Skyrocketing oil prices rein in growth in U.S. economy

Every Monday morning Dean England, chief executive of his family-owned trucking company in Salt Lake City, visits the Energy Department's Web site and checks the latest average cost of a gallon of diesel fuel. If it is up enough, he raises the charge to haul produce across the country in his tractor-trailers.
A formula has evolved. For every 5-cent rise in the price of fuel, C.R. England Inc. adds 1 percent to its freight rates. Since 2003, those rates are up 37 percent, yet demand has not slackened. The company's 2,900 trucks are constantly on the road.
''The market has been good to us,'' England said. ''But ultimately the extra cost of hauling food has to fall on the consumer.''
Demand is similarly strong at other energy-dependent operations, notably railroads, airlines and chemical companies. They, too, are raising prices to recapture as much as they can of the run-up in oil pricesstory continued