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Several truck drivers in California parked their rigs in the middle of some of the busiest highways in the United States to protest high fuel costs in the state, news services reported Friday.

Truckers blocked traffic on Interstate 5 in both Southern California, the California Highway Patrol told news outlets in the state.

The Los Angeles Times reported that about 8 a.m. PDT, four trucks blocked all the lanes of the northbound Santa Ana Freeway, officially designated as I-5, outside of Los Angeles. The Associated Press reported a similar protest took place on the Golden State Freeway, also I-5, about 17 miles southeast downtown Los Angeles.

The Times said that one of the rigs displayed a sign reading “Down With Fuel Prices.” The paper said there were reports of similar actions in and around the state.

A CHP spokesman said that the truckers stopped their rigs, got out and took off in a car, according to AP.

Stephanie Williams, senior vice president of the California Trucking Association, told the Times the group opposed the protest.

Williams told the paper that CTA feared angry response from motorists would hurt the group’s effort to win a reprieve from the law requiring special diesel fuel be used in the state.

Earlier this week, CTA formally requested that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lift diesel fuel regulations to give truckers in the state relief from high fuel prices. Williams said that the average price of diesel fuel in California was about $2.50, while truckers the national average is about $1.70.