A call for truckies from any state to master a tricky South Australian freeway descent before they can get a licence is impractical, the industry says.
SA deputy coroner Anthony Schapel on Monday made a string of recommendations in his findings into the deaths of two truck drivers in separate crashes at the bottom of Adelaide's South Eastern Freeway.
The coroner recommended that no heavy vehicle licence be issued to any person unless they have demonstrated they can safely negotiate the freeway descent in the presence of a trained instructor.
"These requirements should apply not only to licensing regimes in South Australia, but should be a requirement that is also imposed on interstate drivers," he said.
South Australian Road Transport Association director Steve Shearer says the idea is unworkable.
"We have always supported the notion of appropriate training in hills, but what do you do to the career prospects of somebody who works on the west coast," he told reporters.
"They're never going to come to Adelaide. They drive in a dead flat environment and always will. These things sound simple but they're not all simple."
The industry group broadly supported the coroner's recommendations but some would be difficult to implement, Mr Shearer said.
The coroner recommended that heavy vehicle drivers negotiating the freeway descent for the first time be accompanied and supervised by a trained and experienced driver.
Interstate drivers should be required to have "a certificate of demonstrated competence" and to maintain a log in relation to all descents on the freeway.
He also called for an increase in penalties to include prison terms for drivers who do not use arrester beds when their truck is out of control or who do not use the correct gear.
The coroner delivered the recommendations in his findings into the deaths of truck drivers John Posnakidis and James William Venning.
Mr Posnakidis, 42, died in October 2010, while waiting at a bus stop for assistance.
He was killed when an out-of-control semi-trailer, driven by a Victorian truckie, hurtled down the freeway and hit him near the same intersection.
Mr Venning, 41, died in January 2014 when he crashed into a wall at the major intersection at the beginning of the freeway.
Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said the government supported the recommendations and was already in the process of implementing some suggestions.
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