All help pagesEspañol

Importing from a spreadsheet

Bring in your drivers, trucks, trailers, customers (brokers and shippers) and open loads from a CSV file, with a preview before anything is saved.

Where to find it

Open Settings → "Import from a spreadsheet". It's also a step in the setup wizard, and "Bring in your trucks, drivers and customers" on the getting-started checklist.

Import in this order: trucks and trailers, then drivers, then customers, then open loads. A load names its customer, driver and truck, so those must already be in Tovarlo.

You need the "Dispatch and assign loads" permission for customers and loads, and the "Dispatch and assign loads" or "Settings, integrations and billing" permission for drivers, trucks and trailers.

The file

Pick what you're importing, then "Download the template": a CSV file with plain column names and two example rows. Replace the examples with your own rows.

  • CSV only, up to 5 MB and 2,000 rows a file. In Excel, choose File → Save as → CSV.
  • Amounts can have a dollar sign and commas, or not: 1,250.50 and 1250.5 are the same. Miles are rounded to whole miles.
  • Dates can be 03/04/2026, 3/4/26 or 2026-03-04. A date with slashes is read month first, the US way: 03/04 is March 4. The preview shows the date Tovarlo read, so check it.
  • States can be the two letters (TX) or the full name (Texas).
  • Mobile numbers can be US or Canada (with or without +1) or Mexico (starting with +52).
  • An empty cell leaves what's already in Tovarlo as it is.

Match columns, preview, import

  • Upload the file. Tovarlo guesses which column is which from the header names. Change any match that's wrong, or pick "— Not in my file —". Fields marked * are needed.
  • Click "Preview". Every row shows "Ready" (new), "Will update" (it matches a record already in Tovarlo) or "Problem", with the reason in plain words, plus what Tovarlo read and any warnings.
  • Click "Import N rows". Rows with problems are skipped, never half-saved. Click "Download the rows with problems" to get them as a CSV with a "Problem" column, fix them and upload that file again.

Importing again updates instead of making duplicates

A second import of the same file updates the records instead of adding them twice. Tovarlo matches:

  • trucks by unit number, and trailers by trailer number
  • drivers by mobile number, else by name
  • customers by MC number, else USDOT number, else name ("LLC", "Inc" and punctuation don't count)
  • loads by their reference number

A row that repeats an earlier row of the same file is a problem, so only the first one is imported. A driver with the same name but a different mobile number, or a customer with the same name but a different MC or USDOT number, is a problem too: change it on the Drivers or Customers screen.

Open loads

Only open loads come in: booked, or dispatched with a driver and truck already in Tovarlo. Loads that are on the road, delivered, invoiced or paid aren't imported.

Each load gets the same checks as the load form (a pickup and a delivery, dates in order, miles and a rate above zero) and an "Imported from spreadsheet" entry on the load. A dispatched load comes in booked, with its driver and truck on it; nothing is sent to the driver, and no offer goes out. Send it from the dispatch board when you're ready. The preview warns when a driver would be double-booked. An import changes an existing load only while it's still booked.

Drivers, trucks and billing

  • Imported drivers aren't invited to the driver app. Invite them on the Drivers screen as usual. Pay setup, escrow and deductions are never imported.
  • Truck VINs should have 17 characters and no I, O or Q. Anything else gets a warning, but the truck is still imported.
  • The preview shows your new monthly price when trucks are added. On the Solo plan (up to 2 trucks), trucks past the 2nd are problems: the owner can switch to the Fleet plan in Settings → Billing, where the price is shown first, and then import the rest. Anyone else sees "Ask your company's owner to switch to the Fleet plan", and the owner gets an email.
  • Customers with an MC or USDOT number are checked with FMCSA by the daily check, not all at once.
  • A read-only or closed company can't import.

