Truck drivers shipping essential supplies call for toll relief as small businesses struggle to pay

Truck drivers shipping critical supplies across New South Wales are being hit with astronomical toll bills, with some businesses racking up $1 million a year.

Leigh Smart runs a business with five trucks and said road tolls are a huge cost for his small business.

"We aren't a big multinational… we don't have heaps of money," Mr Smart told 9News.

Simon O'Hara from Road Freight NSW said it's a similar story for drivers and companies across the state.

Just on the M5, one way from King Georges Road to the airport in Sydney, a heavy vehicle will pay $20.86.

"I've got members paying $47,000 per month back in March … to $98,000."

That's more than a $1 million a year – and it's prompting drivers to dodge the cost by flooding suburban streets instead.

The brand-new M8 tunnel is empty largely because it's just too expensive.

The trucking industry has said that if they get toll relief, they will use the motorways.

The NSW government said it was monitoring the situation, but at this stage had no plans to change the way trucks were tolled.