The nation-wide strike called by the industrial workers on Friday created a shortage of vehicles which, in turn, pushed up the truck rates slightly."There was an unexpected rush of people seeking transportation of their cargo on the day before the strike," said a manager of a reputed Mumbai-based transport company. According to him, the demand for vehicles shot-up in anticipation that the strike may continue for few days.

Consequently, the shortage of vehicles was felt during the week-end and the freight rates, which otherwise were expected to plunge, firmed up slightly.

In the last week, the rates to Delhi dropped by Rs 500 to Rs 12,000 while truck rates to Jammu & kashmir and Himachal Pradesh remained same.

Freight rates to Haryana and Punjab decreased in the range of Rs100 to Rs 600. Rates to Patna ( in Bihar) fell by Rs 400 to Rs 18,600 while rates to Hazari Bagh, Jamshedpur and Bhagalpur dropped by Rs 200 each.

Truck rates to Uttar Pradesh too fell in the narrow band of Rs 100 to Rs 400 except for Lucknow to which rates to improved by Rs 100.

The freight rates to the western states declined by around Rs 100 to Rs 300 except for Rajasthan (Alwar and Bharathpur) to which the truck rates increased by around Rs 500.

The maximum fall in the rates was to Assam where truck rates went down by Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. The rates to the eastern sector remained same.

The freight rates to the southern sector witnessed an improved of around Rs 100 to Rs 500. Rates to Vizag increased by Rs 300 to Rs 10,300.

Truck rates to Mysore went up by Rs 400 to Rs 9,300 while rates to Bangalore remained steady at Rs 8,500.