The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and state-based business groups have called for the 32.4c per litre heavy-vehicle road-user charge to be reduced as part of a four-point plan released on Sunday.
As hundreds of service stations across Australia run dry, ensuring access to fuel supplies and managing demand were key to mitigating even worse outcomes, chamber chief executive Andrew McKellar said.
"What we're seeing at the moment really is every day, the temperature is going up for Australian business as the impact of this global fuel crisis begins to bite," he told reporters in Canberra.
The opposition on Friday called on the government to halve the fuel excise for all motorists to combat soaring prices due to Iran war-linked oil shocks.
But Mr McKellar did not back the move, saying that a reduction to the road-user charge alone would not drive extra demand for fuel at a time when governments were trying to manage a surge in panic-buying and stockpiling.
Economists have warned against reducing the fuel excise, labelling it a "band-aid" solution.
Governments should instead implement measures to reduce demand, including offering free public transport, Mr McKellar said.
Employers were also voluntarily employing demand measures like increasing flexibility for employees to work from home.
Other, more severe demand measures, such as rationing might be needed further down the track, but only if Australia struggled to acquire necessary shipments in coming months, Mr McKellar added.
Tasmania and Victoria have already announced free public transport, while the Greens have called for the federal government to help the other states follow suit when national cabinet meets on Monday.
Tensions between some states and the Commonwealth were on show ahead of the meeting as Queensland Premier David Crisafulli excoriated the federal government's crisis messaging.
"Comments out of Canberra that there's more fuel now than two months ago belies Aussies' intelligence," he told a Liberal National Party state council meeting.
"They know they're paying more."
Mr Crisafulli called for more oil exploration in Australia to secure the nation's fuel security to ensure "we wouldn't be completely at the mercy of imports crossing increasingly volatile geo-political waters".
Labor will introduce emergency laws to federal parliament on Monday allowing the Commonwealth to underwrite suppliers purchasing and transporting fuel to Australia.
The government won't pay for the fuel but will use public funds as insurance for companies facing sky-rocketing prices.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia's fuel supplies were stable and would remain so for the coming weeks.
Australia has 39 days of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 30 days of jet fuel on hand, Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed on Sunday.
"The thing we've got to bear in mind is that even if this conflict was to end tomorrow, there is going to be a long tail," he told Sky News.
Opposition industry spokesman Andrew Hastie said the government was failing to take leadership and reassure the public, which was leading people to hoard fuel.
"We're about to head into a perfect economic storm and the test for the prime minister and the treasurer come May is how they keep this country from sliding into a recession," he told ABC's Insiders program.
As the economic hit worsens, the government should be prepared to offer businesses support to prevent mass closures, Mr McKellar said.
Cutting charges for trucks would help across the economy as increased fuel costs were eventually passed through to customers.
"We don't want to see the impact of that becoming entrenched in the price of food and groceries at the checkout," he said.
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