Last week, despite the month end when, generally the cargo movement picks up as corporates rush to get their goods cleared out of their factories, the goods movement was less this time.

"May be, the rains affected the goods movement. It was one of the rare month ends when the cargo movement fell," said a Mumbai-based transporter. The fall in cargo movement caused the rates to certain northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to fall which were otherwise expected to rise in the last week.

In the coming week, transporters feel, the truck rates to most of the northern and north-eastern states will firm up because of rains while the rates to southern states may come down marginally as the vehicles movements improve.

Last week, the rates to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh ruled steady. For instance, rates to Srinagar were at Rs 21,000 while rates to Baramullah were at Rs 25,000. Freight rates to Shimla were at Rs 21,000 and those to Shimoga were at Rs 19,800.

The truck rates from Mumbai to Delhi fell by Rs 200 to Rs 13,800 due to fall in cargo. The rates on this route are likely to hover in the Rs 13,500-Rs 14,200 range during the entire monsoon (till September) period, according to transporters.

The rates to Haryana were stable but those to Punjab fell by Rs 200-300.

Last week, the freight rates to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were generally down. The rates to these states, however, are seen rising during monsoon as flow of vehicles from these places to Mumbai is likely to get hampered due to rains and poor roads. Last week, the truck rates from Mumbai to Patna fell to Rs 21,000 from a high of Rs 22,800 in the previous week. The rates to Tata Jamshedpur were down by Rs 500 to Rs 17,000.

Rates to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh fell by Rs 1,000 to Rs 14,000. The rates to other cities in the states were also under pressure.

In the western region, the truck rates from Mumbai to most of the cities remained range bound. Truck rates to Ahmedabad were at Rs 5,500. Rates to Surat were down by Rs 200 to Rs 3,500 while rates to Kandla were at Rs 5,800.

Mumbai to Satna were steady at Rs 12,200 while rates to Indore were at Rs 5,400. Freight rates to Jaipur were sharply up by Rs 1,500 to Rs 13,000 and those to Ajmer were up only by Rs 200 tot Rs 10,000. Rates within Maharashtra too remained stable. In the eastern region, the rates to Guwahati remained steady at Rs 34,500 while rates to Jorhat were at Rs 39,000. Rates to Calcutta rose by Rs 1,000 to Rs 20,500.