Mumbai : An improvement in the cargo movement to a few northern and north-eastern states in the last week pushed up freight rates, which has been under pressure for last few weeks. Transporters feel that the cargo movement will further improve, in the coming week to some more states and would eventually lead to a 5-10 per cent rise in truck freight rates.A shortage of vehicle is also seen in the coming 10-15 days which will further push up truck rates, a Mumbai-based transporter said. Extreme weather conditions in upper northern states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, however, continued to restrained freight rates from rising. But rates to Delhi moved up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 13,000 for nine-tonne truck load.
The rates to neighbouring Haryana and Punjab states also saw an improvement of Rs 500-1,000. Rates to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh too remained buoyant and witnessed rises varying from Rs 500-4,000. However, freight rates to most of other states remained subdued. Rates to Assam and Orissa were steady but those to Calcutta increased by over Rs 1,000.
As expected, western states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan had normal business. Rates to south, however, showed slight improvement as freight rates to a few cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad moved up by around Rs 200.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
