Australia's trucking industry says the new Labor government must take immediate "substantive action" on fuel rebates or face the collapse of national supply chains.

As trips to the bowser became increasingly expensive, the former government's plan to halve the fuel excise was welcomed by drivers around the country.

But the trucking industry has been made to fund fuel excise cuts for the rest of the population.

According to industry bodies, that has jeopardised the future of more than half of the nation's trucking businesses.

Western Road Federation chief executive Cam Dumesny said most people did not understand how the cuts could affect consumers.

He said trucking businesses had historically been eligible for tax rebates in order to offset their significant fuel costs, making it possible for many businesses to operate.

But as of March 30 the rebates were abolished to bring fuel prices down for other road users.

That means that at the end of the financial year, truckers around Australia will not receive the usual financial return that has kept them afloat previously.

"That's going to catch [a lot of smaller businesses] out at the end of this month, when we start to pay our BAS (Business Activity Statements), because they're not going to have the offset against their BAS," Mr Dumesny said.

Fear of imminent collapse

According to a recent survey by the South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA), 57 per cent of industry respondents said they will not survive if rebates are not restored before the end of September, when the measures are set to end.

"We've already got supply chain issues … if we start having truck drivers collapse in terms of the owner-drivers, it's just going to compound the problem," Mr Dumesny said.

"You know, it does have more flow-on effects beyond the owner-driver.

"You'll start to see shortages, you'll start to see [deliveries] being delayed, you'll start to see it in escalating freight rates.

"[Small trucking fleets] operate in pretty much every sector of the economy … from mining to agriculture, right through to construction, online shopping deliveries, even retail and grocery deliveries.

Cracks already showing

Canning Vale-based Fresh Express Produce manager Bruce Bergmans he said he was already seeing impacts.

"There is definitely more [price] fluctuation than we've seen in the past [for fresh produce]," he said.

"We are finding a lot of delays picking up containers at the wharf.

"It can definitely affect the quality of the product, leaving it short at one time and then oversupplied."

Mr Dumesny said he and the rest of the industry were urgently calling on the federal government to address the issue.

"[SARTA] have identified, I think, 3,500 companies nationally that may well collapse as a result of the impacts of this, come the next BAS statement," he said.

The federal government has been contacted for comment.