Apr 21, 2008 12:00 PM, By MICHAEL GARRY

Soaring diesel fuel rates have retailers searching for new transportation strategies, including better trucks, fewer deliveries and more backhauls By: By MICHAEL GARRY

As supply chain professionals convened at the beginning of this month for the Food Marketing Institute's Supply Chain Conference, held in the picturesque resort community of Palm Springs, Calif., the weather could not have been more serene. Yet as far as industry trends were concerned, conference attendees found themselves grappling with a perfect storm.

In addition to facing the general economic downturn, these distribution executives — who oversee the trucking fleets of their companies — were reeling from extraordinarily high diesel fuel costs.

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