Justin Howarth, 26, of Trainor Court, pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death after he lost control of a prime mover with attached triple-axle trailer and crashed into an oncoming Toyota LandCruiser ute towing a box-trailer on The Escort Way on March 23, 2017.

Orange Local Court heard Howarth was a diesel mechanic who was working on the prime mover, which he took for a test drive to identify a fault that the owner complained about.

However, he wrongly applied the retarder brake to reduce the speed on a down-hill bend and lost control of the trailer, which collided with the passenger side of the LandCruiser.

As a result of the crash, the passenger Leon Dickerson was airlifted to Westmead Hospital, where he died of his injuries on March 30.

Mr Dickerson was a passenger in the Toyota that was being driven home by his son Troy Dickerson after they went to Manildra to buy stock feed.

On Tuesday, a Victim Impact Statement read out in court detailed the loss and grief experienced by Mr Dickerson's family.

The court heard about the pain Troy Dickerson still experienced in his neck, his flash-backs and grief, along with the financial challenges and delays in replacing the ute, trailer and hoist.

"I feel I will never recover from this tragedy, I'm devastated and shattered," he said.

The statement also included comments from Mr Dickerson's wife Bonnie who said she "lost the love of my life forever" and that she cries most days, while the statement from their daughter Kym Pitcher also detailed how her son "struggled with the loss of his Poppy".

The court heard Howarth had only received his heavy combination driver's licence about six weeks before the crash.

He gained the licence for his employment at West Orange Motors but no longer works there.

Magistrate David Day gave Howarth a 12-month supervised community correction order and his driver's licence was disqualified for 12 months, which was in addition to a 17-month police driving suspension.

Mr Day said the sentence was in line with sentences for like offences.

He said the only aggravating factor was a 2011 jail sentence, which was suspended on appeal in District Court, for dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm involving alcohol.