"Month-end was hectic as demand picked up in April being the first month of the financial year. We have seen a huge Rs 2,000-2,500 rise in costs towards east," a transporter said.

He added that while north sector rates were up by Rs 500 and so were the rates towards south, the west and east saw maximum rise of Rs 1,000-2,000. The shortage of vehicles coupled with sustained cargo movement had forced freight rates to most of the places to spurt on an hourly basis, claims a transporter.

The Mumbai to Srinagar truck rates were up by Rs 500 to Rs 26,500, while rates to Shimla were firm at Rs 21,000. Rates to Parmanu went up by Rs 3,000 to Rs 19,000, while those to Sholan were up by similar amount to Rs 21,000. Truck rates from Mumbai to Delhi saw a rise of Rs 500 to Rs 15,500 as the availability of vehicles continued to drop to a near normal levels.

Consequent to a jump in rates to Delhi, the truck rates to Haryana and Punjab also have gone up by Rs 400.

The Mumbai-Bihar route regained its tempo as the rates to Patna rose by Rs 5,00-1,000 to Rs 24,000, while those to Jamshedpur touched their all-time of Rs 19,200.

Freight rates to Uttar Pradesh were even stronger during the week with the current rates to Lucknow moving up to Rs 17,200, those to Kanpur were up by Rs 500 to Rs 15,500.

In the western region, rates from Mumbai to Gujarat were equally in an upward trend. Rates to Satna in Madhya Pradesh and Indore spurted in the range of Rs 500-1,000. Freight rates to neighbouring state too showed wide fluctuations. Rates to Jaipur were up at Rs 11,800, while rates to Bharathpur went up by as much as Rs 1,000 to Rs 14,500. In Maharashtra, the freight rates continued to steady as was in the previous weeks.