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Diesel’s national average price fell 3.5 cents to $2.831 a gallon, a new five-year low, while gasoline rose for the first time since September, the Department of Energy reported Feb. 2.

Diesel’s average pump price fell 6.7 cents to $2.866 a gallon, continuing its seven-month downward trend, the Department of Energy reported.

For the first time since September 2010, the national retail average price for a gallon of diesel fuel is below $3 a gallon, which means trucking executives are both spending less money and pulling in less revenue as fuel surcharge receipts dwindle.

The average price of U.S. diesel fell for the 10th week in a row, with the 12-cent decline Jan. 19 taking trucking’s main fuel below the $3-per-gallon level for the first time September 2010.

The downward spiral of diesel’s national average pump price continued last week, falling closer to the $3 mark.

Sliding farm demand after the U.S. harvest and milder weather brings diesel, nearly identical to heating oil, more in line with gasoline.

U.S. retail diesel will average $2.85 per gallon this year, the Department of Energy said, lowering its most recent forecast by 22 cents.

Diesel’s national average pump price declined 8.4 cents to $3.053 a gallon, a four-year low, the Department of Energy reported Jan. 12.