Fuel card fill-ups (Comdata, EFS, WEX)

Pick "Fuel card fill-ups" under "What are you importing?", then your "Fuel card company": Comdata, EFS, WEX or "Another card (Tovarlo’s template)". Download the transaction file from your fuel card’s website as CSV and upload it. Tovarlo matches the columns from your card company’s names; check them before "Preview". The card company templates haven’t been checked against a real file yet, so if your file’s columns are named or ordered differently, pick the right column for each field on "Match columns". Only the last 4 digits of a card number are read, and the file isn’t kept. Comdata’s report is an Excel file: open it, go to the transactions tab and save it as CSV. EFS’s "Transaction Export" saves a comma-separated .txt file, which imports as it is. A file separated by tabs or semicolons gets "This file isn’t comma-separated. Save it as CSV and try again."

  • Each fuel purchase becomes a fill-up in the fuel log (Expenses → Fuel log), the same as "Save fill-up": the date, gallons, pump price, discount, total, state (IFTA needs it), city, fuel type and station. The city is optional, as with "Save fill-up": a file with no city column says so before the preview, those rows show as "Ready (no city)", and the IFTA Records check lists the fill-ups still missing their city. The total is the card company’s total. Each one has the note "Imported from Comdata file" (or EFS, WEX).
  • The truck is matched by its unit number, or by the fuel card’s last 4 digits saved on the truck ("Fuel card number (last 4 digits)" on the Trucks screen). Tovarlo never guesses: a line with no matching truck is a "Problem" with the reason. The driver is matched by the card’s last 4 digits on the driver, or by name; without a match the fill-up is saved without a driver.
  • Purchases already in the fuel log are skipped and shown as "Already in the fuel log": the same card company’s transaction number, or the same truck, date, gallons and total.
  • DEF, cash advances, fees, scales, adjustments, credits, rebates, discounts, taxes and refunds (any line with a negative amount or negative gallons) show as "Not imported: not a fuel purchase" with what each one was. A line with real gallons that names a fuel is never skipped: "Tax Exempt Diesel" or "Diesel Discount" with gallons shows as a "Problem" for you to check. A purchase and its reversal in the same file are both left out ("Not imported: reversed in the same file"); a reversal of a purchase that isn't in the file is a "Problem", so you can check whether that fill-up should stay in the fuel log. A negative line that names a fee, scale or cash advance stays "not a fuel purchase"; one with no item and no gallons is a "Problem", because it can't be told apart from a fuel reversal. Tick "Add DEF lines as expenses" to add DEF as an expense (category Other). Cash advances are never imported.
  • Only people with the "Expenses and fuel" permission can import fill-ups.
  • Add receipts to imported fill-ups afterwards: in the fuel log, click "Add" under "Receipt". IFTA reports pick the fill-ups up like any other. "Undo this import" voids the fill-ups it added (with the reason "Spreadsheet import undone"), except ones that changed since, such as a receipt added, or that are on a pay statement.

How to get your file:

  • Comdata: In Comdata’s iConnectData, go to Reporting → reportQ → Quick Reports → Cardholder → Transaction Listing Enhanced. Pick the dates and run it. The report comes as an Excel file. Open it, go to the transactions tab (Diesel Transactions; Unleaded Transactions too if you buy gas) and save it as CSV.
  • EFS: In EFS’s eManager, go to Select Program → Reports and Export → Transaction Export (on the newer EFS site: Reports/Exports → Transaction Report). Enter the start and end dates, and set the export format to “Comma Delimited” (or CSV). Save the file. A comma-separated .txt file imports as it is.
  • WEX: We didn’t find a public WEX guide for this export. In WEX’s online account, look for a transactions report or export. Download it as CSV.

Not sure? Ask your card company for a transactions export in CSV, or use our template. Based on the card company’s public guide; tell us if your screen looks different.

Undo this import

"Undo this import" works for 24 hours, right after the import and in the "Past imports" list. It archives the records that import added, as long as nobody has changed them since and nothing else uses them, such as a truck on a load. It lists the ones it kept and why. Records the import updated are listed, not changed back. Nothing is ever deleted, and archived records can be restored on their screens.

A very long file is saved for up to 4 minutes. If the time runs out, the result says how many rows were saved ("1,200 of 2,000 saved"); click "Download the rows not saved yet" and import that file to save the rest. If an import stopped before the end (for example, the page was closed), it shows in "Past imports" after 10 minutes with "Finish with what was saved" and "Undo this import".

Tovarlo doesn't keep your file after the import finishes.

Page checked on November 7, 2026.