These prompts are written to produce a usable answer rather than a raw data dump. Copy one, replace the bracketed parts, and adjust from there.

Three habits make a noticeable difference. Name Upply explicitly, so your assistant calls a tool instead of answering from its own knowledge. State anything that differs from the default values to ensure having the most accurate benchmark. And ask it to list the assumptions it used, so you can tell whether the number means what you think it means.

For everyone

Start here

A good first question after connecting:

Using Upply, list the tools you have access to and what each one is for. Then show me which market indices I can reach, grouped by category.

Benchmark a list of lanes

Here is our list of lanes. Benchmark each one in Upply and return a spreadsheet with origin, destination, equipment, the market low, median and high, and our current rate alongside.

[paste your lanes, one per line: origin, destination, equipment, current rate]

Sort by the gap between our rate and the market median, largest first, and flag which lanes sit above the market and which sit below.

Build a monthly market report

Produce our monthly freight market report covering [European road, Asia–Europe maritime, and air].

For each market, pull the relevant Upply index over [the last 12 months] plus the forecast where available, and add fuel and toll context for road. Then write a one-page summary: what moved, by how much and what to watch next month. Include one chart per market.

Track a lane over time

Chart the [France–Spain] road index for [Spot and Contract] over [the last four years] using Upply, rebased to 100 at [January 2023] so it reads as a change since that date. Add the forecast, and tell me in two sentences what the chart says.

For shippers

Validate a quote

I received a quote of [€1,450] for a road shipment from [Lyon, France] to [Barcelona, Spain]: [22 tonnes of general cargo, semi-trailer, spot market].

Benchmark this lane in Upply and tell me where my quote sits against the market range. List the assumptions you used for anything I did not specify, and say whether the benchmark includes fuel surcharge. If the quote falls outside the market range, say by how much and what I should raise with the carrier.

Prepare a tender

We are tendering the lanes below for next year. Benchmark the contract market for each one in Upply and give me a target rate.

[paste your lanes, one per line: origin, destination, equipment, annual volume]

Return a table with origin, destination, the benchmark range and a recommended target. Flag any lane where the range is unusually wide, since that signals volatility worth negotiating around. End with the assumptions you had to make.

Understand a cost increase

Our road freight costs in [France] rose [8%] over [the last 12 months].

Using Upply Data Hub, pull the relevant road freight index, diesel prices for that country, the toll index and inflation over the same period. Rebase everything to 100 at the start of the period so the series are comparable. Then tell me how much of the increase each factor plausibly explains, and how much is unexplained. Be explicit about what the data supports and what is your inference.

Decide whether to contract now

We need to commit to road capacity on [France–Spain] within [the next month], around [50 full truckloads a month].

Pull the relevant Upply Freight Index history and forecast for this corridor, then benchmark the same lane in Upply on both the spot and contract markets. Lay out the case for signing now versus waiting: give me the spot-contract spread, the forecast direction over the coming weeks, and what would have to happen for the opposite decision to be the right one.

For carriers and forwarders

Price a quote before you send it

I'm about to quote [a full truckload of general cargo] from [Lille, France] to [Milan, Italy] at [€1,650].

Benchmark this lane in Upply on the spot market and tell me where my price sits in the market range. If I'm above the range, tell me how far; if I'm below, tell me how much I'm leaving on the table.

Answer a tender

A shipper sent us a tender for the lanes below, on annual contracts. Here are the rates we plan to bid.

[paste your lanes, one per line: origin, destination, equipment, your bid]

Benchmark each lane in Upply on the contract market and return a table with our bid, the market range, and where we sit. Flag the lanes where we are well below market, since that is margin we are giving away, and the ones where we are well above, since we are likely to lose them.

Justify a rate increase

Our client contract on [France domestic road] was priced in [January 2025]. I want to ask for a rate revision.

Using Upply Data Hub, pull French diesel prices, the French toll index and the relevant road freight index since that date, all rebased to 100 at [January 2025]. Tell me how much each has moved, and draft a short, factual paragraph I can send my client to support the revision. Stick to what the data shows.

Check whether a lane pays

Our cost to run [a reefer truck] from [Valencia, Spain] to [Paris, France] is about [€1,900] per trip.

Benchmark this lane in Upply and tell me the margin I can expect at the market low, median and high. Then compare spot and contract, and tell me which market makes more sense for this lane right now.