Truck convoy descends on Auckland CBD to protest petrol prices

Truckies are heading into Auckland city's CBD in convoy to protest against high petrol prices.

As many as 50 trucks have so far joined trucking company RNB Transport's protest, recently driving bumper-to-bumper past the Constellation Drive on-ramp along the Northern Motorway.

The empty haulage trucks are creeping along in the slow lane with lights flashing and some tooting their horns after the first protesters left Silverdale, north of the city, at 7am.

Organiser Rob Ryan said the truckies want to keep disruption to a minimum, but they're running out of options to get their voices heard.

"All we're trying to get noticed - that's all we're trying to do.

"You've got to start listening to us some time or another, and it's not just us - there's people that couldn't take time off work to get here."

Petrol prices have hit record highs after the Government's latest 3.5c excise tax increase and Auckland Council's 11.5c regional fuel tax.

The impact of the taxes on prices have been compounded in recent weeks by a rise in the price of oil and fall in the New Zealand dollar

Ryan said many motorists were feeling the pain of fuel taxes.

He said for every truck driver taking part, there were many more who felt the same way.

"I'm just lucky that I own a trucking company to be able to do this, and pay my guys to be here.

"There are people from southwest Auckland, and people that have just had enough."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week said the Government was taking action on reining in high fuel prices by looking to pass a bill to give the Commerce Commission greater powers to conduct a market study to investigate how prices were set.

She said she thought "consumers are being fleeced" at the petrol pump.

But National Leader Simon Bridges said the Government fuel taxes were the reason petrol prices were going up.

"Unlike petrol, talk is cheap. And the Government is a big part of the reason why petrol prices are so high."