json()["data"]
    print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
    print("date_of_expiry:", data.get("date_of_expiry"))
    print("document_kind:", data.get("document_kind"))
    print("vehicle_class:", data.get("vehicle_class"))

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "type": "drivers_license",
    "document_kind": "driver_license",
    "source": "pdf417",
    "country_code": "USA",
    "region": "CA",
    "document_number": "SAMPLE1234",
    "surname": "SAMPLE",
    "given_names": "ALEX MORGAN",
    "first_name": "ALEX",
    "middle_name": "MORGAN",
    "sex": "X",
    "date_of_birth": "1990-01-15",
    "date_of_issue": "2025-01-15",
    "date_of_expiry": "2030-01-15",
    "address": "100 EXAMPLE AVE",
    "city": "SAMPLE CITY",
    "postal_code": "00000",
    "vehicle_class": "C",
    "restrictions": null,
    "endorsements": null,
    "document_discriminator": "SAMPLE-DISCRIMINATOR",
    "issuer_identification_number": null,
    "aamva_version": 10,
    "jurisdiction_version": 0
  }
}