KANSAS CITY — Soaring fuel prices coupled with increased demand have pushed shipping costs higher in most cases for freight and bulk commodities, including grains and oilseeds, moved by all modes of transportation, especially for products largely delivered by trucks. But some relief appears likely as the result of smaller hard wheat crops and reduced U.S. exports as Russia re-enters the market, and as fuel prices have begun to moderate. The key national average retail diesel fuel price from the U.S.Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration peaked in early May at $4,124 a gallon, up $1 from a year earlier and the highest since late August 2008. The price has dropped five consecutive weeks since, falling to $3.94 a gallon on June 6, but was still 99c, or 34%, above the year-ago price of $2.95 a gallon.
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