The rates to a few cities, however, moved up because of shortage of vehicles. The rates for the coming week may remain under pressure as there are chances for the cargo movement to further slow down, transporters said.

Last week, the rates to most of the upper northern states such as Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh remained stable. However, rates to Delhi declined by Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,400. This also led to decline in rates to its neighbouring states Haryana and Punjab by Rs 500-1,000.

The fall in the cargo also kept the truck rates under pressure to other northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, though the rates in these states could withstand the pressure.

While, freight rates to most of the places in both the states remained stable, the rates to Lucknow and Patna fell by Rs 300 each.

The rates to Gorakhpur, however, further declined by Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,800. In the western region, the truck rates remained more or less stable.

The freight rates to Surat continued to stay at Rs 3,500 while those to Indore in Madhya Pradesh were at over Rs 6,000. The rates to Jaipur in Rajasthan were at Rs 11,500 while rates to most places in Maharashtra were firm.

In the east too, the rates to most places remained stable except for a few places. For instance, truck rates to Calcutta moved up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 21,000. The rates to Cuttack continued to quote at Rs 17,000. Freight rates to southern cities showed wide fluctuation. While, rates to Andhra Pradesh rose by Rs 300 to Rs 500, the rates to Karnataka ruled firm. For instance, rates to Hyderabad were up by Rs 500 while those to Bangalore were stationary at Rs 10,500. However, rates to Chennai dipped by Rs 1,000 to Rs 13,000 and those to Cochin were down by Rs 500.