In the Capital, 50,000 truckers went off the roads, but partial movement of goods from neighbouring states in small trucks continued. Prices of vegetables have already shot up in Delhi and some other states. The government, however, claimed movement of essential commodities was unaffected.

The Delhi government, which ruled out invocation of Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) on Wednesday, had deployed policemen at border to ensure there was no disruption by the strikers.

In a press statement, the Delhi Exporters' Association (DEA) expressed fears that the strike would hit exports as shipments from up country areas to ports would be held up. "About 5,000 trucks are being used every day to carry export goods," it said.

The strike is also expected to affect the movement of raw material to small-scale units. S P Agarwal, DEA, president, claimed the strike entailed a national loss of Rs 8,000 crore daily.

According to agency reports, 14 states and the union territories of Chandigarh and Pondicherry reported near total strike. Poor response was reported from Bihar and Gujarat.

Various transport associations of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states extended support to the strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).

In Kerala and North-East, which are heavily dependent on other states for the flow of essential items, the strike was "near total". The Madurai division of railways was running special trains to facilitate movement of essentials to the southern part of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In Orissa, where private bus operators also are on strike since October 14, the government invoked the National Security Act (NSA) on Thursday against the truckers. More than 35,000 trucks in the state had joined the strike.In Gujarat, ESMA was invoked but the strike call did not have any major impact.

In Uttar Pradesh, officials said the strike was partial, but the state truck operators' federation claimed it was a total success.

While most truck operators in the state joined the protest, mini trucks were plying and traffic on the grand truck road was `normal'. Meanwhile, addressing farmers in here, Congress leader Rajesh Pilot demanded immediate roll back of diesel price and warned that farmers in the country would be compelled to intensify their agitation against the government if it failed to take a decision in this regard. Farmers from neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi's rural areas drove their tractors towards Parliament to protest against the hike.