The recent October hike of nearly 35% came had led to a strike by transporters that almost paralysed the entire country. It may be recalled that the government had decided to revise the petrol and diesel prices every month as per the change in the international prices. Last week, with the cargo movement and availability of the vehicles having stabilised, truck rates fell by an average 1,000 rupees on most routes. The rates to Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh decreased in line with the rates in most of the northern and western sectors. The rates to Jammu were at Rs 22,000, down Rs 4,000 from Rs 26,000.

Rates to Shimoga were at Rs 17,500 from Rs 21,800 in the last week. The availability of vehicles pulled down the rates to Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. The rates to Delhifell by a whopping Rs 3,000 to Rs 14,000 from Rs 17,000-range of the previous week. The rates to Haryana were down by around Rs 500-Rs 1,000 while those to Punjab were down by Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. Truck rates to some places in Bihar were up as the cargo movement picked up.

The Mumbai to Hazari Bagh went up by Rs 500 to Rs 22,000 while rates to Patna increased from Rs 21,500 to Rs 23,000. Rates to most cities in Uttar Pradesh fell in the last week. Truck rates to Lucknow fell by Rs 1,500 to Rs 16,000 while rates to Allahabad remained steady at Rs 16,000. However, rates to Agra were down a whopping Rs 7,000 from Rs 21,000 in the previous week. In the western sector, the rates to Gujarat and Maharashtra slipped marginally.

The rates to some places like Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh were down by Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,800 though to most of the places in the state, the rats were more or less stable. The rates to Rajasthan fell by around Rs 500. Mumbai to Jaipur rates were at Rs 10,500, a Rs 500 fall. In the east,rates to Assam fell substantially. Freight rates to Guwahati were at Rs 37,000 from Rs 42,500 in the previous week.

Rates to Tinsukhia were at Rs 44,000 from Rs 46,800 earlier. Rates to West Bengal were up in some places while rates to Orissa fell as the normalcy succeeded a devastating cyclone in the state. In the south, the truck rates remained range-bound. Mumbai to Hyderabad were steady at Rs 7,200 while rates to Bangalore were up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 12,000. Freight rates to Chennai were up Rs 1,000 to Rs 17,000 while rates to Cochin were down by Rs 500 to Rs 16,000.