Driver, 29, dead, Bruce Highway crashes crippling trucking industry as drivers risk their lives

A 29-year-old truck driver, killed in a crash, has been identified and his long-haul colleagues are ‘in fear every night’ having to risk their lives on a 1400km death trap as industry experts slam the catastrophic cost of the bloody Bruce Highway.

An aerial photo of the devastating scene in which at least three people have died in a five vehicle crash on the Bruce Highway near Maryborough. Picture: Michael O'Connor

A 29-year-old truck driver, killed when he was caught up in a series of catastrophic crashes which shutdown the Bruce Hwy for 24 hours, has been identified as a beloved husband who had just welcomed his first child.

Dioneto Pereira de Souza, or ‘Dione’ as he was known to loved ones, was a Brazilian national living with his wife and baby son in the Rockhampton region.

About 1.50am August 27, a truck crashed near Granite Creek Forestry Road at Gindoran between Bundaberg and Gladstone.

According to police, a B-double travelling in the opposite direction slowed to assist with that crash and was struck from behind by a number of trucks.

Mr de Souza was the driver of the first truck that collided with the assisting B-double suffered critical injuries and was taken to Gladstone Hospital before being transferred to Brisbane where police on Thursday confirmed he had since died.

Dioneto Pereira de Souza has been identified as the 29-year-old truck driver killed in a catastrophic crash at Gindoran on the Bruce Hwy.

The impact of the crash chaos on truck drivers, families and state is still being felt long after the Bruce Hwy reopened.

This wasn’t lost on Queensland Trucking Association CEO Gary Mahon, who said on Wednesday “a lot of people underestimate the scale of what is going on with road freight every single day” and how a hold up of 24 hours made a difference to the “replenishment of supermarkets and other consumer goods, imports and exports, produce to markets and into communities”.

Up to 30 trucks were queued at Gindoran following the three crashes involving six B-doubles and two ambulances and countless others had to find a way to their destinations outside the near-100km highway stretch which was closed from Gin Gin to Miriam Vale during the shutdown.

The queued truckies had been sitting for so long the QTA had to negotiate to try and get additional fuel into refrigerated vans because they were running low on the fuel needed to power fridge motors.

The aftermath of the crash on the Bruce Highway at Gindoran involving B Double trucks. Photo: 7 News

For drivers finding alternative routes, it wasn’t as easy as taking the suggested detours just off the highway which weren’t suitable for heavy vehicles.

Instead, they needed to travel through the inland freight route, adding hours to their journeys.

“They are going distances further than they normally would...the inland freight route is a priority route we are looking to develop further,” Mr Mahon said.

“When you plan those trips you plan your costs and the client understands delivery times and freight costs and when these things happen without notice the transport fleet has to absorb those increases. Sometimes they can pass those costs on but often they can’t.”

Queensland Trucking Association CEO Gary Mahon said it created a major psychological impact on drivers. Picture Supplied

Mr Mahon said there was also “significant cost” to the individual fleets” as well as the psychological impact on the drivers involved.

“A couple of those drivers were seriously injured, one is critical (and has since passed away),” he said.

“You add all that into the mix and it’s of great concern to us every night that vehicles go out.”

The section of road at Gindoran was regularly reported by truck drivers as an area of “great concern” due to the width of the verge, he explained.

“If you need to pull over, where are you going to pull over?

“If you’ve got reasonable pavement widths through those sorts of places you might not be able to get fully off the road, but you can get well off the road and it gives people the opportunity to manoeuvre around you if emergency circumstances occur.

“There’s that little bit of room to move in emergent circumstances, whereas, if you’re restricted to just the width of the lane the circumstances are extremely difficult.

The aftermath of the crash on the Bruce Highway at Gindoran involving B Double trucks. Photo: 7 News

But it was far from the only hellish stretch with areas on the Fraser Coast around Maryborough intersections where a horror triple fatal also closed the highway for 24-hours “a pretty big issue” along with the road north of Marlborough near Rockhampton (he was pleased the Rocky Ring Road was finally commencing and would make “quite the difference”), a number of areas up around Bowen, Bloomsbury (where four lives were taken in one crash this month) and “pretty much the greater majority of the section north of Townsville through to Cairns”

Referencing a recent RACQ report which showed the number one highway around most of the rest of Australia was four-star rated compared to the Gympie to Cairns sections of the Bruce, most of which were rated just two stars, Mr Mahon said “substantial” work needed to be undertaken on more than 1390km of not-fit-for-purpose road left to repair or replace once the Gympie Bypass was completed in October.

“That puts you in the vicinity of (being) about three to five times more likely to be involved in a fatal on the Bruce than you would in any other number one highway in the country,” he said

Gindoran crash, August 27, 2024, Pics: Clayton's Towing

“There are other highways that need substantial treatments too but at the very least our number one highway should be a reliable four-star sustainable route.

Replacement of bridges, overtaking lanes, pavement widths, intersection treatments and ring roads, something which he believes will require an investment of $15bn over the next eight years, needed to come first.

“There is no question that when you’re multilane you substantially improve safety, productivity and efficiency,” he said.

“We know what the scale of the spend is going to be to multilane all the way to Cairns... what we are saying is ‘you need to at least commit to a plan over the next eight years or so to at least substantially upgrade that single lane road and there would be advances like overtaking lanes, pavement widths, bridge replacements, proper rest area provision...authorities are very enthusiastic about enforcing log book and fatigue rules but they won’t provide adequate rest areas.

“If you want to enforce a comprehensive set of rules you have to make the means to abide by them available.”

One of the trucks involved in the Gindoran crash. Picture: Clayton's Towing

Ultimately however, making the highway multi-lane from Gympie to Cairns was key.

“We need to bring forward substantial lift in investment to bring this highway up to at least a comparable standard to other states,” he said.

“All three number one highways in NSW are multi-lane, whereas, the number one highway in Queensland, which is now 90 years old... is still only just completing multilaning to Gympie.

“We are asking the serious question, ‘why have Federal Governments supported number one highways in other states to be multi-laned all the way through and we still have circumstances here in Queensland where multilaning has only got as far as Gympie?’.

“It’s time this highway (was given) priority as high as other matters are given by governments and we can’t just keep putting it off”.

Originally published as Driver, 29, dead, Bruce Highway crashes crippling trucking industry as drivers risk their lives