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Arkansas truckers, whose leadership convinced state legislators to approve a 5-cent-a-gallon diesel tax increase for highway repairs, are seeking a new funding source after a plan to put the tax proposal before the voters ran into stiff opposition.

Trucking industry costs dipped slightly from 2008 to the first quarter of 2010, but higher costs for equipment and tires have continued to drive up costs since then, a new American Transportation Research Institute report said.

Most publicly traded trucking, logistics and railroad companies saw their stock prices rise over the past 12 months, despite the recent downturn on Wall Street caused by rising fuel prices, natural disasters and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

The average price of a gallon of retail diesel dipped for the sixth time in the past seven weeks, even before 28 nations agreed June 23 to release 60 million barrels of crude oil from their strategic reserves in a bid to drive fuel prices lower around the world.

The Los Angeles region is bracing for a 53-hour shutdown of Interstate 405 in mid-July that will cut off a critical, high-traffic trucking route.

Driver turnover at larger truckload fleets reached the highest level in nearly three years during the first quarter as higher pay, aggressive recruiting and increased freight demand prompted drivers to find new positions, according to American Trucking Associations.

Motor carriers filling up in North Carolina will be paying 2.5 cents more in diesel taxes beginning July 1.

The PierPass program that operates in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., to provide off-peak service options for container lines and truckers, announced a fee increase of 20% to $60, to take effect on July 4.

May new home sales fell for the first time in three months, declining 2.1% to 319,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday.