A protest by truckers over California’s high diesel prices closed down a Los Angeles area freeway for about an hour this morning during rush hour.

The northbound Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) was reopened about an hour after the 7:45 a.m. blockage, in which four truckers parked their rigs on the freeway in the City of Commerce, about five miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that three trucks were towed and the fourth drove away about 9 a.m. The California Trucking Assn. said a similar protest occurred this morning in the Bay Area. The spokeswoman said that while CTA opposes the cost of diesel fuel in California, it does not support the protests.
"We are completely opposed to it," Stephanie Williams, the association's senior vice president told the Los Angeles Times. "We get permits when we protest. We would never break the law."
One truck displayed a homemade banner tacked to the back of the cab exhorting "Down With Fuel Prices." The trucks were trailed by two California Highway Patrol cars, the newspaper said.
Williams said truckers were concerned that diesel in California costs an average of $2.50 per gallon, while truckers in other states pay about $1.70. The reason, she said, is that California requires an additive that makes the fuel cleaner burning.
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