Australia's business chambers want the federal government to reduce the heavy vehicle road user charge to ease pressure on truckies as the fuel crisis escalates.

With diesel prices surging above $3 a litre across the country, truckies and other transport businesses are beginning to feel the pinch, and this could soon be passed on to the consumer as household goods get more expensive.

The Australian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) today urged the government to reduce the tax from 32.4 cents a litre to relieve pressure on transport businesses and owner operators.

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They said the tax brought in $3 billion of revenue a year, but reducing it would avoid "even worse outcomes" during Australia's current petrol plight.

"That will help control the costs in the supply chain," ACCI's Andrew McKellar said at a press conference today.

"For things like food and grocery prices, it will help insulate the impact there and moderate any inflationary impact that they're seeing."

Comparing it to the fuel excise, which the federal opposition has called for the government to reduce, McKellar said reducing the heavy vehicle charge was a "targeted measure" that had a more meaningful impact and would not adversely affect inflation.

"It's something that doesn't send an artificial signal, such as what an immediate reduction in the fuel excise would do," he said.

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"It doesn't encourage artificially higher demand.

"We want to minimise the adverse economic impact."

It comes as the ACCI urged the government to implement a four-point plan to address the fuel crisis, which has pushed up prices and left pumps to run dry across Australia.

This includes securing the supply of petrol by working with allies in the Gulf region, and working with distributors to get fuel out to all Australians quicker.

They have also called on the government to manage demand, not ruling out measures such as fuel rationing, as well as ensuring businesses can survive the price surges; the reduction to the heavy vehicle charge is part of this.

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"Efforts must be stepped up to ensure Australian businesses come through this crisis in the best shape possible," McKellar said.

He clarified Australia was still not at the point of needing to ration fuel, but highlighted a scenario that might make it possible.

"If we are seeing material shortages, difficulty in securing those international supplies," he said.

"It could be several months before we get to that point, if that starts to happen."

The state and territory leaders met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today ahead of a National Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

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New Zealand is in Phase 1, with enough fuel and no call to stockpile.

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The Albanese government will use public funds to bring down the cost of fuel in a bid to reduce prices at the pump and secure Australia's supply.

Fuel is running low or out entirely at hundreds of petrol stations around the country, with the cost of diesel well over $3 a litre and unleaded petrol sitting at around $2.60.

Ahead of a meeting of state and territory leaders today and a national cabinet meeting tomorrow, the federal government has announced it will chip in to underwrite fuel costs for fuel suppliers across the country as the Middle East conflict continues.

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It is designed to keep prices cheaper, but more importantly, ensure that fuel keeps coming into the country.

Speaking yesterday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Australia had about nine days' worth of petrol, a number he said was "slightly up" on previous figures, and about one month's worth of diesel.

Nine News' Political Editor Charles Croucher said the government was fighting a difficult battle trying to solve multiple issues at once, as well as co-ordinating a national response, rather than the state-by-state model seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"It all feels like a bit of a game of whack-a-mole at the moment. There's all of these problems popping up everywhere, and the governments keep trying to smack them as they arrive," he said on Today.

"That's the hardest part of a crisis like this. You're constantly trying to get in front of something that you haven't seen before in this country, this kind of shortage in this kind of manner, with prices at this height."

The opposition has called on the government to cut the fuel excise to bring instant price relief at the bowser, but Croucher questioned whether it would be a truly effective strategy given the unprecedented crisis facing the country.

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"Taking the excise off fuel brings prices down a little bit, but in this environment where prices are surging… there's just no guarantee," he said, noting it would need to be tightly enforced to ensure fuel companies didn't take the profits unfairly.

He said tax breaks to farmers and transport companies were a more timely and needed measure that would bring relief from fuel and cost-of-living pressures.

"It makes it easier for people," he said. "We need more of that."

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Victorians will be offered free public transport for one month while Tasmanians will travel for free until July, as the country is gripped by an escalating fuel crisis.

Trains, trams and buses will be free in Victoria from March 31 until the end of April, a temporary measure announced to help ease cost of living pain in the state.

"It will take pressure off the pump and help you save," Premier Jacinta Allan said.

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"This won't solve every problem but it's an immediate step to help Victorians right now while we keep working on new solutions to make Victoria more affordable."

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The Tasmanian government has taken it one step further by offering residents free rides on buses and ferries until July.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government would waive the cost of fares for three months to address the suging price of fuel.

"We know the rising cost of fuel is impacting the family budget, and that's why we have again taken strong and decisive action to protect Tasmanians," Rockliff said.

State governments have been facing growing calls to offer subsidised or free trips to redirect to the flow of fuel to farmers and regional communities.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Brett Hosking previously urged the state government to make public transport free to encourage workers in Melbourne to stay off the roads and save the much-needed fuel for farmers.

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"We don't have a public transport network, we're required to drive long distances, and we need liquid fuel to make that happen," Hosking said.

ACT Senator David Pocock joined the chorus and demanded free nationwide public transport to ease the fuel shortage.

The price of unleaded in Australia is nudging $2.60 per litre in some areas, while the average price of diesel is now well over $3 per litre.

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Swiss food giant Nestlé says about 12 tonnes, or 413,793 candy bars, of its KitKat chocolate brand were stolen after leaving its production site in Italy earlier this week for Poland.

The company, based in Vevey, Switzerland, said in a statement that “the vehicle and its load are still nowhere to be found”.

The shipment of the crunchy bars, made of waffles covered with chocolate, disappeared last week while en route between production and distribution locations.

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The chocolate bars were to be distributed throughout Europe.

The missing candy bars could enter unofficial sales channels across European markets, the company said, but if this does happen, all products can be traced using the unique batch code assigned to individual bars.

A spokesperson for KitKat said that as a result, consumers, retailers and wholesalers would be able to identify if a product is part of the stolen shipment by scanning the on-pack batch numbers.

If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert the company, which will then share the evidence appropriately.

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“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes," KitKat said in a statement.

“With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend.”

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