Mathew Anthony John Gray, aged 43, has been sentenced in the County Court to four years and two months jail, with a non-parole period of two years and six months.

He was also fined $750 and has had his driver's licence disqualified for 18 months once he has been released from prison.

Gray had earlier admitted to a charge of dangerous driving causing Michael Keating's death.

He also admitted to a charge of drug driving.

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Mr Gray was behind the wheel of a rubbish truck that was collecting recycling which struck and killed 18-year-old cyclist Michael Keating.

Mr Keating had left his family's work depot on MacDougall Road by bicycle to buy lunch, when he was struck at the intersection of Hattam Street and Woodward Road.

Gray was arrested and tested for drugs at the scene. Gray had used methythlamphetamine the night before the crash.

On June 23, the court heard there was no evidence of braking.

Michael Keating's father Glenn Keating told the court his son was meant to take over the family's transport business.

But he said since the crash, he wondered about the point of carrying on with work.

"There will always be a hole there, an empty seat at the table, something missing all the time," he said.

"The last 24 months have devastated our family."

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Michael Keating's mother Sue told the court she felt guilty and angry.

"How do you put the loss of Michael into words? There really are no words to describe how I feel," she said.

"I'm angry all the time... I'm broken and I will never be whole again.

"I feel like Michael has been forgotten, that he doesn't matter. He does matter, he's my son."

Fiona Reed, Michael's aunty, addressed Mr Gray directly in her statement, saying she had no respect for him.

"To drive a heavy vehicle comes with a greater responsibility," she told the court, highlighting the family's knowledge of the trucking industry and the risks drivers faced.

On June 23, defence lawyer Markorius Habib told the court while it was a serious matter, Gray's actions were at the lower end of the scale for moral culpability.

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But Judge Tinney pushed Mr Habib on the issue, saying "any prudent motorist" should have seen the cyclist approaching and Gray could not have made an "adequate check" before entering the intersection.

The judge also questioned why a guilty plea was not entered sooner, given the video evidence clearly showed what happened.

Mr Habib said Gray had lived in the Bendigo region his whole life and struggled with drugs "for some time". Gray had suffered from depression for many years, Mr Habib said.

On Friday Judge Michael Tinney sentenced Gray to four years and two months jail with a non-parole period of two years and six months.

The judge said Gray had "largely an unobstructed view" of the intersection. He said Gray "plainly should have stopped" and "plainly should have observed that a fluoro vested cyclist was heading down the hill towards you".

Judge Tinney said 18-year-old Michael Keating was "deeply missed", killed when he was "on the cusp of his adult life".

"He was going to lunch, then he was killed in an instant," he said.

"He really was at the start of life's journey, and then it was over in a millisecond."

Judge Tinney described Michael Keating as a fine young man.

He said the 18-year-old's death had left the young man's family devastated, describing its effect on Mr Keating's immediate and extended family.

He said Michael Keating's mother Sue was "haunted by visions of her son's last moments", and worried about her other children.

He said for Michael Keating's father Glenn there was "still an unreality to his son's death".

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Tinney said he was satisfied there was actual remorse, which he took into account.

He said he also accepted the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it by those who run the prisons had increased the prison burden.

Judge Tinney said he also accepted there was an increased custodial burden arising from Mr Gray's knowledge of the condition of his mother.

He said he accepted Mr Gray's counsel's submission that he had an "at least decent" prospect of rehabilitation.

Judge Tinney said dangerous driving causing death was an "inherently serious offence".

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