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June 21, 1999 9:57 AM, EDT

The national average price of diesel fuel bounced to $1.068 per gallon, rising nine-tenths of a cent from the previous week’s average of $1.059 and reversing a four-week slide. The increase was driven in large measure by a 5-cents-a-gallon increase in California.

The national average price had been falling since May 10, when the price stood at $1.083. On June 7, the price of $1.059 was six-tenths of a cent below the previous week, according to the Department of Energy.

New England was the only one of nine regions to record a drop in the price of diesel, going from $1.11 to $1.108. The smallest increases came in the Rocky Mountain and Central Atlantic regions — up one-tenth of a cent.

Drivers in the West Coast region saw an overall jump of 3.4 cents — from $1.245 to $1.279, according to the Department of Energy.

The diesel fuel price has been near or above the $1.06-a-gallon threshold for imposing fuel surcharges that are written into many truckload contracts since March 29, five weeks after it reached a historic low of 95.3 cents. However, no carrier has reported imposing the surcharges.

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