Rising fuel prices squeezing truckers, producers

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Wilfredo Vazquez, who owns Vazquez Transport in Hawthorne, Calif., said he has seen the price of diesel fuel rise from $3.08 a gallon last month to $3.38 a gallon as of this morning.

"Fuel prices have gone up really bad," Vazquez told me during a stop today at the Redding Travel Plaza. "It's crazy."

Vazquez, who was hauling a load to Washington state, said it's harder for truck owner-operators to make ends meet because the people who pay them don't give them increases to offset their fuel costs.

For my story on how rising oil prices are affecting agriculture, check CapitalPress.com later this week.