Customs Clearance: Container OCR API

The Bottleneck at the Border

Cross-border trade relies on strict compliance and rapid throughput. When trucks carrying shipping containers arrive at customs checkpoints, officers often perform manual visual inspections to cross-reference the physical container ID against digital customs declarations. This manual process causes massive border queues, delays global supply chains, and risks human error. Standard OCR often fails here due to multi-lane camera setups, extreme weather, and heavy dirt from long-haul transit. To see how our engine cuts through these baseline visual challenges, you can upload a test image to explore our core Container OCR capabilities completely free.

Secure Extraction for Government IT

Delivered strictly as a high-performance REST API to ensure seamless integration into government or private customs software without heavy SDK dependencies, this endpoint is powered by our Logistics Container OCR engine. It provides instant verification at the border. The engine applies strict ISO 6346 validation on the fly, instantly calculating check digits to guarantee that only perfectly accurate Container Codes trigger your automated clearance workflows.

Customs & Border Control Scenarios

Integration & AI Prompts

Call the endpoint directly via HTTP from your customs IT infrastructure. To maintain strict data sovereignty and security, the API flexibly accepts direct multipart file uploads or Base64-encoded strings, avoiding the need to expose sensitive border camera feeds on public networks.

import requests
import base64

# Prepare Base64 Image from border checkpoint camera
with open("customs_lane_A_capture.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    base64_image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode('utf-8')

url = "https://api.structocr.com/v1/container"
headers = {
    "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}
payload = {
    "img": base64_image
}

try:
    print("Scanning Border Capture...")
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
    result = response.json()

    if result.get('success'):
        data = result['data']
        print("✅ Container Code Extracted!")
        print(f"Full Number:  {data.get('container_number')}")
        print(f"Valid ISO:    {data.get('is_valid')}")
        print(f"Confidence:   {data.get('confidence')}")
    else:
        print(f"❌ Extraction Failed: {result.get('error')} - {result.get('message')}")

except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "container_number": "ZCSU8921655",
    "is_valid": true,
    "confidence": "High",
    "parsed": {
      "owner_code": "ZCS",
      "category": "U",
      "serial_number": "892165",
      "check_digit": "5"
    }
  }
}