As the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, and the price of diesel surges, the trucking and transport industries are continuing to feel the pinch.
Today’s news of a brief ceasefire is promising but may not be enough for workers who are ‘weeks away from going out of business’ according to transport advocates.
“Drivers who’ve been in this industry for decades have never seen it this hard,” says Michael Kaine from the Transport Workers Union, who are currently calling on major retail clients to share the burden of fuel prices.
“It is critical that we see fuel costs paid for by the top of the supply chain—the retailers, manufacturers and mining giants that are already increasing costs for customers, while truck drivers and businesses are struggling to hold on,” he said.
‘An uncertain future’
Transport operator Amar Singh says the fuel shortage is resulting in an ‘uncertain future’ for workers, reduced shifts and redundancies continuing as transport companies divert their income towards petrol.
Morale is low amongst transport business owners and workers, forced to choose between fuel and workers’ wages.
“You feel and hear the pain in their voice…it’s a horrible position to be in,” Singh recounts.
With recently migrated Indian-origin truck drivers making up over five percent of the largely casual and shift-based industry, the fuel shortage has been particularly dire for those still establishing themselves financially.
“In our trucking meetings, I’ve heard from many people even offering to take a pay cut from the company to make sure that they can get some money in, rather than being told that they had to stay home,” explains Singh.
“You feel that in the general conversations around our tea or coffee breaks, they’re concerned about how they’re going to work.”
Even despite the fuel excise cut, diesel prices have soared to almost 350 cents, nearly double what they were in February 2026.
“I’ve heard from companies that their fuel bill for a week has gone up – say it’s a fleet of 25 to 30 trucks – by almost $50,000 on top of the normal spend,” Singh explains.
“No business has that much sort of running cash around, and that is the scary part.”
‘Bite the bullet and fill up’
The founder of food relief charity Turbans4Australia, Singh says the fuel shortage has caused them to lose volunteers and abandon pick-ups and deliveries of donations.
This has meant they will soon ‘have to send people away’ from their food relief service, an alarming prospect during an already strained economic period.
“There’s only so much reserve stock we have…unfortunately people are going to have to go elsewhere to seek that relief,” Singh says.
Earlier this month, the government passed the Fairer Fuel Bill, allowing the Fair Work Commission to fast-track emergency applications from transport operators.
A hearing is underway at the Fair Work Commission, where the Transport Workers Union have applied for a road transport contractual chain order, encouraging major retail clients to take greater responsibility for fuel prices.
Singh warns this latest proposal could devolve into ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ if major retailers pass on even more of their fuel costs to consumers.
He hopes instead to see the government freeze heavy vehicle tolls and fuel prices for the transport sector and activate disaster recovery funds for small trucking businesses.
With no intervention in sight, Singh and other transport operators are forced to work through constant uncertainty.
“It does make you think every time you fuel up…but it’s something you can’t really live without, so you have to bite the bullet and fill up and try to keep doing what you’re doing at a smaller scale,” he says.
READ ALSO: Foretold, now unfolding: Trump’s echo in Australia
