NSW truckie arrested over workplace death

The managing director of a NSW freight company where an employee died after a brutal punch-up with a truck driver is remaining tight-lipped about the incident.

The fight allegedly broke out between a truck driver and a forklift operator at Crawfords Freightlines in Sandgate on Tuesday afternoon.

The 45-year-old forklift driver was pronounced dead at John Hunter Hospital, shortly after emergency services found him at the industrial site unconscious having been violently punched several times.

The truck driver, 44, has been charged with assault causing death, and is due to face Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday afternoon.

An autopsy will be carried out to determine how the man died.

Crawfords Freightlines managing director Peter Crawford has asked people to "respect the family of the man who was killed".

It is the second death at the freight company site after a fatality occurred there last month which being investigated.