Future of road safety tribunal unclear

It could be just days until the country's truck drivers know what the future holds for the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.

Truck drivers and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will gather in NSW and South Australia on Sunday in a last ditch effort to save the independent road transport industry body.

The Turnbull government wants to abolish the tribunal - a creation of the Gillard government - when parliament returns next week, and appears to have the Senate numbers to do so.

Legislation would also freeze its minimum pay rate decision for owner-driver truckies.

It's a decision that TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon says could "kill people".

He says the industry experiences 12 times the national average for workplace deaths and high suicide rates.