The stability in the rates will remain till the Diwali festival, they added. The truck rates have been witnessing a trend of going up towards a month-end and decreasing during the beginning of the next month.

However, there seems to be a reversal in the trend owing to some external factors.

Major factors, as pointed out by transporters, for the shift in the freight trend include irregular cargo movement, natural calamities, slowdown in the economy and shortage of vehicles.

The ban on overloading of trucks in many states including Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have also contributed to the shortage of vehicles in the past few weeks.

In the last week, the rates remained more or less static. While the cargo movement from Mumbai to the rest of the country was subdued, the market witnessed a shortage of trucks.

The shortfall occured becuase trucks from thenorthern states including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & kashmir did not return to Mumbai.

"The trucks are moving the apple crop from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir to other northern states instead to coming to Mumbai", said a transporter. With the corresponding cargo movement from Mumbai to northern states slowing down, it will result in an increase of freight rates, he added.

While freight rates to most of the states remained same in the last week, there was some increase in rates to northern states. The truck rates to Jammu increased by Rs 300 to Rs 19,500. The rates to Srinagar and Baramullah, however, declined to Rs 24,000 and Rs 24,500 from Rs 25,400 and Rs 26,000, respectively.

The freight rates to Delhi remained same at Rs 16,000.

While rates to Haryana remaines static, truck rates to Punjab witnessed an increase of around Rs 200.

The rates to the rest of the country remained unchanged.