Washington — With horns blaring and American flags flying, hundreds of truckers drove around Capitol Hill in the pouring rain Monday in a gear-jamming, engine-revving, ear-splitting protest against high fuel prices.

"The economy is going down because the price of gas is going up," said Ron Winger, a Pennsylvania trucker.

RICK MCKAY/AJC (ENLARGE)

With the average price of diesel fuel at a record high of $4.18 a gallon, truck drivers drove in a convoy around Capitol Hill on Monday with flags flying and horns blaring.

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After driving into the nation's capital, the convoy circled through the National Mall at the base of Capitol Hill before parking at RFK Stadium. Then the drenched drivers marched over to call on Congress.

They urged a moratorium on fuel prices, a halt to subsidies for big oil companies, release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and more domestic oil production, among other things.

Mark Kirsch, an independent trucker from Myerstown, Pa., said members of Congress have done nothing so far to ease the crisis and needs to act now. Otherwise, they should feel the wrath of the electorate in November.

"It they're not going to get off their butts, then we need to get somebody else in there who will do something," Kirsch said.

"We're looking at nearly $1,000 to fill a truck up," said Jamie Barnhart, who said the tank on his truck holds a little more than 200 gallons. "Two years ago, it was $500, and I can remember when I could fill my tank for $165. We've got to put a moratorium on fuel prices."

The average price that truckers pay for diesel fuel has reached a record of more than $4.18 a gallon, an increase of 3.4 cents since last week.