Transporters fear that if the situation persists, then it might spell disaster for small operators. "There is an uncertainty all-around and bad weather in many northern states is not making things easy for us," one Mumbai transporter said.

The truckers are expecting a further 20-30 per cent drop in freight charges, before the situation turns normal. Said one transporter, "We expect the cargo movement to be normalised by early February and by middle of March, the rates should return to November last levels." As was seen, the steep fall in cargo movement that began in the middle of November continued to trouble the industry.

Routes in the northern region and many places in the south saw marginal decline in rates.

UP and Bihar rates are under pressure while towards the east, Calcutta and Guwahati did not see much change. Delhi, which was ruling at Rs 12,000 last week, was stable but near-by areas in Haryana and Punjab were witnessing resistance at previous week's levels.An average drop of around Rs 150-200 was seen in Punjab and Haryana routes.

As expected, western states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan had normal business. But down south, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were under pressure.