Truck drivers have the world’s deadliest job, according to research out of Monash University.

The 12-year study examined over 120,000 insurance claims for work-related injury and disease.

The researchers found truck drivers are thirteen times more likely to die on the job and are at a higher risk of illness, psychological stress and other injuries.

“We’re not addressing the root causes, so fatigue, speeding, overloading, those are the symptoms of the pressures of the industry,” Transport Workers Union National Secretary Michael Kaine tells Ben Fordham.

“There are commercial pressures in this industry that means that transport companies are being squeezed very hard and they have to push their drivers hard.”

Mr Kaine says it “is actually quite scandalous this isn’t being addressed”, with over 2500 Australians killed in truck crashes over a ten year period.

Click PLAY below to listen to the full interview

The sobering study comes at the same time a mother and her 10-year-old son lost their lives in a tragic truck accident near Corrigin in Western Australia on Sunday night.

The car had run out of petrol and the father had left to get fuel when a semi-trailer ploughed into the parked car. The impact killed the mother and her young son and injured three other children in the vehicle.

“Our hearts and our thoughts go out to that poor family.

“What we really need is for the Federal government to stand up and put some regulation into place,” says Mr Kaine.