Supermarket shoppers who visit stores including Aldi, ASDA, Tesco, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and M&S have been issued a warning.
Stores throughout the UK could face severe shortages in the next three weeks due to the effects of the so-called 'pingdemic'.
Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, spoke out on BBC Radio 4's Today.
He warned: "In the next two to three weeks we are facing a collapse of the supply chain meaning even bigger gaps on supermarket shelves.
"We already have hauliers unable to move goods on a daily basis and we’re now facing a perfect storm."
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The government has admitted it is "concerned" by pictures of empty shelves, with Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng speaking out last week, reports Birmingham Live.
But ministers have also urged customers NOT to panic buy despite the limited amount of stock in some supermarket stores and branches in recent days.
Mr Burnett added: "This is a crisis on a scale we have never seen before in this industry and the Government is burying its head in the sand. It is not recognising the seriousness."
Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said: "The irony of all of this is that the Government said they were reopening the economy but the pingdemic is effectively closing it down.
"There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of businesses have been in touch with us to describe scenarios where the scale of people self-isolating, testing negative by the way but self-isolating, is so big that they are basically bringing core operations to a close."
