Ballarat police have revealed the driver of a B-double truck who died when his rig crashed into a railway underpass on the Western Freeway at Mount Rowan was a 28-year-old man from Truganina, in Melbourne's west.
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Further investigations also revealed the man had only been on the road for an hour when the fatality happened.
Ballarat region Acting Inspector Simon Brand told The Courier the man's logbook indicated he had a 12-hour break at Ararat before the 3.40am accident on Thursday morning.
The truck left a 200 metre track on the grass median strip on the highway.
It is unclear if a load of pallets and metal frames on board shifted during the incident.
Acting Inspector Brand said the truck began its journey near the South Australian border and was headed for Melbourne.
"(The cause) looks like impaired driving - so most likely it's been driver fatigue," he said.
"It's a pretty straight stretch of road. There would have been light road use at that time. There were no other incidents on the road, the surface was dry and there are no brake marks at this stage."
The impact damaged a concrete tile-style retaining wall on the eastern side of the railway, which also had consequences for the strength of two bridges on the Western Freeway above.
Cranes used to haul out the prime mover and two trailers were forced to avoid parking on the bridges, making a difficult situation even harder.
The site is opposite a concrete factory and about 400 metres east of the Creswick Road / Midland Highway interchange.
Acting Inspector Brand said police had experienced difficulty contacting the man's next of kin.
"Certainly we're mindful that we've had a disproportionate amount of heavy vehicles along this road in the last week or so," he said.
"It does take a heavy toll (on emergency service personnel).
"No one likes to see these things."
The railway is used for Maryborough passenger trains and also serves as a major funnel for broad-gauge freight on the Yelta, Ouyen, Kulwin, Robinvale, Piangil lines - covering the majority of grain growing areas across the Mallee.
A standard-gauge line runs from Maryborough to Ararat and Geelong, but largely caters for Wimmera freight.
The freeway reopened in both directions on Thursday afternoon.
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