The truck rates rose substantially last week following a 40% rise in the diesel prices. "We had to pass on the diesel price hike to customers by hiking the truck rates by 8-10 per cent", transporters said. The truck operators are meeting on Sunday (October 10) under the aegis of the All India Motor Transport Congress to protest against the diesel price hike and also finalize hike in freight rates.

"There is a limit to which we can hike the freight rates as there is not enough cargo to move and also our customers may not be able to absorb a rate hike", said Mohinder Singh Ghura, a leading transporter and president, Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo Tankers Bus Vahatuk Mahasangh. In the upper north, the Mumbai to Srinagar rates went up to Rs 26,800 while rates to Shimla rose to Rs 18,900. The rates to Delhi remained increased byRs 200 to Rs 16,500, as a result, the rates to Haryana and Punjab also rose in a similar margin. Mumbai to Patna rates were at high at Rs 21,000.

Rates to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh were Rs 19,000 from Rs 17,500 whle rates to Meerut rose to Rs 18,500 from Rs 17500. Keeping line with the The freight rates to the western region reained stable. The Mumbai to Surat rates, however, were slightly up by Rs 200 to Rs 3,000. The rates to Indore were at Rs 5,500.

In the eastern sector, West Bengal was the only state to which the rates went up. While to the remaining states, the rates remained same. The Mumbai to Raniganj rates went up from Rs 19,800 to Rs 20,500 while rates to Calcutta were steady at Rs 20,500. The rates to Siliguri were up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 23,500. In the southern sector, the rates were near stable. The rates to Bangalore were steady at Rs 9,000 while rates to Chennai were at Rs 1,2700.