Trucks could be forced of Australian roads within weeks due to a serious global shortage of an anti-pollution additive used in diesel vehicles.

There are only enough supplies of the additive to last until the end of January, and if it runs out, up to half of all trucks will be removed from the roads.

Managing Director of Shaws Darwin Transport, Allan Thornley, says if that happens, the “entire supply network collapses”.

“All late model trucks use the additive,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“It’s been in trucks for the last 10 years, and pretty much mandatory on every heavy vehicle for the last five, so any truck that’s less than the five years old you would safely say won’t be able to run.

“Legally you can’t run without it and there’s a whole lot of technical reasons why you can’t just turn it off.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the concerning shortage