Loading TWU Queensland branch secretary Peter Biagini said he was surprised Lindsay did not detect a problem sooner. "Companies like Lindsay's have an enormous array of technology to track vehicles and record incidents," he said. "It is beyond belief that nobody could have known or raised an alarm about this truck. “How is it that with all the GPS, radio contact and more that a truck can be missing for up to 11 hours without some sort of alarm bells ringing?

"It's beyond belief - with GPS monitoring, telematics and more now being commonplace in trucks, not knowing where the truck is and indeed that it had been stationary for many hours is ridiculous." Mr Biagini said the awful incident highlighted the dangers of the transport industry. "Transport has consistently been one of the most dangerous industries for Australian workers, with workers up to twelve times more likely to die than the average Aussie worker," he said. "Right now in Queensland heavy vehicle accidents are not seen as workplace deaths - this needs to change." Mr Biagini said he was calling for all heavy vehicle accidents to be investigated as workplace accidents.

"Often a forensic crash investigation will work out what contributed to the crash, but are unable to investigate the circumstances leading up to the accident - are drivers fatigued, under pressure or rushing to finish a delivery?" he said. "These questions won't be answered until these accidents are seen as workplace incidents. “If someone was injured or died in their office, or a work site, there would be a full investigation into exactly what lead to that accident, who was responsible and what changes need to be made. “Right now truck crashes are seen as road accidents, with brief investigations and often ambiguous outcomes. “For transport workers, their vehicle is their office - it is their workplace."

Queensland Trucking Association Gary Mahon, speaking on behalf of Lindsay, said the company was fully cooperating with investigations. "I can tell you the truck was only six months old and the driver had only been in the truck for about four hours before the crash," he said. "There was another truck driver who drove the new truck from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour before a change over was made where the Coffs Harbour truck driver began his shift. "He had a day off to rest before he left his hometown at 7.30pm on Tuesday night to Brisbane so it's very puzzling to think what went wrong." When asked why no one in the company had raised the alarm about the truck driver, Mr Mahon said the man was driving a load of frozen chickens and was expected to "in-time slot to off load at 10am the next morning".

"The company is in the process of checking their systems now but had just started to figure out where he was when he missed his in-time slot at 10am and as reported by police, they were at the site at 10.40am," he said. Despite the truck driver leaving at 7.30pm on Tuesday night, the expected arrival time at 10am. It is understood that depending on the circumstances, truck drivers could either take one of their rest breaks or try to unload early. Mr Mahon said the company had technology and an electronic log book diary in the truck that could help with police investigations and internal inquiries being made within Lindsay. He said support was being provided to the company and family.