Brazilian President Michel Temer ordered security forces on Friday to clear road blockades set up by truckers who pressed on with a strike that has left the vast country virtually paralysed.

The country's economic capital of Sao Paulo also declared a state of emergency, the auto industry shut down, gas stations ran out of fuel and flights were cancelled on the fifth day of the protest.

The truckers have attempted to put a stranglehold on movement of goods in Brazil to protest fuel price rises since five days of strikes. 

They have blocked roads in much of the vast country that has only limited rail service and where 60 percent of goods are transported by road.